21 December 2024
The Lord God is able to keep us from falling. Why do we seem to stumble so, then? Way too often we find ourselves dealing with stresses that are direct and indirect results of our life choices that, should we have made more God-oriented choices, would not plague us otherwise. This is a reality we are best to recognize. I am at fault, at least in part, for the difficulties I face, and you are likewise for your own difficulties. The blame-game should always start with ourselves, but not in a spirit of condemnation but that of a medical professional. We are to recognize the illness and seek proper treatment. That treatment is always initiated in our turning to the Lord in repentance. It is He who is able to keep us from falling, and to make us stand without the blemish of sin in the presence of His glory.
That same book, Jude, that gives us such encouraging benedictory lines, also gives us a charge. We are told to keep ourselves in the love of God, build ourselves up in faith, and pray in the Spirit. That is the lofty, encouraging part. We are also charged, however, with addressing struggles with other believers. For those who are wavering in their faith, we are to extend mercy. The way this reads, this mercy giving is not a passive thing, but a gentle engagement with the other. Think of the role of a counselor or confessor or mentor. Additionally, we are to snatch some out of the fire. I cannot see this as meaning anything less than confronting those who have chosen ungodly lifestyles, those who have given in to the temptation of returning to their ‘old life’ motivations. Still others who would even flaunt their freedom in Christ by living in a worldly freedom, we are to extend mercy in a different way, in fear. We are to hate their lifestyles, and pray in earnest that they will change, thus extending mercy through an entering into spiritual warfare on their behalf. This was the role of John the Baptist, that voice crying out in the wilderness. We are, in these ways, to make straight paths for the Lord’s work in others’ lives.
This is true counter-cultural living. We are to seek at the deepest, most messy levels, to try to help others keep a straight path to the Lord. This sounds a lot like judgment, and it is. However, it is a judgment that is defined by mercy instead of pride, by love in its fullest. We walk with Yahweh, who does not wish any to perish, thus we love in the most risky ways. We risk the anger and angst of other believers who’d rather keep walking they way they are currently going, and the scorn of a society that says, ‘all is permissible.’ It is not, that is cheap grace.