The Kingdom, Rightly Expressed (Acts 8: 4-25)

In the last sermon in this series, we discussed how the persecution that followed Stephen’s death scattered the church. The persecution was bad, but the scattering was good. It took God’s people out of Jerusalem and into all the world. #greatcomission  This is where we pick up.

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention (“were praying to him”[1]) and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”[2] 11 They followed him because he had bewitched them for a long time with his sorcery.

 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,[3]they were baptized, men and women.[4] 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, bewitched by the great signs and miracles he saw.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.[5]

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability/authority so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 Peter answered: “"Your silver will go with you to destruction, because you thought that the gift of God is acquired by the possessions of the world."21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 

22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”[6]24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”[7]

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

* * * * *

We learn a lot in this passage about how God expects His kingdom to come to earth, as it is in heaven. We will focus on three key things.

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, brings blessing and joy.

Sick and broken people (and those who cared about them) listened to what Philip had to say when their lives got better after a follower of Jesus showed up. He cast out demons and healed the sick. “There was great joy.” You bet there was.[8] How would there not be?  I’ve said more than once that when the Kingdom is clicking on all cylinders, the poor, the sick, the powerless and oppressed are going to say, “Thank God the Christians are here!”

However, if the story stops there, it’s just a contest of miracles vs. magic. Apparently Simon did some really impressive stuff too. I don’t know if he made their lives better, but he had their attention. It seems that people tend to follow both 1) those who impress them, and 2) those would can make their lives better. So, there is going to have to be more to what Philip has to offer than just the practical provision. And there is.

“But Philip proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.”

There are different reasons people follow a spiritual leader—but only one reason people become disciples: they accept a truth that transforms not just their physical bodies but also their hearts and souls.

Great joy came to the city thanks to how Philip was healing people, and that was a good thing. But just like Jesus healing the lame man before he forgave his sins, Philip healed people on the outside in the name of Jesus so they had good reason to believe that Jesus had the power to heal them on the inside.

This could be a whole sermon, but I’ll try to put it succinctly. If the power of God manifesting in ways that people could see served as proof that God can do things inside that they couldn’t see, would that not be true of any manifestation of the power of God? Not just the kind of miracles Philip did, but the tangible expression of God’s love, kindness, mercy, justice, grace, etc.? When we express these things as tangible actions that help the circumstances of others in ways they can see, I suspect it sends a message about what God can do in the intangible spiritual parts of people that they can’t see. To paraphrase an old saying, we can give someone a fish, teach them to fish, and point them to Jesus, who feeds their souls. They all work together.

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, erases unholy fault lines.[9]

The laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit is recorded only two other times in Acts (the conversion of Saul in Acts 9, and a group of disciples in Ephesus in Acts 19). There were a lot of other times where the laying on of hands does not seem necessary (like at Pentecost). Why did it matter here?

I’m leaning toward the commentaries that suggest the apostles laid hands on them here because they needed to be a part of a clear sign that the Spirit of God was living and active in Samaritans (!).[10]

The Samaritans were descendants of Israelites who had intermarried with the conquering Assyrians during the exile (2 Kings 17). They kept some Old Testament traditions and doctrine, but they also blended pagan beliefs. Faithful Jews saw Samaritans as corrupt and unclean.

When Jews from the Southern Kingdom returned from Babylonian captivity and began to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans offered help. The Jews refused. So, the Samaritans tried to sabotage what they were doing (Ezra 4:1–5). They also tried to stop the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall (Nehemiah 4:2).

The Samaritans finally built a temple of their own. About 130 years before the time of Jesus, a Jewish king defeated the Samaritan nation and destroyed their temple on Mount Gerizim. Though it was never rebuilt, the Samaritans insisted that Gerizim was the only legitimate place of worship – which was part of Jesus discussion with the woman at the well (John 4:20). [11]

Jews and Samaritans had centuries of theological/social hostility. If they weren’t careful, the early church could fracture along old lines of hostility. The apostles themselves needed to participate in ratifying Jesus’ presence with the Samaritans and literally touching a people the Jews would have considered unclean. God made unity visible, with the hands of his people standing in for His hand being upon them.

The gospel doesn’t just heal individuals—it heals communities. It breaks unholy boundaries, confronts old rivalries, and forms what Paul will eventually call “one new humanity.” (Ephesians 2:15)

This could be a whole sermon, so here’s the brief version: There is just no room for unholy fault lines in the church. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:26-28,

It is your faith in the Anointed Jesus that makes all of you children of God because all of you who have been initiated into the Anointed One through the ceremonial washing of baptism have put Him on. It makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a freeman, a man or a woman, because in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, you are all one.

In that culture, there were fault lines between Jews and Greeks, slave and free, and men and women (I guess the Samaritan one had already been addressed). Today we might talk about separating, judging, and creating hierarchies of value over things like race, nationality, class, education level, gender, age, citizenship, etc. Every culture at every time has its own things that hinder God’s people from uniting in Christ.

One thing is clear. God allows no place for this. God demands that the good news of the saving gospel of Jesus be given to all people at all places at all times, and that when we are genuinely united by the Spirit of God, the ground will be level at the foot of the cross, and whosever will may come.

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, chooses service over control.

Simon will provide us with what an example of at least one thing that will ruin a joyful community: pride; or the need to be in control to elevate oneself.

Justin (The) Martyr, martyred in 165, had Samaritan lineage. He claimed that almost all the Samaritans considered Simon the highest god (our translation gives the title “the Great Power of God.”) Whatever Simon was doing must have been impressive. Yet, Simon appears to have responded to the message of the Gospel: he “believed” and was “baptized.” Then he apparently saw something really powerful when the Holy Spirit arrived, and he wanted a piece of that action.

“Give me also this ability/authority so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit...”

