Endings (Part 5): The Essential Church

As those close to me should know by now, I have recently resigned from my position at Victory Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. This post is not about that. Rather, this post is about what I want my legacy to be at VBC (or really, anywhere else that I ever teach and minister).

I finished my time there by teaching through a series called "Endings." These six messages attempted to drive home the six main things I have tried to teach them over the past fifteen months that I have spent as their student minister, and would be the six things that I would focus on more than anything if I were to remain there indefinitely. Thus, I taught six statements that sum up everything I am about. This blog series will communicate that to whomever else would like to know my heart.

Here's the fifth statement: The church is the Body of Christ living united, loving, and doing life together as a family.

That's the church of Jesus Christ in a sentence, but what does that all mean? Why do exchanged people that are following Jesus in love during a war need the church? Let's break this sentence down:

1. The Body of Christ: The church functions like a body. A glance over at 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says as much:

For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 

-1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (HCSB)

We're a unit. Every part of the body, every person, has their own unique roles and parts to play. We have the same Spirit and the same Jesus and the same gospel; this should lead us to act together in support of those things we have in common. Ephesians 4 takes it a bit further:

But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

 -Ephesians 4:15-16 (HCSB)

We are fitted together so that we can grow together, building each other up so that we can all be the follower of Jesus that we are made to be.

2. Living United and Loving: As we move as a body, leaning on one another to be able to live this Christian life, we do so as a united and loving body. A body cannot function properly unless it is in agreement. 

One time, I was playing basketball with my brother, and I decided to drive to the basket. My head, arms, torso and right leg were in agreement on how that should happen; my left ankle was not. The result was that all of my body later agreed that my ankle should not be that swollen and painful. This is the kind of damage that can happen when a body part isn't in agreement with the rest of the body: pain and a loss of progression. It's hard to drive on the basketball court with a rogue ankle, and it is hard to fight the war with three fronts as a body with rogue parts.

This is why Jesus prayed this for the church:

I pray not only for these,

but also for those who believe in Me

through their message.

May they all be one,
as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be one in Us,
so the world may believe You sent Me.

I have given them the glory You have given Me.
May they be one as We are one.

I am in them and You are in Me.
May they be made completely one,
so the world may know You have sent Me
and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Father,
I desire those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am.
Then they will see My glory,
which You have given Me
because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.

Righteous Father!
The world has not known You.
However, I have known You,
and these have known that You sent Me.

I made Your name known to them
and will make it known,
so the love You have loved Me with
may be in them and I may be in them. 

-John 17:20-26 (HCSB)

He prayed for us to love each other and be so in sync with each other that we are as united as He is with the Father. A Trinitarian-level of unity is pretty united, if I must say so myself. That's how He says that the world will know that we are His and that the Gospel is for real! Hebrews 10:24-25 goes on to say that we must encourage each other in this, "more and more as the day draws near." We must pursue an other-worldly unity that shows the gospel to the lost, and we do it together.

3. Doing Life Together: There are so many passages that could explain how the church lives united and loving as a body. Galatians 6:1-5 shows how to bear each others burdens, while Matthew 5:14-16 tells us to "shine before men." The best passage, though, to look at is Acts 2:42-47:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.

Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved. 

-Acts 2:42-47 (HCSB)

This is how we live life together: learning about God, talking about God, praying to God and breaking bread in the name of God. That's what the church does: follow Jesus together. They generous give to each other. They care and love for each other. And did you happen to read the last part? "And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved." They were being united, showing the gospel by living life together, and that brings more people to Jesus.

4. As a Family: The Church is a body that lives life together in unity and love, yes, but there is a deepness to it that I believe one more passage helps with, and that is Ephesians 2:19:

So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 

-Ephesians 2:19 (HCSB)

We're a family, members of one household. Yes, we're exchanged. Yes, we are following Jesus. We love God and neighbor. We fight a war on those three fronts. However, as we do all of that, we're not alone. We have a home base, a group of people that care and keep up with us. That hold us accountable. That play games and laugh and cry and scream with us because they are family.

