The Soapbox

Yesterday! A red letter day! Hazzah! Hip! Hip! Hooray! Yesterday was the day I had been waiting for. What day is this, one might ask? Was it the day of my daughter's birth, which we have been waiting nine months for? The day that I was told, I had been the mega millions winner? The day that I finally received total enlightenment? Putt. Putt. “Nanananananana”? (Bill Murray)

No! Yesterday was the day that I had been waiting for. A day of anticipation, the way that an evil fat child waits for their coal on Christmas morning. Yesterday, I received the first of what I suspect will be several phone calls. A call from a desperate person asking for a religious exemption from a work enforced vaccination mandate. 

To be clear, our church is not a place that says people should not get vaccines, yet I also believe as well as would be our church stance that it is “My body, My choice.” Funny how only five minutes ago that phrase meant something, I don't think anyone thought it meant. Words matter at least until the Newspeak Dictionary is completed somewhere in some later chapter of the book. 

I hold the idea of bodily autonomy close and precious. I would have no problem issuing an exemption. However, the fact that there are now strangers calling and asking for said exemptions feels a bit like hearing knocking on the sealed door of Noah’s ark, or possibly Ken Hamm’s. Furthermore, it raises similar questions, both social and organizational. 

Many have said that “politics is downstream of culture.” Yet, oftentimes people forget to think of this in terms of the relationship that exists (or at least should exist) between the Church and the society at large. I feel I can say with assurance that if the above statement is true concerning the relationship between culture and politics, I can also assert that the culture which forms the political arguments, is downstream of the Church. 

Organizationally, we do not have the luxury of setting a domino trap meant to strike a match that will fall into a can of gasoline and set the house on fire, only to then tip the first, sit back, and stare confused claiming no knowledge of the crime. In short, the mechanics of the problem do not detach the cause. No matter how far away the flyer of the drone is, they are still responsible for the death of the good guy and his seven children. (Although, arguably there is a solid case in this instance that those responsible would have been the ones who issued the order. Albeit the operator could have denied the order, but in this case why would they?) I digress. 

We must understand that socially and culturally, there are grave issues at stake in this discussion. First, of all (and after consulting with a lawyer) I have come to realize that even exemptions are no guarantee of job security. If such an order is given the only path to a legitimate exemption would be that institutionally, we would have been advocating against vaccines in general for years. We have not been, nor have I personally or corporately said that the Covid Vaccine is (in the words of Bobby Bushe’s Mamma) “Of the Devil”. 

In light of this it appears that there really is not recourse for those that fall in the line of modern mainstream evangelicalism. The cynic in me might even propose that the cult of the emperor is seeking to push people toward the cult of the cult. The goal: to divide, isolate, and anger through marginalization and poverty.  

Additionally, I feel that it should be seen socially (and bleeding into the organizational level) that the greater Church in America has failed to hold the systems of our government accountable. We have had megachurches for 40 plus years in this country. Yet, all the while we were too busy with youth groups, lazer shows, identity based ministries, and Barney to find some folks that would be willing to go to the local school board meeting. We were too concerned with fall festivals and seating arrangements, dress codes and alliteration, comfort and ease, and by it all we failed our communities. We failed our social calling to live the Gospel in public. 

Yet, I am also tempted to say that we failed our neighbors. Socially and organizationally, how many of us were content with seeing faces on Christmas and Easter and asking for some great “love offering” praying for the pitance our culture could offer to us. The church played a pivotal role in forming one of the most moral and ethical societies to ever exist. Without this freedom would not have survived the 19th century. Yet, cheap hucksters took over and lived from the fat of that land. A populace that was charitable, but increasingly self absorbed. A populace willing to turn an eye as practical critical theory, game of pulpits nonsense ravaged the church.  