Peter saw into the root of the problem and called it out:

“Your heart is not right before God… you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Bitterness seems like an odd choice of words – unless it has something to do with being angry that he had lost the spotlight. He seems to have desired power, a stage, a reputation, importance, admiration, etc. To accomplish those things, he was willing to turn the Holy Spirit into a commodity to distribute. It looks like he was more interested in people being impressed by him than transformed by the Holy Spirit.

It’s a terrible practice to use the things of the Kingdom to magnify ourselves. The Kingdom invites surrender; we do not have hearts right before God when we continue to desire control and seek power or try to make sure the spotlight does not waver in its focus on us.

We see Simon’s un-right heart on display when Peter invited repentance.[12] Simon didn’t repent; he just asked Peter to “pray that nothing bad happens to me.” Apparently Peter did, because there is no record that anything bad happened to Simon.[13]  

There’s probably a whole sermon to preach here  but if “hope deferred makes the heart sick,” I wonder if “pride deferred makes the heart bitter.” Here’s something to watch out for: if it makes us mad and/or jealous when the spotlight wavers from us and focuses on someone else, we need a heart check. The church is meant to filled with servants, not attention-seekers. We need servers, not celebrities. Remember what the ground is like at the foot of the cross? That’s the landscape on which God’s church is meant to be built.

Quick recap:

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, brings blessing and joy. It will attract because it makes life better when rightly lived. But that kind of blessing alone doesn’t lead to faith. It opens doors (or eyes and ears) into which “the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” can be preached. Practical provision is an important good that can transform someone’s practical condition, but only the gospel transforms hearts. It’s good to do both.

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, erases unholy fault lines.  God made the apostles lay hands on Samaritans – a people previously loathed by the Jewish people - so that everyone would know that no one is second-class in the kingdom of God. The Spirit unites what all the divisive “-isms”[14] would tear apart.

The Kingdom, rightly expressed, chooses service over control. Simon wanted the benefits of the kingdom without surrendering to its King. He wanted the Spirit’s power in his hands rather than over his life. The King of  this Kingdom confronts this. The kingdom is not magic, manipulation, or power—it is surrender, transformation, and a new kind of life of cruciform love empowered by the Holy Spirit.

* * * * *

Acts 8 gives us a warning and a hope.

The warning: We can go through all the motions—believe, get baptized, follow the miracles—and still miss the heart of the kingdom. Matthew 7:15-23 notes:

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 

Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

This is a wild passage. Apparently, people can prophesy, cast out demons, and do miracles, while being practitioners of lawlessness who are not part of the kingdom. Those verses suggest that sometimes prophecy, exorcism and miracles are actually bad fruit. That should sober us when we are drawn to someone’s ministry simply because of signs and wonders.

It’s those who do the will of the Father – those who increasingly look like Jesus - whom Jesus recognizes as his own. There is something about faithful obedience in response to God’s love and grace that is really, really important. It’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit that offers testimony to true discipleship. Let’s never elevate impressiveness over character, or charisma over righteous maturity. 

The hope: When Peter confronted Simon, he invited him to repent. This participates in a theme we see over and over in the Bible.

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." (Acts 3:19)

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them finds mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)

 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

 “Rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”[15] (Joel 2:13)

Grace remains offered to even the worst offenders. Simon’s sin is pretty terrible: treating the Holy Spirit like a magical toy. And yet he is told,

“Repent and pray to the Lord in hope that he may forgive you.”

Or, as Peter will later say,

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

The is the heart of “the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” God will make us new, and invites us into life in His kingdom.

 ___________________________________________________________________________

[1] Aramaic Bible in Plain English

[2] “Simon Magus the sorcerer is frequently mentioned in ancient writings outside the Bible as the archenemy of the church and one of the leaders of the Gnostic heresy. Gnosticism (named from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge”) taught that a person gained salvation not by the merit of Christ’s death for sinners, but by special knowledge about God. Justin Martyr (died c. a.d. 165), himself a Samaritan, says that almost all the Samaritans considered Simon the highest god (the “power of God,” v. 10). Irenaeus (died c. a.d. 180), who wrote extensively against the Gnostics, regards Simon as one of the sources of their heresies.” (ESV Reformation Study Bible) 

[3] HELPS Word-studies 3686 ónoma – name; (figuratively) the manifestation or revelation of someone's character, i.e. as distinguishing them from all others. Thus "praying in the name of Christ" means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. "Praying in Jesus' name" therefore is not a "religious formula" just to end prayers (or get what we want)! 

["According to Hebrew notions, a name is inseparable from the person to whom it belongs, i.e. it is something of his essence. Therefore, in the case of the God, it is specially sacred" (Souter).]

[4] “The eager reception by the people (v. 12) is due in part to the foundation laid by St. Photini, the Samaritan woman of Jn 4, who brought news of the Messiah before His crucifixion (see Jn 4:39).” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[5] The Orthodox call this chrismation, the “anointing for the reception of the Holy Spirit”.

[6] Peter is using language from Isa 58.6.

[7] “He offered Simon an opportunity to repent, for Simon, unlike Ananias and Sapphira who died instantly (5:5, 10), was quick to ask for prayers so that the curse pronounced by Peter would not take effect (8:24).” (Africa Bible Commentary)

[8]  “Spirit-given delight that arises from the redemptive acts and abiding presence of God.” (Topical Lexicon)

[9] Think of things that could bring about relational earthquakes that shake or fracture the church.

[10] “The Lord waited to demonstrate the full power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 15–16) until some of the apostles themselves could be present. This way there would be no question at all that the Samaritans had received the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Jewish Christians had (see Rom. 11:13–24; Eph. 2:11–22).” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[11] I am summarizing parts of an article from The Master’s University called “The Unlikeliest Ally.” https://www.masters.edu/thinking_blog/the-unlikeliest-ally/

[12] Something he had not done with Ananias & Sapphira. They lied to the Spirit; Simon tries to buy the Spirit. That’s seems equally egregious. Hmmmm…..