The church must maintain all of this to be successful at supporting one another on the mission we are all on. We have to be there for each other. We have to support and rebuke and encourage and disciple and coach another. After all, that's how we will all make it to the end.

Who Are Our Brothers and Sisters?

Do we think about the importance of our church families? When was the last time that you thought to yourself, "man, I would be distraught if I lost contact with one of them"? Have you ever really thought about the importance of being in the family of the Church? Have you thought about the fact that we say "brothers and sisters" about our fellow church members, and what that should mean in regards to how we approach these relationships? Today, let's briefly look at what Jesus had to say about the family of God and how important it should be in our lives.

While Jesus was preaching one day, his mom and siblings came to wherever He was preaching and wanted to speak with Him. One of people around, probably a disciple, came up to Jesus at a break point and said "Hey, your mom and brothers are here and wanna talk to you (Luke 8:20, Bryan Watts Paraphrase)."

Now, before I tell you Jesus' response, I want to remind you of some context here. Jesus has been at home in Nazareth, with His family, until He was thirty. This is a guy who had helped around the family business, spent years in town, etc. Jesus wasn't the kid that turned 18 and bolted for the furthest college that He could go to; He was with His family until He was thirty. Then, upon turning thirty, He proceeded to start His ministry, traveling all about the countryside, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom.

He probably hasn't seen His family for some time. They probably miss Him. My guess is that they had made a special trip to wherever He was in order to see Him. His response?

"My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God." -Luke 8:21, HCSB

What the what, Jesus?! Doesn't this seem insensitive? Doesn't this seem uncaring? Is He rejecting His family?

What I believe we are seeing here is not a commentary on how much Jesus loved His Earthly family, because I believe He loved them very much. Instead, I believe we see how much more He loves His spiritual family, the Church, and by extension, how much we should love them.

Christ died on behalf of His people. He longs for us to be in relationship with Him. His desire is for us to be with Him in glory and reign alongside Him for eternity, He as the Groom and the Church as His bride. That's us. He loves us that much.

Yet, despite how much our Savior loves us, how often do we disregard our family of faith? Names like "brothers" and "mother" are familial terms! We're the body of Christ, His beloved Bride, and we spend so much time ignoring our relationship with one another! We wouldn't ignore and disregard our families like that, would we? We are to be a family, even more so than our Earthly families. We're a body, made of many important, indispensable members, and it is crucial that we stay together.

Our church needs us and we need our churches. Be there for them. Love them. Appreciate them. Help them. Be active for them. Serve them. It is your calling, Christian. Don't neglect her; if she is loved enough by Christ that He died for her, then we should love her in a similar fashion.

Today, reach out to a part of the local body you belong to. Say hello, check in on them, do something kind for them. If you are not a member of a local church, find one. get involved in Christ's church; it is absolutely a must for the Christian to be in the body of Christ.

Let's stop neglecting our brothers and sisters. Christ died to make the family of God what it is; don't reject His work on the cross to bring us together by ignoring His bride.

The Largest Genocide in World History...And You Are Doing Nothing About It

This coming Sunday is known as "The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday" in churches across the United States. This year marks 40 years since Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave women "the right" to have an abortion. Since then, 55,871,353 fetuses have been aborted.

Or, if this will make it more real to you, 55,871,353 children have been aborted. 55,871,353 future living, breathing people have been exterminated, and the number is climbing day-by-day.

Let these numbers soak in:

Amount killed in genocides

Nazi Holocaust: 6 million Jews, 11 million total
Killing Fields of Cambodia: between 1 and 3 million, believed to be closest to 2.2 million
Rwandan genocide (1994): at least 800,000, as many as 1 million
Darfur genocide: 178,258–461,520
Trail of Tears/American genocide of Native Americans: approx. 4,000

Perhaps using genocides (mass killings of a people) doesn't allow the magnitude of this to register. Let me show you some other numbers.

