The Need for Urgency

Mark 13:33 (NKJV)

We often have a sense of urgency when it comes to various aspects of this physical life; we urgently warn of the dangers of political figures running for office, poor political policies, poor economic decisions, and we are even urgent in ensuring that our bills are paid on time.  Did I get that school assignment completed? Did I respond to all my emails? While each of these things may be important to this life, are they all that important in the next life? Are we as urgent in our service of God as we are in the physical, mundane things of this life? When we identify a command of God, do we feel a sense of urgency to complete that task? When we look at individuals in the Bible, do we see urgency and immediacy in their actions?

Our society does not place any importance on matters of spirituality; school comes first, work comes first, and even vacations and entertainment comes first.  As Christians, obeying and pleasing God needs to be first not only in word, but in actions as well.  We need to instill the importance of pleasing God in ourselves, in our families, and in our friendships.  When do we seek to please God? When do we seek to obey His commands? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? 

The commands of God are not always easy, nor do we always fully understand the reasons of God.  Does it have to be easy? Do we have to fully understand? God, testing the faith of Abraham, commanded the following: "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2).  Did Abraham understand fully what God intended to do? Did he understand that God would stop his hand at the last minute and spare Isaac? Did Abraham delay in his obedience of this difficult command? In Genesis 22:3, we are told that "Abraham rose early in the morning" and set about completing the task God had given him to do; he didn't delay, make excuses, or decide that because he didn't fully understand God's reasoning that he didn't have to complete it.  The Hebrew writer stated that Abraham had concluded "that God was able to raise him [Isaac] up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense" (Hebrews 11:19).  Abraham placed his faith in the promise of God and it did not matter whether or not the reasoning of God was understandable from a human's standpoint.  Do we have the faith of Abraham?

Consider also the example of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:1-11.  Within this passage, we are informed multiple times that Jeremiah did exactly as God had instructed him to do.  In 13:1-2, Jeremiah was told to acquire a linen sash and to put it around his waist, so Jeremiah did it.  Next, Jeremiah was instructed to take the sash, travel hundreds of miles, and hid it in a rock along the Euphrates river...which Jeremiah does (Jeremiah 13:4-5).  After many days, God told Jeremiah to return to the Euphrates River and retrieve the sash, which was ruined by that point (Jeremiah 13:6-7).  While God explained His reasoning in 13:8-11, the meaning of the sash and the two journeys over hundreds of miles were unclear to Jeremiah as he completed the tasks.  Did Jeremiah complain because he didn't understand? Did he complain because there were closer rivers to him that would have ruined the sash just as well as the Euphrates? Did he inform God as to how unreasonable His demands were? No, Jeremiah's attitude is summed up in the latter part of Jeremiah 13:5 where we read, "So I went and hit it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me."  

There are numerous such examples of obedience within the pages of the God's word (read Hebrews 11).  Do we have the same sense of obedience and urgency in our own Christianity? Do we put off obedience until some more convenient time (Acts 24:22-27) or do we seek to be saved NOW? Think about the example of the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-40; the Ethiopian, upon hearing what was required of him, said to Philip in Acts 8:36, "See, here is water.  What hinders me from being baptized?"

Throughout the New Testament, we are given the warning that we do not know the time in which Christ will return, therefore we must constantly be prepared.  We need a sense of urgency because we do not know! Mark  13:32-37 expresses this point for us; we do not know when and we do not want to be unprepared when the time does come.  Paul, quoting Ananias, said, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).  

Aren't We Supposed to Love One Another?

This morning, I opened up Facebook (first mistake) and saw that one of the "trending" subjects concerned how Trey Pearson courageously "came out" as being gay.  Being me, I chose to click on the story to see what people were saying (second mistake).  Because Pearson claims to be a "Christian rock singer", people were misconstruing what the Bible teaches on the subject of "love".  Aren't we as Christians supposed to love one another? Interestingly enough, many like to cite passages concerning "love" (even though they lack an understanding of Biblical love), but they do not cite the passages that deal with propriety in human sexuality.  According to many of the posts I read, God will clearly condemn an individual for not being "loving" enough, but won't condemn an individual for participating in something clearly defined as being sin.  

Can we be condemned for not loving one another? John seems to indicate such in 1 John 3:10-15 (NKJV):

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.  For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.  And why id he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.  Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.  He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Are we to love one another? Absolutely! The question is not about whether we should or should not love individuals in sin (whether within the church or without), but rather about what our love for one another drives us to do in regards to sin.  Does "loving one another" mean that we accept an individual in sin as they are? Does it mean that we ignore the sin in their life? 