[13] “According to tradition, he afterwards returned to his magical arts and was a bitter enemy of the Church.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[14] Racism, sexism, classism, etc.

[15] #Godcreed

Being People of the Word: Essenes, Zealots and Pharisees

Last week, I noted I’ve been listening to the Bema Podcast with Marty Solomon. Once again, this week’s material borrows heavily from his podcast, specifically episodes 73-81, which can be found at bemadiscipleship.com.

We started to look at what happened to the Jewish people before the arrival of Jesus, when they had returned from exile and splintered into 5 groups, all of which had reached different conclusions about how best to live as people of God in Greek/Roman culture. Jesus had a plan to build a group of disciples – that will become the church – from a potentially volatile mixture with representatives from all approaches. If we can learn from all of them, perhaps we will find a way forward during divisive political times that reflects the teaching and life of Jesus.

* * * * *

LAST WEEK

The Sadducees, the priests in the Temple, became corroborators with Hellenism, enablers who believed Alexander the Great’s euangelion: “Good news!  The Kingdom of Greece had arrived!” They loved the focus on self, wealth, power, and comfort. When their insider privilege was threatened by Roman advance, they invited the wealthiest man they knew (Herod) to keep Rome happy with his money and them happy with their continuing status quo by naming him the King of the Jews. They turned into corrupt bullies who were wiped out when the Temple fell. The encouragement: embrace the priestly role God has given to all of us. The caution: not like the Sadducees, whose love of the Empire corrupted their leadership in the Kingdom.

The Herodians were more the cultural version of the Sadducees. They liked the goodies of the self-centered Hellenism, and what had been a community of generosity for the poor and powerless became a community focused on all the pleasures this world had to offer. We said the good thing they brought was that they knew the culture. They were perfectly situated to have a Kingdom impact in Greek and Roman culture. However, they fell in love with the very worldview that conquered them and lived not only in the world, but as the world.[1]

This brings us to the Essenes, Zealots and Pharisees.  

Essenes

They thought the corrupt system of the Sadducees was inviting God’s judgment, so they went to the desert to spend what time they had left preparing. Well, most of them did. Priests like Zachariah, who likely had Essene connections,[2] stayed in the system and did his duty. Maybe this is a Group #6: those who believed the temple system was completely corrupt but felt like they couldn’t give up on the call that God gave to priests. Let’s call them the Zachariahns.

The Essenes liked Jeremiah 6:16: “Stand at the crossroads, ask for the ancient past, ask where the good way is, and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.” The Essenes wanted to be ready for the day when God’s people would again ask about the good way. They went out to the desert to know the path and to walk the path by devoting themselves to knowing, writing, and living the text.

They were serious. Writing the text was a four-person job. One person recited the word from a scroll while another person stood behind that person make sure they got it right. The scribe writing the word had a person looking over his shoulder to make sure he wrote the right word in the right way. Every time they got to the name of God, they all would take a break for a ritual bath in a mikvah before they wrote what they were allowed to write for the name of God just to be sure they were clean enough to do so.[3]

The mikvah was done in a baptistry filled with ‘living water’, water that came from God and moved of its own accord, which meant from either an underground spring or rain. The minute they carried it in a bucket, it was no longer living water. So, they channeled rainwater from the local wadi (a dry streambed that would flood during rainy season) through a plastered canal that ran to the village. They needed to be clean. They were serious about responding to God properly (as they understood it). They were all in.  They also liked Isaiah 40:

“Comfort, comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem…tell her that her sin has been paid for… A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every mountain brought down and every valley raised up. The rough places made smooth and the rugged places a plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.’”[4]

So, what is the upside of the Essenes? They were all in when it came to knowing and walking the path. They would not put up with corruption in the Temple. They were preparing themselves to stand at the crossroads and speak tenderly to the people when they arrived so the glory of the Lord would be revealed, and they could help people find rest for their souls.

What’s the downside? They’re not talking to anybody. They wanted to stand at the crossroads, but they were not at the crossroads. They were in the middle of the desert waiting for the crossroads to come to them.

ZEALOTS

Remember, the Zealots are part of the Hasidim, the pious ones, who headed to Galilee with the Pharisees as they rejected the compromise of the Sadducees and dedicated themselves to a righteous, uncompromising life. To the Zealot, it was going to take bloody violence to solve their problems and pave the way for the Messiah as God saw how committed they were and responded to their zeal.[5]

They were zealous not only against the Romans but also against the corrupt temple leadership. At one point, a Zealot went into the Temple courts and stabbed a sitting High Priest to death in the Temple courts.

They became insurgents who often used the tactics of terrorists. #sicarri They attacked Hasmonean dynasty (both the priestly class and the Greeks) for an entire century. Jesus will warn his disciples prone to violence that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The way the Zealot movement ended will prove his point.

A Zealot named Hezekiah led a revolt in 43 BC. Rome came after them. At first, they were just looking for the Zealots fighters, but those Zealots would just hide. So, Rome went after the women and children. In response, the Zealots hid their families in the Caves of Arbel.

The Roman army went to Arbel, set up scaffolding on the cliff face, then lit fires and blew the smoke into the cave so that everybody hiding inside had to come out. They grabbed them with pitchforks and threw them off the scaffolding to their death.

To give you an idea how this story arc ends, let’s skip to AD 66. Rome decided to put statues of Caesar in the Sadducee-led Temple. A bunch of Pharisees met the ships as they sailed into Caesarea and lay in the road to stop this from happening. Tensions were high. Eventually, a revolt that began outside of Caesarea ended up with 20,000 Jews executed in the countryside.

This started a revolution. At one point, several Roman legions found themselves trapped by the Zealots in a fortress in Jerusalem, so they negotiated a settlement to march out of the city to safety if they laid down their arms. As soon as they laid down their arms, the Zealots slaughtered every Roman soldier in the Fortress.

