alliances

Be on your guard; stand firm in the 
faith; be courageous; be strong. 
1 Cor 16:13

Isn’t it just like us humans, when dealing with multiple leaders, to try and take sides? Whether it be a job, a volunteer position, in our families, a group of friends, or at our churches so many of us seek to align ourselves with the best and strongest. If you’ve ever watched an episode of Survivor, you’ll see how drawn we are to this concept. But alliances and divisions lead to others being on the “out” and others being “in.” And so often if our seeking of alliances has anything to do with our church it only serves to erode our faith.

We see behavior that is ungodly. We, ourselves, take to gossip or manipulation. We celebrate the uplifted position of who we follow and revel in the failures of the “other side.” All along its our own relationship with Christ that is suffering.

When Paul wrote this letter, he was working with the up and coming faith leader Apollos. Within the Corinth church people had created a division amongst the two men. Who was the better leader to follow? It doesn’t appear that Apollos had anything to do with the strife taking place. In fact, Apollos seemed to try and head off any favoritism issues by telling Paul he wasn’t ready to return to Corinth.

In Jesus’ world everyone has the opportunity to be “in.” And as Christians, we are to fight against our tendencies to divide and conquer. We are to be always “on our guard” when we see these types of rifts arise around us. It takes courage to stand up to gossipers and the pull of others to align ourselves with the “right people.” It is faith-strengthening whenever we turn our backs on how the world wants us to act and turn toward how Jesus expects us to act.

A church I was at for almost 20 years was ruined by this type of behavior. It was reduced to almost ashes by people gathering up others to “their side.” And it’s sad to say it started within the pastoral and elder level. What we needed were a few courageous and strong faithful Christians to speak the truth and say “enough is enough.” The destruction of many people’s faith was truly one of the most disturbing things I have witnessed in a church.

“And yet, what are some Churches but semi-religious clubs, mere conventions of people gathered together? They have not in them that holy soul which is the essence of unity.”
Charles Spurgeon

We can’t take a stand for our faith if we aren’t willing to step outside of our worldly, envious, fearful ways. When we go along and try to play the game of “who’s the best” and then try to align ourselves with them we fall prey to the devil’s divisiveness.

But when we stand firm in our faith and are courageous against those who wish to divide, God stands beside us cheering us on. And our faith is reignited when we walk with closely Him.

Therefore the Lord himself 
will give you a sign: 
The virgin will conceive 
and give birth to a son, 
and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

At the time that Isaiah spoke this prophecy the nation of Judah was under a large threat from Assyria. Alliances were being pressured and formed. King Ahaz of Judah refused to align himself with the northern tribes because he had secretly made a pact with the Assyrians. He didn’t grab hold of God’s past deliverances and trust God to save him and his people.

Isaiah made his prophesy about the coming savior to the entire House of David as a warning to trust God and no one else. God is with us (“Immanuel”) in so far as we are willing to trust and believe Him.

God is with me. I hold on tightly to the knowledge that His Holy Spirit dwells in my heart, mind and soul. It’s a promise completely fulfilled with Jesus. And yet, I still occasionally fall into the trap of looking for a savior outside that promise. A chance to make more money, a politician who scatters promises like birdseed, a new diet to get me “back on track” or a vaccine that will make the world “normal” again.

My BSGs just finished a section in our study of Everyday Theology. It focused on scripture – its validity, relevance, purpose and origins. We discussed how our modern times reflect Biblical times in so many ways. Warring political factions, the lack of faith, and how the promises of God still stand true for today.

Our world needs to grab on to the truths of scripture. The Bible isn’t just some book some random guys put together. It is what the study author calls, “God-breathed.” There is no other book on the planet that has as much historical evidence to support what it says. I asked the group why did the author choose to start a book about theology with the topic of scripture rather than say, God?

One member responded quite rightly, “Because the Bible gives us the character of God so we can better understand who He is.”

I gave the visual of using an encyclopedia book – yes, the actual book. In the ole timey days we would hear about something and turn to the encyclopedia to learn more about it. We knew what was written in that book was true. No doubts. After reading all about say, Marie Curie, we could be assured we knew just about everything we needed to know.

That’s how we should view the Bible – the true and relevant encyclopedia about God. And know that it’s all true. So, when Isaiah prophesizes the birth of Jesus hundreds of years prior to his birth, we can see it as confirmation of the whole story being true.

All Scripture is God-breathed 
and is useful for teaching, 
rebuking, correcting and training 
in righteousness, so that the 
servant of God may be thoroughly 
equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

And knowing it is true – that Jesus came to be our savior and the Holy Spirit would dwell in us for all time – should cause us to look toward Him and hold on to Him as our only savior.

Tag: alliances

Unity Strengthens

The True Story of God With Us