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LOVE JESUS, HATE CHURCH |
JULY 2009
Love
Jesus, Hate Church
Jesus said, "We
must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is
coming when no one can work." John 9:4
 The
Everlasting Stain of Pride
It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glory to
search one's own glory.
Proverbs 25:27
In other words, just as people get sick and
nauseas and ready to hurl from eating too much honey, they also get
sick, real sick, of listening to those who constantly draw attention to
themselves through faint praise, self-promotion or by simply putting
someone else down.
We call that jealousy.
God calls it pride..
And the Scriptures have much to say about it.
Let's take a quick look back at the Scriptures and see how the
thread of pride, like a malignant cancer or mutating tumor, winds itself
around the lives of those who claim to know and love God and subtly,
over time, changes good, God-fearing people into a mob of self-seeking
free agents. The flesh-exalting sin of pride stained each of them— and
each of us, to such a degree that it required the blood of Christ to
remedy.
Pride. The resilient, illusive, ever-present source
of all sin.
Pride. It was pride, the original sin, that tempted Satan to
exalt himself above God and to be cast down, banished from his place in
heaven. "How you have fallen from heaven, O star (shining one) of the
morning, son of the dawn!" (Isa. 14:12-14; 1 Tim. 3:6).
Pride. It was pride that allowed the serpent's words to
resonate deep within Eve's heart, attaching themselves to her concept of
self-worth and satisfaction with God's creative order. It was pride that
fostered in her a driving desire to be like God, to be better than God,
to assume the worst about God, and to lust for His place of preeminence.
When the serpent asked, "Did God really say?"— Eve's pride willingly
believed the lie. And, if truth be told, it was pride that caused Adam
and Eve to lose their place in Eden and led to the fall of all mankind
(Gen. 3:5-6).
Pride. It was pride that hardened the heart of Cain against
his brother Able. It was Cain's pride that demanded God accept his
sacrifice regardless of what God required. After all, pride reasoned,
"I'm bringing the best of my fields to God as my sacrifice and that
should be good enough for Him. It's the best I have to offer. It's all
I'm going to offer. And if God doesn't accept what I want to bring...
well, that's His problem." But Cain's sacrifice wasn't what God
required. And, as the story goes, neither was it God's problem. It was
Cain's pride that responded to God's warning and rejection of his
sacrifice by shedding the blood of his brother. "Hey God, You want blood
as a sacrifice? Ok, I'll give You blood. How 'bout Able's blood!" (Gen.
4:1-8).
Pride. It was pride that prompted Lamech to boast to his
wives about the murder he committed. "If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then
Lamach seventy-sevenfold" (Gen. 4:23-24).
Pride. Under Nimrod's leadership (whose name means "rebel"),
it was pride that built the Tower of Babel. "Come," they said, "Let
us
build for ourselves a city, and a tower, whose top will reach into
heaven (or, whose top is heaven), and let us make for ourselves a name;
(why) lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth"
(Gen. 11:4).
Pride. It was pride that led to the deaths of Nadab and
Abihu who disregarded the command of God and offered what they wanted,
strange fire, before the Lord (Lev. 10:1-2).
Pride. It was the pride of Aaron and Miriam that brought
about God's judgment of leprosy on them because, dissatisfied with God's
plan, they sought to exalt themselves by questioning Moses' leadership
and God's supreme plan. "Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? Has He
not spoken through us as well?" (Num. 12:2).
Pride. It was pride that kept Moses from entering the
Promise Land. Pride temped Moses, the most humble of men, to exalt
himself to the place of God in his own eyes regarding the people of
Israel. Remember his words? "Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring
forth water for you out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10). We? Tell me Moses,
what part of this miracle did you do? What part are you in the "we" of
all this?
Pride. It was pride that led Absalom to publicly rape
David's wives and try to remove, by the force of betrayal and rebellion,
the king God had placed to rule His people, Israel. Why? Because pride
caused Absalom to believe that he, and not God, knew who should be king
in Israel.
Pride. It was the pride of Haman and his jealousy of
Mordecai that compelled him to build the gallows, designed for Mordecai,
that Haman's body hung from (Est. 7:10).
Pride. It was the prideful words uttered from Nebuchadnezzar
that drove him into the wilderness to live like an animal until he
recognized and acknowledged the sovereignty of the Lord. He said, "Is
this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal
residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?"
(Dan. 4:30). This was the question Nebuchadnezzar asked. And God
answered in a way that only He could (Dan. 4:31-33).
Pride. Pride was the great sin of the Pharisees in Jesus'
time. They were outwardly religious like "white-washed tombs," but
inwardly they were rotten, corrupt and decayed like "dead men's bones"
(Matt. 23:27).
Pride. It was pride that prompted the mother of
James and John to ask that her two boys get special, preferential
treatment when Jesus came into His kingdom (Matt. 20:20-21).