Eventually, Rome pushed them back to a city/fortress called Gamla. A Zealot fighter named Joseph told the residents how to fortify the city before going out to fight Vespasian. He got captured in Galilee[6] and apparently told them how to take Gamla. 4,000 Jews died in the fighting; 5,000 Jews jumped to their own death rather than be conquered.

Masada will be their last stand around AD 70, where close to 1,000 Jewish people led by the remaining Sicarri killed themselves rather than be taken alive. That will be the end of the Zealots.

So, what’s the upside for a Zealot? Zeal. Fire. They care enough about the cause of the Kingdom to give their lives. If God’s people were always committed to give their lives for the cause of Christ, our lives would serve as a powerful witness to the glorious truth for which we live.[7]

What’s the downside? They are fighting for the King the wrong way. There are killing people to expand and/or protect the Kingdom of God, and that’s not the way of the kingdom. The Messiah’s way happens when crooked paths are made straight, not when they are paved in blood. Zealots need to channel their zeal into holiness not expressed in ways that destroys the people who need to hear the message of the Kingdom.

PHARISEES

The Pharisees were Hasidim who decided to respond to the corruption of the priests by enticing the Messiah to come and cleanse the Temple thanks to their absolute devotion to the way of God. They were full of zeal for obedience, not attacking Rome. They were committed to the text, but they did not retreat from society. They lived in the culture, but did not think Hellenism was a euangelion. They were focused around the Galilee Triangle, which I only point out because it will come up later.

The Pharisees believed God would deal with Rome when God was good and ready. They had the entire Old Testament as proof. When God decided it was time to judge or reward a nation, God would make it happen. Meanwhile, they focused on absolute obedience to His commandments. They would develop the Mishnah, thousands of laws that acted like a fence around the 613 laws of the Torah. Surely, that much fencing would keep them safe from breaking the Torah’s laws! I found a PDF online. It was 780 pages long.

This is why the Pharisees were so hard on those who broke even the most minor law. If they could all just be obedient enough, God would save them. If they weren’t, He wouldn’t.

We see this once again in the architecture. Remember Zippori, the Herodian town with mosaic sidewalks and floors? Not so in the towns of the Galilee Triangle (Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida). Their synagogues have big, roughly cut stones. You won’t find mosaics on their floors or in their courtyards. They were not there to enjoy the luxury of Hellenism.

In the Herodian Quarter, we saw the outline of a Sadducee house with 17 bedrooms. The Pharisees, in contrast, lived in insulas, multifamily dwellings of up to 10 families. They weren’t trying to have their own house, or courtyard, or their own stuff. That was the siren call of Hellenism. The Pharisees believed God called them to share if they were committed to each other as a community. Insula living is a practical example of this.[8]

Jesus critiques the Pharisees, and rightly so. Yet they are his ministry focus for three years.He generally avoided the Sadducees.[9]He called and worked with Herodians, Essenes and Zealots. However, he only pronounced woes on the Pharisees. “Those whom the Lord loves, He chastens.” (Hebrews 12:6) He’s purifying one segment of Judaism: the Pharisees. As odd as this may sound, they have gleaned the best from the other groups. They are, however, missing two crucial things that really, really matter. Here, he addresses the Galilee Triangle to highlight what they still need.

Then He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon and than for you. And for Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? Will you be brought down to Hades? For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day, but I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment in the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:20–24)

 The Tyre and Sidon reference goes back to a passage about arrogance in the book of Isaiah.[10]The Sodom and Gomorrah reference has to do with a failure of compassion and hospitality.[11] Two groups of people epically condemned for their pride and hostility are going to judge the Pharisees, the Hasidim, the “pious ones.”

The Pharisees had the Text; they had devotion; they had at least a stated commitment to obedience; they had zeal for the way of God and longed for the Messiah to arrive. What they didn’t have was humility/repentance and compassion.

• When we won’t eat with sinners like Jesus did; when we lack a life-orienting compassion for the poor, the outcast, the sick, the immigrant, the tax collectors and Samaritans in our midst, we are Pharisees who need to learn mercy and compassion.

• If we claim the name of Jesus and insist the 10 Commandments be posted so that American can learn Judeo/Christian morals, and we break those commandments consistently and even boldly, we are hypocritical Pharisees need to learn repentance and humility.[12]

* * * * *

So, disciples of Jesus, “What do we do with the United States?” How do we learn from and value each other in the midst of the different responses represented in this room? Is there a way to find unity in our diversity? Jesus thought so; we should too. Let’s focus on what was of value from the different approaches. Perhaps in piecing them all together we can find wisdom.

We need zeal, but it needs to be zeal for the written word of God and Word made Flesh, not a zeal for civil war and violence of any kind.  We don’t want that holy, zealous fire to go out, but we don’t want it to flare up such that it burns others. Zealotry requires observation, supervision, self-reflection. It requires us to see if we are scorching those around us. It’s probably going to take a community that cares about each other to help us figure out how to keep the embers from going cold and from starting a destructive wildfire.

We need to be committed to the Word, both written and made human in Jesus. We need Essenes whose love of the Word written and incarnate inspire all of us to love the Word as well.[13] If we all valued what God had to say as much as they did, and if we all let it order our lives like they did, that in itself would be huge. It’s probably going to take a community that cares about each other to make this a labor of love and not legalism, a community where we see the exciting Christ-like transformation that the Word brings to our lives.

We need to know the culture. The early church did not isolate. They boldly redeemed culture Hellenistic images.

• The church took the iconic kriophoros, or lamb bearer, and used it to portray Christ as the Good Shepherd.

• The church used the praying figure of the pagan orant to symbolize Christian piety.

• The classic image of Jonah under the withered vine was based on the story and popular pictures of Endymion, a young man who fell in love with a goddess.

• A fresco of Christ as Orpheus in the Catacombs of Peter and Marcellus in Rome dates from the 4th century. Clement wrote, “Orpheus pacified wild beasts by the power of his song…Jesus’ new song tames ‘the most intractable of all animals – man.’”