Amount killed in wars

World War II: 50-73 million
World War I: 15-60 million (high estimate includes deaths due to Spanish Flu, which killed between 20-50 million people; thus, World War I alone probably killed much closer to the lower end)
Vietnam War: 1-3 million
American Civil War: 400,000-800,000 thousand

According to these numbers, only World War II (the deadliest war in history) and the combination of World War I/Spanish Flu can top the deaths in the United States due to abortions since 1973. No genocide, not even that of Nazi design, comes close. Bear in mind, WWII and WWI were worldwide wars, and I only include numbers for abortions in the United States since Roe v Wade. I have no idea how much higher the total number of abortions worldwide (even since 1973, not even before) could possibly be.

And yet, this mass killing of humans is happening in the United States under the guise of women's rights. Just as Hitler believed that it was his right to rid the world of the unwanted Jews and homosexuals (among others), millions of Americans believe that it is a woman's right to rid the world of her unwanted child.

You can try to spin this however you want. Go ahead, tell me how a fetus isn't a human being. Go ahead, tell me I don't understand. Go ahead, tell me that no one should tell a woman what to do with her body. You will not convince me, and I will only be more convinced of the depravity and evil in this world.

You cannot tell me that I do not understand. My brother was supposed to die at birth, or even before, due to a defect in his placenta. Even if he survived, he would have severe problems for life. The doctors advised that my parents abort him; they didn't. He is now my best friend and is perfectly normal. He attends college and plans to be a police officer. Yet, medical officials believed the best option was to abort this person.

You cannot tell me that a woman has the right to do with her body, and that no one else can say anything. Tell that to the person on the other end of a suicide hotline, talking a woman down from taking those pills. Tell that to the counselor, who desperately wants the teen to quit cutting herself. People only get mad about telling a woman (or man, honestly) what to do with her body when it is inconvenient. People are only upset when the part of a woman's body that is being damaged can be killed and thrown away, having never been heard or seen outside of a protruding belly.

You cannot tell me that a fetus is not a baby. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-14). The Spirit filled John the Baptist within Elizabeth's womb in Luke 1; as my friend Austin Little pointed out, God fills people with his Spirit. Why fill nothing more than a pre-human, non-spiritual creature/piece of flesh/thing with His glorious Self? It would be ridiculous and clearly points to God's belief that a fetus is a human being.

This has gone on long enough, and will continue as long as Christians sit quietly. We are watching one of the biggest, if not the biggest, killing of human beings unfold right before our eyes. The American genocide of unborn children has been happening for 40 years; will we allow it to continue for another 40?

*Only select genocides and wars were included; I used the largest I could find, as well as some well-known others. I, to the best of my knowledge, have included the highest killing genocide and war. Comment if you know of a worse example, and I'll be glad to add it.
-Stats taken from http://www.numberofabortions.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll. Feel free to stat-check me. I doubt that you'll find numbers large enough to dwarf the American genocide of the unborn to an insignificant number, but you're welcome to try-

Welcome to the New America

^"Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength." -1 Corinthians 1:20-25, HCSB

This verse speaks of how Christians will be deemed foolish by the world, and in the United States, we've escaped much of this. Our nation has long been a stronghold of Christian belief and religious freedom, regardless of what the rest of the world might think.

But it is all changing.

Yesterday, Louie Giglio withdrew from participating in President Obama's inauguration. The popular pastor of Atlanta's Passion City Church, as well as the founder of the Passion Movement, felt that it was for the betterment of everyone involved if he backed out from the great honor of praying before a presidential election. Why would he feel this way?

Approximately 15-20 years ago, Louie preached a sermon in which he clearly stated the sinful nature of homosexuality. Bear in mind, he didn't rake homosexuals over without stating that everyone sins and that we are all in need of a Savior; from the view of a Christian, this shouldn't be any different that stating the clearly sinful nature of murder or lying. All three actions are sins, and all three will equally deem one worthy of Hell.

Apparently some liberal watchdog group found out about this sermon, and started causing an uproar about how no one should be praying at the inauguration that maintains that homosexuality is a sin. Later, the Obama administration put out a notice that they were sorry for any offense taken to their choice (Louie was chosen to pray due to his work with the President on the abolition of slavery all over the world, and not on any other grounds), and that they would never want to go against the "strength and diversity" of this nation.