Pride. And even during the Last Supper when Jesus was
teaching His disciples about self-sacrifice by washing their feet, it
was their pride that bickered among themselves as to who would be the
greatest (Luke 22:24).
But, for me, there is even a more chilling example.
Diotrephes:
In 3 John 9-11 we read:
I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who
loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this
reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does,
unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he
himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who
desire to do so and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate
what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one
who does evil has not seen God.
John is writing this letter to a man named
Gaius, a beloved elder in the church. It appears that in this church a
powerful and influential man, Diotrephes, refused to allow hospitality
to be shown to visiting itinerant teachers whom John had approved.
Teachers like Demetrius, for example (3 John 12). In fact, it seems that
the letter John wrote to the church regarding that very matter was
intercepted by Diotrephes, the self-proclaimed resident gatekeeper, and
deemed so sensitive to National Security that, taking his lead from our
own Government, it was Classified and kept from the congregation.
Where is the Freedom of Information Act when you need it?
Why did Diotrephes do this? What was his
motive? What was he trying to hide?
The letter from John states that Diotrephes "loves to be first
among them," or, to put it in the language of today, feels that he is
the head-honcho in charge and everything that the church does must gain
his approval.
Unfortunately for all of us, there are still many Diotrephes in the
church today.
But there is something else in play here.
There is also an element of jealousy on the part of Diotrephes.
John was well known and beloved among the brethren of the church.
He was one of the Twelve, the disciple Jesus loved, and his standing and
credibility in the church was never in question.
Not so with Diotrephes.
He was jealous of John. Intimidated and green with envy.
When John was present, people dropped everything and flocked to
hear him, for hours on end. And why not? After all, just being in his
presence reminded them of being with Jesus. John was wise, seasoned,
mature, beloved, respected, and full of wonderful, first-hand stories
about the Lord. And if that wasn't enough, it was John who had been
given the visions of the future, the apocalyptic revelation of days yet
to come.
At this time, what person on earth could compare with John? Who was
more esteemed than he? More desired? More sought after?
Certainly not Diotrephes.
And he knew it.
Diotrephes wanted to be like John, to be respected and admired. He
wanted to be regarded as spiritual, a natural leader, an anointed
teacher— basically God's gift to the church. He wanted in one day what
took John a lifetime to achieve.
He wanted others to come to him, and not John, for the answers to
their questions.
He wanted to be the one who set the vision for what God was going
to do.
He wanted to be the final authority in all matters, spiritual or
not.
He wanted all praise and glory and hope and adoration heaped on
him.
He wanted to be the fourth person in the Godhead.
He wanted it all.
And he wanted it now!
Instead of waiting on the Lord to recognize and promote him to a
position of true leadership within the congregation based, of course, on
his likeness to Jesus, Diotrephes decided to take matters into his own
hands. As the proverb warns, "Nor is it glory to search one's own glory"
(Prov. 25:27). Or, "For men to search their own glory is not glory." It
is self-promotion at best. And the root of it is pride.
Diotrephes, who imagined his perceived greatness should be seen by
all, could not allow another's greatness to outshine his. There was room
for only one star in the heavens— and it was named Diotrephes.
Therefore, John was a threat.
John had to go.
So as is the custom in our culture, Diotrephes used his First
Amendment right, his right to free speech, to malign and criticize
John's ministry, John's leadership, and ultimately John's authority.
Pretty much the same stuff we do today when pride and jealousy raise
their ugly heads among people in church.
Here is John's response:
For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his
deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not
satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either,
and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church
(3 John 10).
Carnal, heavy-handed bullying tactics within
the church— and the sinister source of this sin, as always, is pride.
He accuses John to others with wicked words.
He personally refuses to recognize John's authority and receive the
itinerant teachers approved by John.
He then expands his iron-fisted control by forcing those who do not
bend to his wishes out of the church. They are shunned from fellowship.
Persecuted. Excommunicated.
And it appears the congregation does nothing to stand against this
evil. Nothing.
Again, much like our church culture of today.
So what was John's final word on Diotrephes? What did he finally
do?
As a loving, caring, compassionate spiritual father to Gaius and
the church, John took this crisis and carefully, strategically, crafted
it into a teaching moment. One of those, "He who has ears to hear"
moments he learned from his Master.
Listen to the application gleaned from the actions of Diotrephes.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.
The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the
truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony
is true (3 John 11-12).
In other words, you be different. You
imitate what is good, and not what is evil.
John urged Gaius not to imitate Diotrephes' wicked behavior by refusing
to welcome and accept Demetrius. Instead, he urged Gaius, and each one
of us as well, to imitate what is good and just. Why? Because, as he
said, "the one who does good is of God and the one who does evil (Diotrephes)
has not seen God."
In essence, lost people act like lost people.
Don't be like them— even to the point of rejection.
Or persecution.
Or excommunication.
Or death.
Adveho quis may.
Come what may.
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Until next time,
Steve McCranie
"You know, this ain't the way church is suppose to be.
Something
must be wrong, bad wrong."
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