The first Christians didn’t move out of the neighborhood once they became disciples of Christ. They saw a broken and dying world often odds with their new citizenship – and it broke their hearts. They stayed there and sought to bring the reality of new life in the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. How do we do this without becoming Herodians? It’s probably going to take a communitywhere a lot of thoughtful conversation, prayer and study help to keep us in the world but not of it.

We must understand the effectual power of obedience.[14] The Pharisees were wrong to believe that they had to earn God’s return by being good enough. They were not wrong about the importance of a consistent, obedient walk in the path of God. When faithful obedience becomes the consistent rhythm of our life, we are free from the controlling power and the terrible harvest of sinful choices; we will increasingly understand why Jesus said God’s path brings life; and we will impact others in life-giving ways.[15] But…obedience can be hard, both knowing what to do in hard/confusing situations and acting on what we know. It might take a community of accountability, truth and grace with which to link arms so we can find the path and walk in it.

* * * * *

It turns out we need each other to mature and grow into the kind of church community that looks like a “new humanity” Jesus talked about in Ephesians 5. We are united in Jesus and filled with His Spirit so that this ‘body’ with many parts works together as God intended (1 Corinthians 12).

• We want Essenes with the Herodians to remind them to stay true to the Word; we want Herodians with the Essenes to get them out of their ineffective isolation.

• We need the Zacharians and the Essenes to be in communication: “You might need to get out of that corrupt system of politics and religious institutions.” “You might need to stay in it.”

• We want Pharisees with the Zealots to remind them to be zealous for obedience, mercy and holiness, not violence, antagonism, and revenge.

• We want the Zealots and Pharisees with the Sadducess to remind them that the Empire is not the Kingdom, and that the urge to compromise must be resisted.

 We need Jesus to remind us all that a lifestyle of repentance, humility and mercy must go with love of the word and The Word, so that we will be able to stand in the crossroads of the world with truth, grace, and integrity, preparing the way so that the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

We can do this. We have the text (Bible), the Word (Jesus), the Holy Spirit. We are equipped to be a new kind of humanity whose Jesus-centered community displays the loving power of God by demonstrating the miraculous power of a transforming Savior, who breaks down barriers and reconciles us to Christ and

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[1]We have to watch out for what Michael Gorman calls a set of myths that we can begin to believe about the empires in which we live. A “myth of righteousness” sets values of the Empire on par with the values of the Kingdom (in which both are seen as part of the euangelion, the good news of God’s plan for the world). A “myth of greatness” becomes defined by the standards of Babylon and Rome: financial, political, and/or military strength as the markers of success. A “myth of innocence” sees the power, prosperity, and peace of the (apparently) righteous and great Empire as achieved by and sustained by thoroughly righteous means and people. A “myth of worthiness” demands an appreciation of and allegiance to the state as a profoundly moral responsibility for Christians. (from Reading Revelation Responsibly)

[2] If his son, John the Baptist was trained by Essenes, Zechariah would have been the one to make that happen. “Everything about John the Baptist smacks and rings of Essene theology and worldview, except for the way that he engages the populist…The Essenes separated themselves and wanted culture to come to them when the end times came.” (Marty Solomon, bemadiscipleship.com)

[3] They had an error rate over a large amount of time of 2%. It’s remarkable.

[4] They believed that if they would stay true to their call, God would show up. Interestingly, the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea less than three miles away. That’s where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Hmmm.

[5] This inspired them to buy into what some have called the ‘myth of redemptive violence,’ the belief that that evil can only be defeated by good people violently wielding power “Redemptive violence gives way to violence as an end in itself. It is no longer a religion that uses violence in the pursuit of order and salvation, but one in which violence has become an aphrodisiac, sheer titillation, an addictive high, a substitute for relationships. Violence is no longer the means to a higher good, namely order; violence becomes the end.” (Walter Wink, “The Myth Of Redemptive Violence.”)

[6] Vespasian adopted Joseph as a son, changing his name to Josephus Flavius, famed Jewish historian.

[7] The early church is going to be full of this kind of zeal. The blood of the martyrs, not the blood spilled by Zealots, will be seed of the early church.[7]

[8] Peter and Andrew, James, John, and possibly Philip were from Bethsaida.

[9] Generally. He cleanses the Temple at the beginning and end of his ministry.

[10] Isaiah 23-24

[11] “Ancient stories give hints about the evil in Sodom. Travelers who came into the city would be robbed, stripped, and held captive within the city. They would wander the streets slowly starving to death, to the great amusement of the citizenry. One account relates that visitors to Sodom were offered a bed according to the Middle Eastern laws of hospitality, but it was a bed of torture. Short people were stretched. Tall people had their legs cut off. If a traveler had no money, he would be given bricks of gold and silver with his name on them! But nobody would sell him bread and water, even for all that gold and silver, so the traveler slowly died of starvation. The Sodomites gathered around the corpse and took back the gold and silver.” http://www.susancanthony.com/res/dennis/canaan.html

[12] Another example is the (proper) denunciation of sexual abuse, grooming, human trafficking, etc. So… In a nine-week  period ending in April of 2023, attorney Kristen Browde kept track of all people arrested in the US for charges of child sexual abuse. Out of 308 cases…39% were in Christian ministry positions. In 2022, the SBC released a list of 700 pastors accused of sexual abuse. Over 7,000 claims of sexual abuse by church staff, congregation members, volunteers, or the clergy were made to just three insurance companies over a 20-year period (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007). Add to it what happened in the Catholic church. Woe to those who call out the sexualization of our culture and the grooming of children in others when they do the same. It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for those in Sodom and Tyre.

[13] 45%  of people who claim to be Christian in the US read their Bible at least once a week? 45%. Everyone else is once a month or less. 35% say they seldom or never read it.