It is into this that we arrive at one of the greatest concerns I have as a pastor. What do I do with the frantic stranger? What do I do with those “christians” who have not cast a shadow on the floor of their local church for years, yet now found themselves “religiously” opposed to a vaccine. “Christians” who have passively watched as millions have sacrificed their own children to the Asherim of our culture and now find themselves agreeing with “My body, My choice”. In short, I fear there is not much we can do. Not much that the church can do, short of encouraging the once closeted Christians to embrace the loss of of all things for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:8-10) 

The greater question facing many who have found themselves looking for a vicarious vaccination through an organization that they have had very little to do with is a simple one; are you truly belonging to Christ? Currently we are not in a situation in which the church should violate authorities in order to accommodate people that we do not know. Clearly, if there were children being taken from parents, lives being taken in the streets, the church should see the ethically right decision to lie, obfuscate, and resist. Yet, we are not there yet. However, we are at a point in which many need to assess what it is that they value. 

Yet, I suspect that simply, having warm fuzzies for a felt board Jesus you met in a distant Sunday school is not enough. This sort of relationship will not lead toward sacrifice and self denial. You will eventually submit. You will eventually offer your children. You will willfully own nothing and you will be happier for it. 

"As a traveller, in his way meeting with a violent storm of thunder and rain, immediately turns out of his way to some house or tree for his shelter; but yet this causeth him not to give over his journey; so soon as the storm is over he returns to his way and progress again. So it is with men in bondage to sin: the law meets with them in a storm of thunder and lightning from heaven, terrifies and hinders them in their way; this turns them for a season out of their course; they will run to prayer or amendment of life, for some shelter from the storm of wrath which is feared coming upon their consciences. But is their course stopped? are their principles altered? Not at all; so soon as the storm is over…they return to their former course, in the service of sin again.

Never let us reckon that our work in contending against sin, in crucifying, mortifying, and subduing of it, is at an end. The place of its habitation is unsearchable; and when we may think that we have thoroughly won the field, there is still some reserve remaining that we saw not, that we knew not of. Many conquerors have been ruined by their carelessness after a victory; and many have been spiritually wounded after great successes against this enemy…. There is no way for us to pursue sin in its unsearchable habitation but by being endless in our pursuit."

1 Timothy 4:16

 “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

              Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned, “Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic. Do not defend God's word, but testify to it. Trust to the Word. It is a ship loaded to the very limits of its capacity.” This I think is the very same warning we see Paul issuing to young Timothy. Do not allow the “teaching” to become anything other than what it is supposed to be. That is the point. That is what Paul is warning against in this passage.

            We must see here however, that this point is one that speaks not only of “teaching” but also of the very doctrine which one places their existence upon. Doctrine, it seems is a word that in the modern culture may be seen as if it were a curse. This is by no means the case. However, contemporary thinkers often desire to throw away doctrine in favor of easily digested messages with the slight flavor of the Gospel. And this action is seen in some regard as admirable.

            However, I am challenged by this passage of Scripture today. Would Paul have sought to speak from the Word in such a way? A way engineered to make its content easily digestible? I recall a recent conversation I had with a group of men in our church. The discussion centered on the hard sayings of Jesus. Specifically the story found in John 6, in which Jesus made a statement that many could not find palatable. The Scripture actually states of the peoples response to Jesus that, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

            Wow! Jesus actually said something so controversial, so polarizing, so “counter productive” that many of His “disciples” turned and walked away. I suspect that the reason for this has to do largely with the fact that Christ’ doctrine did not match the expectation of those around Him. They expected something different; they expected something lovely for the ears to hear?

            I write this to all of you as an encouragement. As Paul was writing to Timothy (the younger brother of the two) so are we also leading and guiding younger brothers and sisters. Our goal should not be to indoctrinate them into a system of dogmatic fervor. Instead our goal is to present to them the totality of the Gospel. Personally, I am convinced that even children comprehend more than many of the fallen disciples in the passage of John did.

            Later, in that same chapter we see Jesus ask a significant question to His “core group”. Jesus says in verse 67, “Do you want to go away as well?” Do you know what the response was; the words that you are about to read are profound, do not miss them. The response of Simon Peter was, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Holy smokes Batman! Did you catch the response of Peter? Do you see the significance of it?

