Journey to The Journey

Discernment is the filter through which everything in life must pass. It removes the imperfections and purifies things. Everyone, regardless of who you are and what you believe, is ultimately on the pursuit of truth. In our increasingly relativized culture, truth is now in the eye of the beholder. There is no absolute truth, but rather we define our own truth autonomously. However, Christians must reject any worldview that emphasizes the subjective nature of personal experience over and above the objective reality of God and the truthfulness of his word.

Peter's vision and subsequent proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10 marks a huge transition in redemptive history. Formerly, from the time of the patriarchs, God's covenantal promises were made to Israel, and to Israel alone. Now these promises were being extended to those who were formerly excluded. Understanding the significance of this moment is vitally important for a number of reasons.

We may not like to admit it, but the reality is, whenever there is disagreement over a doctrinal issue within the church, someone is right, and therefore someone has to be wrong. As a teacher, one must be true to their understanding of scripture...for better or for worse. In other words, I can't (or at least shouldn't) teach or preach anything that is contrary to what I believe the Bible itself is teaching. I would think it is safe to say that most of us want our teachers to, at minimum, be true to their convictions.

We see in scripture, like in the example we studied from Leviticus 10, that God takes his holiness seriously, and in turn, we need to show him the respect and reverence he is due when we interact with and worship him. At the same time, we see that our Lord is a God of grace and mercy, and that he loves and cares for us in spite of our many shortcomings. Our goal as Christians is to maintain a healthy balance of fear and respect, while at the same time resting in the freedom we have in Christ as we pursue holiness in our own lives. This may sound easy enough, but in practice, we can often struggle.

When we don't live according to our calling, we become consumers. We experience all the benefits of membership within the community of faith, but all of those benefits end with us. They don't transfer to those around us. We aren't feet that go, nor hands that serve, but rather we are like corpses. Why would Jesus pour out his blood upon the cross to save us from death in order for us to continue to "live" lifelessly?

James 4:4 teaches us that friendship with the world (that is being a worldly person) puts you at odds with God. Furthermore, Jesus teaches us in John 15:19 that the world hates his disciples because they are not of the world, but rather have been called out of worldliness through him. So to summarize these two contrasting positions, as simply as possible: God opposes worldliness and worldliness opposes God.