[14] We also need to value the role we have as priests. We talked about this last week, so I’m going to refer you back to those notes J

[15] Add to that the idea that our life, not just our words, becomes a witness. When we say, “Good news! The Kingdom of God is here!” people will look at how our lives have been impacted to reach some conclusions about whether it’s good news or not. 

Walking in Light (Ephesians 5:1-19)

1 So imitate God. Follow Him like adored children, 2 and live in love as Christ loved you—so much that He gave Himself as a fragrant sacrifice, pleasing God. 3 Listen, don’t let there be a hint of sexual immorality among you. Any demoralizing behaviors (such as impurity and greed) are inappropriate topics of conversation for those set apart as God’s people. 4 Don’t use abusive language (swearing, obscenity) or spurt nonsense. Don’t make harsh jokes or talk foolishly. Make proper use of your words, and offer them thankfully in praise. 5 This is what we know for certain: no one who engages in loose sex, impure actions, and greed—which is just a form of idolatry—has any inheritance in the kingdom of God and His Anointed.

6 Don’t be fooled by people who try to excuse these things—they just use meaningless words to show empty souls. For, in His wrath, God will judge all the children of disobedience for these kinds of sins. 7 So don’t be persuaded into their ignorance; and don’t cast your lot with them 8 because, although you were once the personification of darkness, you are now light in the Lord. So act like children of the light. 9 For the fruit of the light is all that is good, right, and true. 10 Make it your aim to learn what pleases our Lord. 11 Don’t get involved with the fruitless works of darkness; instead, expose them to the light of God. 12 You see, it’s a disgrace to speak of their secrets (so don’t even talk about what they do when no one is looking). 13-14 When the light shines, it exposes even the dark and shadowy things and turns them into pure reflections of light. This is why they sing, ‘Awake, you sleeper!
 Rise from your grave,
 And Christ will shine on you.’ (Some scholars think this verse may have been an early “baptismal hymn.)

15 So be careful how you live; be mindful of your steps. Don’t run around aimlessly as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk as the wise! 16 Make the most of every living and breathing moment because these are evil times. 17 So understand and be confident in God’s will, and don’t live thoughtlessly. 18 Don’t drink wine excessively. The drunken path is a reckless path. It leads nowhere. Instead, let God fill you with the Holy Spirit. 19 When you are filled with the Spirit, you are empowered to speak to each other in the soulful words of pious songs, hymns, and spiritual songs; to sing and make music with your hearts attuned to God; 20 and to give thanks to God the Father every day through the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed for all He has done.”

 What do we need to bring into the light so that we can walk in the light and live in unity with others? (Note: Paul is not pointing out how they are to earn their salvation. He is showing them how to live out their salvation as they seek to conform to the image of Christ. So don’t see this as “This is how I get saved.” It’s, “This is what life in Christ is meant to look like. I honor the sacrifice of Jesus and I love my neighbor as I walk in the light of Christ.”)

1. Our sexuality. We are called to self-sacrificial, boundaried love, not selfish, unboundaried lust – specifically, God designed sex to be experienced by a man and a woman in marriage. The intimacy Christ shares with His Bride, the church, is shared with no other. It’s an analogy. There is a reason God puts borders around our sexuality. Chaos in some form comes when properly placed fences go down; life flourishes when they stay up. This is not to say that sexual sin is unforgivable – which is good news for all of us, I suspect. It is forgivable. It’s noting that sexual sin is outside of God’s design, and a life lived in the light of Christ does not embrace it or applaud it, but seeks to live out sexuality in a way that honors God, protects others, and allows us to live in purity.

2. Our words must be true and helpful vs. false and destructive. This is speaking truth in love. If we just speak truth without showing love, we are destructive. If we show love without speaking truth, then we are false, and we just enable. Our speech should be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we can provide answers to everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

3. Our circumstances. We are called to contentment and generosity, not greed.. Philippians 4:11-13: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Contentment is such a gift. Do we have to have physical comfort and material things to be happy, or do we look to Christ to strengthen us in our times of need? And those who have plenty – do you look around to identify those in need? A greedy community will never last, because it is full of resentment, competitiveness, and selfishness. A generous community is full of applause, kindness, and self-sacrifice, and it will flourish as everyone looks out for the needs of others, and commits to contentment no matter what the circumstance.

 4. Our time (mindful and purposeful vs. lazy and unfocused). Mindful is not the same as obsessing, and purposeful is not the same as driven! It simply means be alert, aware, prepared, and engaged as you are able. Remember, David had men in his army who ‘understood the times, and knew what to do.’ (1 Chronicle 12:32).  There was a time in American history when Christians could coast (in the sense that culture largely agreed with them. Not anymore. We have our work cut out for us. We are now in a place where we need to be “ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us” more than ever. This might not be a bad wake-up call. We have to revisit our Bibles, engage in conversation with other Christians, study, read, listen not only to the church conversation but to the cultural one.

5. Our attitude. We are to be helpful and thankful vs. leeching and grumbling. Ever had a friend who always complained, always borrowed and never lent, and always wanted their life to be better but never helped anyone else’s life to be better? What about the friend who looked for the good, lived generously, and looked to improve the lives of those around them? One drains, the other fills. One divides, one unifies. 

• Philippians 2:3-4: “Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” 

• Matthew 20:25-28: “Do you want the Kingdom run like the Romans run their kingdom? Their rulers have great power over the people, but God the Father doesn’t play by the Romans’ rules. This is the Kingdom’s logic: whoever wants to become great must first make himself a servant; whoever wants to be first must bind himself as a slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as the ransom for many.”

6. Our focus. We need to stay focused on God and the person of Christ vs. idols  “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:21, 25). Idolatry happens in any circumstance where there is something you feel you must have to be happy, that is more important to your heart than God himself. We would not lie, cheat, steal, gossip, lust, or abuse others unless first we had made something—human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage, sexual desire, fame, comfort—more important and valuable to our hearts than the grace and favor of God as experienced through the person and work of Jesus. (HT Tim Keller, “How To Find Your Rival Gods,” christianitytoday.com) We need to stay focused on God and the person of Christ

• Psalm 34:5 “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.”