Yet, having a scenario where Louie felt the need to step down from this honor is also going against diversity. Now, due to this precedent, no evangelical pastor who holds to Scripture (1 Timothy 1:10) and believes that homosexuality is a sin is eligible to pray over the president's inauguration. As the president of the Southern Baptist Seminary, Albert Mohler, stated:

 

"The Presidential Inaugural Committee and the White House have now declared historic, biblical Christianity to be out of bounds, casting it off the inaugural program as an embarrassment. By its newly articulated standard, any preacher who holds to the faith of the church for the last 2,000 years is persona non grata. By this standard, no Roman Catholic prelate or priest can participate in the ceremony. No Evangelical who holds to biblical orthodoxy is welcome. The vast majority of Christians around the world have been disinvited. Mormons, and the rabbis of Orthodox Judaism are out. Any Muslim imam who could walk freely in Cairo would be denied a place on the inaugural program. Billy Graham, who participated in at least ten presidential inaugurations is welcome no more. Rick Warren, who incited a similar controversy when he prayed at President Obama’s first inauguration, is way out of bounds. In the span of just four years, the rules are fully changed."

 

There are many times when I am not a huge fan of President Mohler, but his post on this issue was spot on. Religion, particular evangelical Christianity, is being pushed out of the way in this nation. No longer is a biblical worldview the norm, or even acceptable to many.

 

Now is the time, Church in America. Now is the time to figure out where you stand. I believe that the next 20 or 30 years will change the religious structure in this nation completely, as the "wise" continue to ostracize and mock the people holding to truth of Christ. If you look at Europe, and the fall of religion there, it isn't unlikely that we will follow suit.

 

During the time that Paul wrote the words of 1 Corinthians, the Greeks were considered the wisest people around. Their use of logic and knowledge of the world made them a brilliant empire, and one that we still follow after today. Interestingly (and sadly), the United States is becoming much like the Greeks: arrogant in their knowledge and prideful in their logic. Much of this country, particularly young people (my generation) believe that the ways of religious orthodoxy are obsolete, ignorant of the world, and even hateful towards the rights of others.

 

To all of this, I simply say: "Yet, to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and wisdom, because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."

 

You may mock us, disregard us, and call us whatever you like. My Savior died for me and I will reign with Him forever, regardless of what the world calls wise.

 

Money and Possessions: It's All About the Heart

"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field?  Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!”  When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?”
“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”
 
Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things." -Acts 5:1-11, HCSB

Every now and then, the Bible gets intense. Everything will be going smoothly, then BAM! Things get real. Quick. This is one of those times.

The book of Acts flows smoothly (relatively) from the beginning to here: Jesus ascends to heaven, the Holy Spirit descends to the Church, Peter preaches, the Church grows, the disciples do some other stuff, the Church grows more. It's a pretty fluid deal, until we get to Acts 5. Here, we see a man and wife named Annias and Sapphira, respectively. They didn't apparently jive with Acts 4:32-37, which speaks to the massive generosity of the early Church.

They sold a plot of land, and then decided to keep part of the profit. This isn't wrong, but it appears that they gave the money they gave a) under the guise that they were giving all the proceeds, b) making a show of their giving, or c) both. Regardless, the issue here is the same: they had a heart problem.

The whole attitude for giving in Christ is found in Matthew 6, specifically verses 1-4. Here, Jesus makes it clear: giving is a heart deal. We aren't to make a show of ourselves when giving, saying "hey, look at me! I'm holy and give so much!" That defeats the point of giving; we are to make much of God, giving Him what is already His. Making much of ourselves in giving takes the focus off of the Gifted and puts it on the gifter (whom is giving to God what was already His to begin with).

Also, if they simply wanted to hoard, Matthew 6:19-24 is Jesus' answer to that. He talks here about gathering up treasures and such here on earth, and how stupid and pointless this is. We're all going to die (or be raptured); there ain't a single one of us taking our crap with us. If Annias was wanting to hoard, then his problem was Matthew 6:24; he had made himself a slave to money, not God. One cannot be a slave to two masters.

Are you a slave to money, or God? Are you giving to make much of you, or to make much of God? What's at the core of your approach and attitude to money and possessions?