Many today purport that "love" means to accept a person as they are, flaws included.  For instance, Christians should accept Trey Pearson (since we started the article with his declaration) as he is and not require him to repent.  In fact, we shouldn't identify his sexual preference as sin or point out that repentance is an option for him since you "can't choose your sexuality" (which is ironic since the same society that informs us that you cannot choose your sexuality is now telling us that you can choose your gender).  Does the Bible teach this principle? What does the Bible teach on the subject of love?

It is impossible to cover everything the Bible teaches on the subject of love within one article or sermon, so that is certainly beyond the scope of this brief piece.  However, one basic principle of establishing Divine Authority is that a conclusion formed from one passage is not sound if it contradicts other principles found in the Bible.  Therefore, if our conclusion is that "love" means that we accept everyone in their sin as they are and without repentance, then our understanding of love is wrong.  Christ and the Apostles taught both love and repentance; in fact, they taught that if we actually love one another, then we WILL teach repentance.

One of the most utilized passages concerning love is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.  Many Christians and even non-Christians have the majority of this passage printed in fancy calligraphy and framed on their walls.  There is no doubt that this is a wonderful passage and that it teaches us much about God's definition of love! Unfortunately, much of the context surrounding and leading up to 1 Corinthians 13 is too often overlooked, and therefore some of the depth and meaning of the passage is lost.  While this is a beautifully written passage, there is a wonderful depth that we really shouldn't overlook!

Throughout the book of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul dealt with some unfortunate shortcomings of the brethren; because Paul was so intimately tied to the congregation in Corinth, he spent a great deal of time helping them overcome their problems.  It is important to note that Paul did not accept them as they were, but that he dealt with those problems.  If "love" means to accept someone "as-is" as many try to use 1 Corinthians 13 to establish, then why was Paul dealing with their problems at all? In actuality, Paul is dealing with many of the problems that the Corinthians had as he defined love! Studying through 1 Corinthians makes it clear to the reader that one of the biggest problems in that congregation was a lack of brotherly love, which came from selfishness.  

Consider that Paul wrote that "love does not envy" (13:4), and the Corinthians were envious of others for their spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12).  He also wrote that "love does not parade itself, is not puffed up" (13:4), but the Corinthians were parading their so-called love and were puffed up in their tolerance of their brother in sin (1 Corinthians 5). Paul also states that love "does not behave rudely, does not seek its own" (13:5), but the Corinthians were behaving rudely and seeking their own desires in the manner by which they were taking the Lord's supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.

What about love "does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth" (13:6)? While there are many applications of this principle to be found within 1 Corinthians, there are two in particular that we will make here.  First, Paul's correction of the problems in Corinth, and second, the correction of the brother in sin in 1 Corinthians 5.  While Paul could have bragged about his tolerance of the attitude of the Corinthian brethren in regards to this brother in sin, Paul rebukes them and instructs them in truth.  The Corinthians were rejoicing in the iniquity of this brother in sin and were puffed up in their "love" (tolerance) of him, but what was the truth? The truth is that that brother would be lost if he did not repent.  If "love" according to God's definition means to accept people as they are, then why did Paul require the Corinthians to deal with the brother in sin and why was the brother in sin required to repent? Again, if our understanding of a passage or a concept within the Bible contradicts other principles taught, then it is our perspective that must be changed.  

Like Paul, our love for one another should lead us to proclaim that necessity of repentance to those we love.  Do we really love someone if we do not teach them of impending doom? Perhaps we should make a "real-world" application to illustrate the point: if you see your child or friend about to burn themselves on something hot, should you just accept them as they are? Because "love" means letting them do whatever they want and just accepting their decision, right? Of course we would stop them! If we would stop them when it comes to burning themselves, why would our love for them not cause us to do everything we possibly can to stop them from sinning? 

Do we believe in God? Do we believe in heaven? Do we really believe in Satan? Do we really believe in hell? We certainly believe that a hot stove will burn our child if they touch it, ad that leads us to stop them...if we really believe in hell, shouldn't that knowledge lead us to action? 

Christ was compassionate, absolutely.  Did that compassion cause Him to sit back and allow sin to go unaddressed? In Matthew 9, Jesus has spent a great deal of time healing the sick in addition to preaching the gospel of the kingdom.  However, we are told that when He was "moved with compassion" was when He noted the spiritual destitution of the multitudes; while compassion moved Jesus to do all of the things in Matthew 9, He was most concerned about the spiritual welfare of the people (Matthew 9:35-38).  Jesus said "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (9:37-38).  Was He talking about physical needs or spiritual? Christ's compassion and love caused Him to preach repentance and obedience to God's word.

What will your compassion and love cause you to do?