            We cannot miss the differentiation that existed between those who walked away and the twelve. Those who stayed rested on solely on the words of Jesus. Peter stated, “You have the words of eternal life”. We cannot miss, at this point, that the reason that the twelve stayed is forever linked with a love for the words of Christ. How, many in the modern Church could also say that this is why they stay affixed to Christ and His local church? My hope is that we are implanting such thoughts in the lives of children as well, that we are giving them a love for the Word and not the program. I hope that we are giving doctrine and not indoctrination.

  Blessings,

Psalm 45:4

“In your majesty ride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and

meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you

awesome deeds!””

             One author pointed out concerning this passage that its key points are the notions of truth, meekness, and righteousness. Of this point one reads that, “Truth will be ridiculed, meekness will be oppressed, and righteousness slain, unless the God, the Man in whom these precious things are incarnated, shall arise for their vindication. “ This to me points us this morning to something telling and true.

            The question, I think, so often plagues us is one of objective. What is our objective? As followers of Christ what are we supposed to do? This question is one that I think has been clouded in recent history (at the very least). The church gives the believer so many “goals” and “practical” application points. However, what do we see in the verse above as the objective of the passage?

            To first discern this one must seek to understand whom this passage is seeking to address? Some over the years have proposed Solomon, some Jesus, some say both, and others propose Jesus alone. Personally, I see that the object of the Psalmist’s recitations should ultimately be seen as Christ. However, as a default the individual believer should see here encouragement as well. As it is that we are all supposed to strive for Christ likeness.

            With that as the case there should be an imperative seen in this text. That we, as individuals who should seek to be Christ like, are also called to act under the main premise of this verse. Christ as our role model always acted in the imperatives of meekness, truth, and righteousness. With this being the case it should also be our call to live and act the same. That in the full reality of life our call is to be meek, truth filled, and seeking out righteousness.

            Dietrich Bonheoffer once said that, “To delay or fail to make a decision may be more sinful than to make wrong decisions out of faith and love.” This point is one that should matter in the context of this above discourse. Far too often we delay our actions of faith because we pause and in a holy voice whisper, “I shall pray over this and in the morning give my answer.” Yet, our answer never comes. “Why?” you may ask, because we are cowards by nature and lacking in faith. Yet, here we see an imperative to action.

            The very nature of the truth of Christ should be noted in His call to action. Jesus was about 33 when he died on the Cross. His life by our terms was only a mere breath but look at what He accomplished for the sake of the kingdom. What, have I done with only three years less than that? I may have some hanging on my wall, some money in my back account, and some relationships I value greatly? However, how many decisions are there yet to make in my lifetime that will be hard ones? How often will Christ call me to say, “I do not know the answer to this, or the path that it will lead me to? Yet, as a result of the spirit of truth, meekness, and righteousness I will step into the great beyond.” The answer to this question is one that will shape our lives more than any other. John Piper once said, “Risk is right!” However, this risk is a qualified one. We can take risks for stupid reasons.

In the Christian life these reasons sometimes manifest as the supposed “goals” often placed in context over the Gospel. It is somewhat asinine for believers to think that we should risk much for such little pittances of worldly success. We risk our reputations, our community credibility, and our character so often for things that are non-consequential. Yes, these things may be non-consequential, but the problem is that they are often raised to the level of congregational initiative.

I remember once a friend telling me of the dying days of his beloved church. He, in lamentable fashion, had sat across from me greatly defeated as he described the building campaign of his childhood church in Northern Mississippi. I remember asking him, “Charley, why are you so upset about this? Is it not a good thing that the church expand?” His response was telling as he looked at me intently and serious. He said, “No! Jason there is nothing wrong with growth, if it is merited.”

Charley then went on to describe the state of the church as one that at one time had been filled with the people of the community. The church had thrived for years. However, as the culture began to shift in the area people fell away. The pastor at the time began preaching to the remaining 20 or so people that a new building was what the church needed to regain prestige in the community. The point that stuck to me most was the visual that Charley left me with. He said, “He even has gone so far as to have a model made of his proposed building. He has placed it in the baptismal, that is the only place that is not used on stage anymore.” I was shocked! What a picture of false goals and of false initiatives for the sake of the “gospel”. Lets be honest that type of “growth strategy” is not risk but idolatry.