Discipleship, Part Four: Teaching

We have finally arrived at the fourth and final portion of discipleship: teaching. This is, interestingly, the aspect of discipleship that most people often think of first, and yet also feel the most incapable of done. Perhaps this is why there is a thorough lack of discipleship in the Church today. Today, we will briefly look at the teaching aspect of discipleship, and hopefully answer a few questions:

-How important is biblical training/truth?
-Can you be mature without knowledge?
-Can you be knowledgeable without maturity?


1. Knowledge is important, but not everything

The Bible is the Word of God. It is the most reliable and consistent way for us to know about Him and what He has to say. Thus, we absolutely must do everything we can to dive into His Word and learn, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. But...

"Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that 'We all possess knowledge.' But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know" -1 Corinthians 8:1-2, NIV

As we see here in 1 Corinthians, knowledge can only get you so far. If you know how to build an engine, that's great. But if you don't use this knowledge, what good does it do you? The same principle applies to biblical knowledge: you can be an authority on the life of Christ, but if you never live your live in a way that reflects that, then your knowledge is wasted.

We will look more into this next week in our Discipleship series conclusion, but I will just state a short preview: in discipleship, you must balance your teaching with the intangible, other three aspects.

2. Maturity comes through knowledge

"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." -Ephesians 4:11-16, NIV

This passage begins by telling us that God gifts people with the ability to teach. This we know; some people are better teachers than others. Yet, did you catch why? Paul writes that the reasoning behind having teachers is so that the Church will become mature.

Think about it: if you don't know how to live like Christ, then how can you? It is through knowledge of God and His Word that we get to achieve a greater maturity in Him.


3. You can have knowledge that doesn't lead to maturity

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both nowand to the day of eternity. Amen" -2 Peter 3:18, HCSB

Knowledge isn't the only goal in our discipleship. Look at the Pharisees in Jesus' life: they were experts on the laws of God. They knew them in and out. Yet, Jesus blasted them regularly. Maybe the best example of this is in Matthew 5, where Jesus outlines multiple laws, and then takes them to a new, more internal, heart-based meaning.

You see, if we simply fill our disciples with knowledge, we are only making Pharisees: people that know about God, but not how to conform to Him (Romans 8:29) and live live like Him. Our goal is to lead people to be like Christ, not just know what he said. As Peter so eloquently said in the passage above, we are to grow in both grace and knowledge. Knowledge is good and important, I cannot underscore that enough. But without growing in grace, without growing in the love and joy and peace of Christ, we are not being disciples of Christ. We are merely reference machines. We must approach the knowledge of God like this, and likewise, lead our disciples down the same path.  

Discipleship and Church Strategy: What Is Your Focus?

"Then Jesus came near and said to them, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20, HCSB

This is the famous Great Commission passage, which happens to be the exact passage I opened up with my recent post, Discipleship: An Introduction, with. On Tuesday, I continued this series on discipleship, which is at the core of everything the Christian should be doing. Our primary concern should be to make disciples. It is the command Christ gave us to accomplish while waiting for His return (the end of the age).

This also applies to the Church as a whole. The mission of the Church should be discipleship. Not huddle groups and bible classes; discipleship is the job of every believer, not just a few "teachers." Every single Christian is to "go."

I've noticed an interesting thing, though. We almost always leave verse 18 off when we are talking about the Great Commission. If the last command of Christ is so important, why not include all of it? Sure, verse 18 isn't directly a command. However, it may be even more important, as it gives Christ's reasoning for verses 19-20.

The entire reason that Christians share the gospel, lead people to Christ and assist in the convert's journey into discipleship is because Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the supreme Lord and King over all. Everything we do is to glorify this King. He runs the show, and we lift Him up the whole way.

We can disciple and strategize and teach all day, and never accomplish the Great Commission. You see, if we forget that the entire reason for discipleship and church growth is the glory of our Lord, we are nothing more than a group of pagan idol worshippers, recruiting people to worship ourselves and our ideas.

We keep God and His Word at the center of everything we do, and we especially keep the very focus of God's Word (the gospel) at the forefront of what we are doing. If we remove the bright torch that is the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from our focus, we will be left to be devoured by wolves and trip over our own feet in the darkness of this world.