• Colossians 3:1-3  “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

• Hebrews 3:1 “Dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest.”

• Hebrews 12:2: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 

What Is Christian Unity (Build Up Part 2)

 I got a lot of really good questions about unity after last week’s sermon. Does unity mean we never confront sin? Do we just ignore false teaching?  Does unity mean we avoid any type of tension at any cost? So this Sunday I am going to offer four points to clarify what biblical Christian unity looks like.

 1) Christian Unity Is Between Christians

“As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you.  Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.  Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

We should show Christian love to everyone, but we simply can’t have the kind of unity that should happen between disciples of Christ with those who are not also disciples.  I have great friends who do not share my allegiance to Christ. We unite around other things - a love of philosophy, sports, books, social issues - but we don't unite around Christ.Unity must be with regard to something. Saying "we are unified" as Christians doesn't mean anything unless we have a common cause, allegiance, motivation – in this case, the unity the Holy Spirit brings through Christ.

2) Christian Unity Has Boundaries.     

There are plenty of “secondary issues” within the faith that Christians legitimately disagree about and should not break our unity.

• Is the earth old or young? 

• How will End Times unfold?

• How is the Holy Spirit active today? 

• What is the purpose of church services and how should they be done? 

• Does God predestine who will be saved, or do our choices make a difference?

• Is Song of Solomon about marriage and sex or is it an allegory for Christ and the church?

Yes. Sure. Different perspectives are found within the boundaries of united allegiance to Christ (Check out Romans 14:1-12 for a practical example). However, there are things that will either make Christian unity impossible or will destroy unity within the church if left unchecked. 

Theological Boundaries (the person and work of Christ)

 The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was God in the flesh (a member of the Trinity), who lived, died and rose again. Sin destroys peace within us and between God and others, and  punishment is our just reward. God (through Christ) provided a way out of that penalty of eternal death, and Christ alone has brought salvation and made peace between us and God. Once we give our allegiance to Christ, we can be “conformed” to increasingly reflect His image but we will never be Him.[i] One day we will stand before God to give an answer for our lives. Those who enter into reward instead of  punishment will do so only because they have accepted Jesus' offer to pay their debt.

Christian unity is not possible if we don’t agree on these things, because these points are all integral to the person and work of Jesus. I can think of at least five different phrases I have heard about Jesus from others who claim allegiance to Christ that give me a lot of concern.

• “I am a Christian because I follow Jesus’ teachings. I don’t think he was God, but He showed us how to live.”[ii]

• “Jesus is one of many ways to God.”[iii]

• “Jesus is only about love, not anger. We have to lighten up on all this talk about sin and wrath and hell.”[iv]

• “You can be just like Jesus! You can be a little god too!”[v]

• “Jesus and the Holy Spirit are just names or titles for different ways God has shown himself.”[vi]

 We can’t be in Christian unity if we are fixing our eyes on a different kind of Christ.

• If he was just a good man, Jesus is not divine and should not be worshipped.

• If there are many ways to make peace with God, then Jesus is not the only way and is certainly not the necessary way, and his death and resurrection were unnecessary.

• If sin and its eternal consequences aren’t important, then Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection aren’t important, and the day of judgment should not concern us.

• If we can become just like Jesus, then the bar for what it means to be God is incredibly low, and there is no way Jesus should be worshipped.

• If there is no Trinity, then Judaism and Islam have been right about the nature of God all along, and Christ was not who we thought he was. If thats true, then his life, death and resurrection did not accomplish what we claim they did.

When Paul is writing about the importance of unity, he’s not saying that anything goes as Christians when we look at Jesus. He clearly calls out false teachers numerous times in his letters (Galatians 5:7-12; 1 Timothy 1:3-11; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:14-19). Even if we attend church together, if we are not united about the most important thing, we may be respectful friends who genuinely like each other, but we are not united around the same Christ.

Moral Boundaries (Committed Discipleship)

Christian unity does not require perfection. Sinfulness will always be present within our Christian unity on this side of heaven. When that happens, we don't just step over our brothers and sisters when they fall down, and we certainly don’t kick them while they are down. We don’t enable sin, and we don’t berate and humiliate sinners. We help them back up like we have constantly been helped up, and we revisit the foot of the cross not to regain our salvation, but to ask for the forgiveness only Christ can give.

However, unity doesn’t mean we act like sin is no big deal. Paul writes numerous times about how to confront sin in the context of church (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13); (1 Corinthians 5:6-7; (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). Why? Because sin can begin to permeate the church, and that will destroy our unity. There’s a reason God says not to do these things that goes beyond our individual holiness. True unity cannot be sustained if these things are allowed to flourish in a church.

Unity does not require that we overlook sin.  If we are going to be unified around Christ, we have to have a healthy respect for the reality and devastation of sin. The more our personal sin hurts others or draws others in, the more crucial it becomes to confront for the purpose of the individual and the unity of the group. If we overlook or enable these things, they will take our eyes off of Christ, our walk as a disciple will erode, our unity with others will crumble, and our witness for Christ will be compromised. So the fact that we are sinners is not the thing that divides us; it should actually unite us at the foot of the cross. It’s what we do with or how we respond to the sin that cannot help but bring disunity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together:

“Reproof is unavoidable.. Where defection from God’s Word in doctrine or life imperils the family fellowship and with it the whole congregation, the world of admonition and rebuke must be ventured. Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin. It is a ministry of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine fellowship…”

As a church community, we are in this together. Unity requires a community of grace, forgiveness and hope that always points us toward a Christ who offers all these things to us. But sin corrodes, and it must be addressed.               