Psalm 17:13-15

“Arise. O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”

              It is a reality that in life, we all will be trampled upon at times. In fact David here makes this point as if it is an accepted fact. The fact is that there are individuals who are classified as, “men of the world”. Yet, we so often think that these individuals are, in some way outside the control of God, above the Law. That somehow God can be in control of all the good and precious things of our lives but not be sovereign over the uncomfortable parts as well. Yet, is this the case? Is this the reality of how God works in the world?

            I think that we would be wise to realize as David did in this text. That here we see that throne behind the profit of the professing man of the world is not the enemy. Rather the one who gives them wealth is God Himself. If you don’t believe me look at the words of David, who says, “You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.” Yet, so many of us, even some who just read those words may find themselves doubtful as to the nature of God in His Sovereign ability. It escapes us to think that God would give comfort to the damned and struggle to the blessed? The mere idea that this could be the case turns our very concept of grace on its head.

            The Apostle Paul once wrote something telling when considering suffering. One reads in 2 Timothy 2:10 where Paul points out, “Therefore I endure anything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” And again he says in another place, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.” Paul actually exhorts his readers to, “share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God.” Many of us at this point might ask why? Why does God call us to suffer? Why does God place us in situations in which we are to resign ourselves to the reality of frustration, discomfort, and affliction?

Notice what David says in verse 15 of our Psalm. David states, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” Wait just a minute! Is David implying that we should be satisfied with the likeness of God alone, That we are to rest knowing that, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness”? Do we even understand what a radical prayer that is? God said something telling concerning this in Exodus 33:20. It is here that we see God say that to Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Yet here we see David boldly proclaim, “I shall (future tense) behold your face in righteousness; when I awake,” What did David know that we do not?

I would submit to you that David knew two things in particular. First, he understood that God’s righteousness would be imputed to him by God’s own promise. Second, that his (David’s) current situation and struggle were part of Gods sanctifying grace upon him in preparation for the fulfillment of that promise. That is attested to early in the Book of Psalms when one reads in Psalm 11:5 that, “The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” And in the New Testament we see the same when we read, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” David understood how to look at immediate circumstance, see his struggles, and reconcile it to Gods sovereignty. God’s promise remained true regardless as to those who surrounded him. More importantly, the enemies that surrounded David were God’s means of preparation and fulfillment.

Furthermore, who better for us to learn this lesson from? God had given David a promise, and David was bold enough, to believe it. David understood that God, in giving His word had promised to lead David to the throne. Yet, as David would have looked around he would have seen struggle, strife, and pain. But still he praised God and in doing so he did not make God the bad guy, instead he rested in the promise that he would see the face of God. In David there was a soft, quiet, confidence in the LORD, may I even submit a Messiah to come. And there were practical results from this.

When we face opposition we often times look for a bogeyman to blame and cast our anger on. However, I think that is not what we see David doing. Does he acknowledge injustice? Yes, Absolutely! But, so often we see David in a position that he could have inflicted great pain on Saul and his household. Yet, when David learned of Saul and Jonathan’s death there was no celebration, no great joy in David’s heart. Instead we read:

“Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”

David was sad when his enemy had fallen in battle. Only a man who understood God’s Sovereignty could do such a thing.

Psalm 11:1-4

“In the LORD I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

they have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?

The LORD is in his holy temple;

The LORD’s throne is in heaven;

His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

            How often is it that we find ourselves asking, “what can the righteous do?” So many times in my life I have asked the same question as we see the Psalmist ask. When we look around us we see the wicked profiting. We see those that we assess as not deserving, getting more than their fill. Yet, is it our place to judge and to rule on such matters?