The gospel, and the glory it brings God, is why we disciple. Without the gospel, you are simply leading people down a path of which even you cannot see. If you are leading people without a focus on their salvation in Christ and the glory of God in that, then you are leading people for an eternity away from God. That, my friends, is not a good direction to be headed.

A Rather Explicit Warning to Christians

Warning: this blog post discusses a graphic portion of the Biblical text. It is most certainly not a PG post. It also contains a graphic warning for all Christians to observe.

While they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden, perverted men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!” The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, don’t do this evil, my brothers. After all, this man has come into my house. Don’t do this horrible thing. Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine now. Use them and do whatever you want to them. But don’t do this horrible thing to this man.”

This is a messed-up scene, huh? A bunch of men, attacking a house so that they can have their way with some visitor to town. This is, on a scale of 1-10, probably a solid 11 in "what the heck is going on?!" I mean, the owner of this house doesn't want the crowd to have the guy, so he offers up his own daughter and the visitor's woman. This seems like a series of events worthy of some divine judgment, correct?

This did, in fact, bring judgment; the whole "entire town rapes visitor" thing is the camel that broke the camel's back and led to the annihilation of Sodom and Gommorah. But I didn't quote from the famous Genesis 19 passage at the beginning of this post. In fact, the above passage of Scripture is not describing a "pagan" town. No, the event I quoted above happened in a town called Gibeah, home to part of the tribe of Benjamin. As in, the Israelite tribe of Benjamin.

This heinous event mirrors Sodom almost perfectly, and it happened among God's people. And it gets worse.

The owner of the house, while the visitor is presumably asleep, takes this visitor's lady friend and throws her out of the house, just to satisfy the sexual desires of these men. They rape her, and she is finally left to collapse in front of the door of the house as the sun comes up. When her husband found her, there was no response (Judges 19:25-28).

I believe that God's current people, the Church, should look back to this event as a warning. Those of us in the Church can be quick to point fingers at injustice, all while passing over our own sin (which is often the same sin we condemn others for).

It is biblical to call for all to repent, turning from sin. We must not forget that we, too, are called to repent.

Pieces or Potato Head?

Have you ever wondered what you would say, if you had only one thing to say to a person you cared deeply about? What if you were allowed five minutes with them? What would you say?

Jesus had a moment like this. Moments before He was betrayed, arrested, beaten and killed, He was on His knees on a mountain, praying. First, He prayed for Himself. Then, for His twelve disciples. Finally, for all believers. The Book of John records this final portion of His prayer, focus on all of those who call on His Name, for only seven verses. I want to focus on the front four verses of this prayer:

I pray not only for these,
but also for those who believe in Me
through their message.
May they all be one,
as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be one in Us,
so the world may believe You sent Me.
I have given them the glory You have given Me.
May they be one as We are one.
I am in them and You are in Me.
May they be made completely one,
so the world may know You have sent Meand have loved them as You have loved Me.
-John 17:20-23, HCSB

He prays only seven verses worth about us, right before His arrest, and what does He spend four of those verses praying for? Unity. He prays that we would "all be one," as "You, Father are in Me and I am in You." He prays that we "also be one with Us [God]," "One as We are one," and that we may "be made completely one." I'm not sure, but I think Jesus wants us to be one.

It is said that the body of Christ is the Church (all Christians). Here's the thing: a finger, toe and ear are not a body. If you see a Mr. Potato Head's arm and teeth on the ground, you do not think that these pieces are the body of the toy. Instead, you see them as pieces of one structure.

The same is the case for the Church. We may have many pieces, with different functions, flavors and styles, but we are just that: a bunch of pieces. Apart, we are only able to accomplish so much, just as my eyeball could only do so much without the rest of me.

Christ intends for Christians of all kinds to unite under the commonality that we all find in Christ as our Savior, Lord and Treasure, rather than squabbling over differences. The quicker we quit our infighting and start uniting, the quicker the point of our unity will be realized: "so that the world may believe You sent Me (v.21)." We are on mission, Church, and a group on mission must be unified.