3) Christian Unity Confronts Tension

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14)

Unity is not the absence of tension.  If it were, we would never be unified. We would always hide our true self from others, or avoid people or situations that make us uncomfortable, or never have the hard conversations about protecting doctrine or living holy lives.We must confront it instead of retreat from it. The Bible does not say blessed are the peacekeepers, it says blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). Keeping peace is easy, passive, and ultimately destructive. Making peace is uncomfortable, but necessary and always fruitful. The unified do not hide.

We must learn how to say, “I love you and I am for you, so we must have this conversation.” Then we pray for wisdom, we may seek godly counsel, and we turn to the Bible for our foundational truths because it is” profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”(2 Timothy 3:16)

 4) Christian Unity displays Christ-like love

“ Since you are all set apart by God, made holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a holy way of life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together. Let your hearts fall under the rule of Jesus’  peace (the peace you were called to as one body), and be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-16)

Love is the ultimate gift of the Spirit as seen in 1 Corinthians 13.[vii] It’s the glue that is meant to hold the church community together. The Bible is really specific about what Christ-like love looks like (and I am pulling this list from 1 Corinthians 13).

• Patient (good things take time)

• Kind (it’s a basic human quality)

• Content (not jealous)

• Humble (not boastful or proud)

• Decent (never rude or crude)

• Other-centered (not self-absorbed)

• Composed (not easily provoked or resentful)

• Forgiving (doesn’t keep tally of wrongs)

• Rejoices in Truth (doesn’t avoid it)

• Rejoices in Justice (is not content to let injustice unfold)

• Bears all things (endures and protects insults, burdens, and hardships)

• Never loses faith (does not become cynical or jaded)

• Hopeful (never forgets that Jesus saves)

• Persevering (keeps going even when it's tough

This kind of love is the greatest gift given us to preserve the unity that Christ brings, Is far more than emotional connection. It comes from fixing our eyes on Christ and walking with others in loving, faithful discipleship. Paul gives an example of how this looks in Romans 12:14-18.

“If people mistreat or malign you, bless them. Always speak blessings, not curses. If some have cause to celebrate, join in the celebration. And if others are weeping, join in that as well. Work toward unity, and live in harmony with one another. Avoid thinking you are better than others or wiser than the rest; instead, embrace common people and ordinary tasks. Do not retaliate with evil, regardless of the evil brought against you. Try to do what is good and right and honorable as agreed upon by all people. If it is within your power, make peace with all people.” (Romans 12:14-18)

This kind of loving unity will never compromise truth or holiness, but it will always guide the attitude and presence we bring to any situation.

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[i]  Paul’s Creed (from 1 Corinthians 15:3-11) often considered the earliest creedal statement: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.” Note the three key subjects: Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; the fact the Jesus died for our sins; and the reality of grace as the means of salvation.

The Apostles Creed(150 AD) reads: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
 and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
[‘he descended to hell’ was added much later in response to doctrinal challenges].
The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
[‘the holy catholic (universal) church' was added in the 4th century], the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” As a response to different doctrinal challenges, this creed is more broad (and more specific) than Paul’s.

 The Nicene Creed (325 AD) reads: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets; And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the Life of the age to come. Amen.” This was written in response to the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. In 381, it was revised to address the Macedonian heresy, which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.   

[ii]  Google the term “moralistic therapeutic deism” to see this in action. Michael Horton provides a good overview of this position at http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var2=917

[iii] " I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherence to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.” (Brian McClaren)  For a good response, check out a book by Ravi Zacharias called Jesus Among Other Gods.

[iv] The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse—a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: "God is love". If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil (Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus, pp. 182-183).”John Piper has a good response at http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/defending-my-fathers-wrath

[v] “Man…was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority…. He made us the same class of being that He is Himself…. He lived on terms equal with God…. The believer is called Christ, that’s who we are; we’re Christ.” (Kenneth Hagin, Zoe: The God Kind of Life, pp. 35-36, 41).

“Why didn't Jesus openly proclaim Himself as God during His 33 years on earth? For one single reason. He hadn't come to earth as God, He'd come as man.”  Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, Aug. 8, 1988. p.8.

"The most remarkable "messiah" at (the time of the writing of this book) ... is to be found at camp Manujothi Ashram in the desert in South India. It is the extreme American evangelist, William Branham, whom Christians have to thank for this false messiah. His name is Paluser Lawrie Mathukrishna. When Branham was on (a) tour of India, Brother Lawrie became a disciple of his, and Branham described him as the "Son of God" and "Christ returned." (Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, 1978, p. 66) Read more at http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/thirdwaveteachings.html

This is also a key teaching of Mormonism. Here is a short but good response from Hank Hannegraaff: http://www.equip.org/perspectives/little-gods-are-we-little-gods/

[vi] This is a position called Modalism, which has been considered heretical (so far from orthodox Christianity that it cannot be authentic Christian belief) since almost the beginning of the church. Two popular names associated with this movement are Tommy Tenney (because of his Oneness Pentecostal roots) and T.D. Jakes (who is a Oneness Pentecostal). Here’s a link to a great article that gives a very thorough discussion of this issue: http://thecripplegate.com/modalism_oneness_and_td_jakes/

In an unusual (and false) twist, Benny Hinn has been promoting Tri-theism, the idea that each member of the Trinity is its own Trinity. ”God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you - and maybe I should - there's nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body.” (Benny Hinn” program on TBN, 10/30/90) 

[vii] “The apostle bookends his famous chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13) with these two (perhaps surprising) charges: “earnestly desire the higher gifts” and “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 14:1). God means that we desire all of his gifts, not to glut our selfishness, but to selflessly strengthen others — “so that the church may be built up” (1 Corinthians 14:5)… Desire all the spiritual gifts, knowing that “the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13; cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3). Compared to other “higher gifts” (such as tongues, healing, and prophecy† among others), love is “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).” 

 Read the entire article at http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-reasons-to-desire-all-the-spiritual-gifts.