            Later in the Book of Psalms we read in Psalm 14 something interesting of our own nature. In that Psalm we see God say something of human nature. We read there that, “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” Many of us may instinctively think that we are such individuals that we do seek, that we do desire more of the LORD. However, as we continue reading we see that God actually finds not one person that truly seeks after God. The Psalmist writes, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” You see according to this Psalm none of us has the right to question whether the, “foundations are destroyed.” For in asking such a thing we assume that has been, we assume things are falling apart.

            Yet, how can we know that, in spite of our lack of understanding, and in the face of a corrupted world can we still know that God is good? We can know that God is good because the foundation is firm. As we read in verse 4 of chapter 11 that, “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven”. This, I think, is a point forgotten by many modern Christians. We presume to think that God’s throne is in our heart. However, it is not. Albeit that the Spirit of God does live in us, the fact does remain that God is seated on His throne in heaven. Furthermore, this should be a reassuring thing to us when we face adversity. For it is God on His throne that is the foundation of all righteousness.

            Those, who may presume to navigate away from this point need only look in the New Testament depiction of the throne recorded in the Book of Revelation. There one reads in chapter 7:14-17

“14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

God is seated on His throne and there he protects those who were oppressed and killed for the faith. This must be seen as greatly significant to us. As we look around and think the foundations are slipping, let us remember that our foundation is in the LORD, who yet remains ever seated on His throne. Furthermore, His throne is the foundation of all that is Christianity, not my heart, or yours. In fact Jeremiah 17:9 says that, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can trust it?”

            Some may presume to think this is not applicable to our modern expression of faith. However, I would say this point is ever applicable, especially when so many individuals are openly expressing a foundation that is destroyed. I have, of late, heard many talk of the very notion of a “Christian America” in many of these instances individuals proclaim, “the foundation of our country is being taken away!” the logical conclusion therefore is that, “We must take it back!” Part of me weeps when I hear such things. Although, I understand that the individuals who proclaim this are of best intentions, I would also submit that they are expressing a foundation other than the one we see in chapter 11 of the Book of Psalms. God is seated on His throne! There is nothing that can change that! Yet, we so often find ourselves in mourning of the by gone "glory days” of American Christianity. How pitiful must we seem to God when we pray for the comfort to return of the glorious “Christian” America, an America in which people were obligated to church themselves up twice a week, If only in order to keep the neighbors gossip at bay. Any sense of Christianity in that time was founded on the throne, not on some overt sense of American greatness, or privilege. 

Yet, why do so many want to return to an obligatory foundation when there is such a greater one? Why with pomp and vigor must we proclaim that a nation should return back again to such foundations? In doing so is there not a danger that we sell a Jesus that never really existed. If people were saved to a “Christian” America, they may have been ushered into a very real sense of idolatry. Instead let us remember that American Christianity is not Christianity at all if it does not rest on the foundation of Gods throne. And that throne remains firm, I assure you. The martyrs are hidden there in remembrance of their great struggle, their great foundation. My question today… What is ours?

Matthew 10:39

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

            Jesus said these words to His followers as they discussed persecution. This very passage has had a great deal of impact on my own life. I remember once reading this text and immediately being moved by it. For it was in that moment that I had wondered its true depth as well as the reality of its practical implications. Was I really called to “lose” my life? Did Jesus really demand my everything for sake of His glory? Was I offended that He would ask such a thing as this?

            J.C. Ryle once wrote something telling about what it truly means to be a Christian. More so, he says something telling of the mistake made by many Gospel ministers and their drive toward conversion.

One reads:      

“Yet nothing is more common than to see people receiving the Word with joy, and then after two or three years falling away, and going back to their sins. They had not considered what it costs to be a really consistent believer and holy Christian.”

J.C. Ryle is making a valid point concerning the text we see in Matthew. The simple fact is that few people at the point of “conversion” truly seek to understand the “cost” of a life lived with Jesus. As Ryle continues he says, “it is what a man must be ready to give up if he wishes to be saved. It is the amount of sacrifice a man must submit to if he intends to serve Christ”.

            How different might Christ’ Church look if individual believers were called to live in light of this? Yet, they are not called to do so by those that should in fact, call them to such a life, those being the very “ministers” of the Gospel! Instead many of us are encouraged to cling onto the worldliness that we have been so luxuriously incapacitated by. We do not embody a life that has been lost for the sake of Christ. Instead we live a life that is constantly seeking to find the common ground, to define ourselves by our own perceptions and grandiose ideas of self. Yet all the while Christ proclaims, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”

            Ann Judson was the wife of the first American missionary in India, Adoniram Judson. As a young woman she was married and forsook all the life she had known with her happy family in New England. In her diary the night before leaving for India she wrote the following:

“Took leave of my friends and native land… Had so long anticipated the trying scene of parting, that I found it more tolerable than I feared. Still my heart bleeds. O America, my native land, must I leave thee? Must I leave my parents, my sister and brothers, my friends beloved, and all the scenes of my early youth?

One can sense in the voice of this young woman, the great pain that it must have been for her to leave all that she had ever known to do the work of Christ. Not only did she leave but also she left to a world, which possessed not any of the modern things we hold dear. In the words of Weird Al Yankovic in his song Amish Paradise, “No phone, no lights, no motorcars, not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe it’s as primitive as can be.” Which begs an important question for us today. Would we be willing to do the same? What would be too much for us to give up? Where do we draw the line on God’s commandments of our lives? Ann herself even suffered greater things than described above.  

            Ann eventually died of spotted fever. She was only thirty-seven. Her husband who was away, received the following letter:

“My dear Sir, to one who has suffered so much and with such exemplary fortitude, there needs but a little preface to tell a tale of distress. It were cruel indeed to torture you with doubt and suspense. To sum up the unhappy tidings in a few words—Mrs. Judson is no more.”

It was said that as Ann lay dying she said the following:

“The teacher (her husband) is long in coming, and the new missionaries are long in coming; I must die alone and leave my little one, but as it is the will of God, I acquiesce in His will. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid I shall not be able to bear the pains.”

Adoniram would continue his work in India and Burma, eventually losing even his daughter to the same sufferings as his wife. She was 2 1/2. Some may think it morbid, and others may think it sad. Yet I think that in light of what Christ said in Matthew we might, for a moment, envy the clarity to which Ann lived her life. She understood that her life was not her own. She understood what it meant to count the cost.

            So, today I ask the same question R.C. Ryle asked. Have we counted the cost? Have you taken stock of your worldliness, your perception of self, your grandiose ideals concerning personal glory and comfort? Have you as a result of these consideration decided to lay it all before the feet of Christ? Will you do it no matter the cost, no matter what may be lost? This is the question that we must define ourselves by today.

Solo Deo Gloria,

Hebrews 6:1-6

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go in to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washing, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permit’s. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”

            Here we see a passage that has given many scholars a great wealth of difficulty over the centuries of Christendom.  It seems, there are as many interpretations of this passage as there are scholars. So for the purpose of this study I will not seek to give an explanation. However, I will seek to provide some insight to this passage in accord with my own thoughts and investigation.

            I remember as a young Bible College student when I first discovered this passage of scripture. It scared the pants off of me. What did it all mean? I wanted so desperately to take the Word of God seriously and here I found myself confronted with the harsh reality that, “it is impossible,” for those who had fallen away to be restored back again to their state of salvation. Or is it? Was there something I was missing? Something that I could not see in this text that would help me forever explain, in my own life, how one could seemingly walk away from God, and then return again to Him like never before? Furthermore, How could repentance play into this situation? Was not repentance the means to which God forgave those who, as Christians, had fallen away and now sought forgiveness?

            The opening point of this passage should be directed in two fold. The author is upholding the authority and goal of teachers as well as pointing to the false authority of “milk” based Christians. In short learn and be a teacher, or be content with a lack of Christian character (or even possibly false conversion in the context of the passage that follows).

            This brings up an interesting problem that many churches face. How can a body grow in holiness if they are constantly centered on the “milk” of the Gospel? I remember once hearing a fellow student of mine say, “Im only concerned with the meat and potatoes of the Gospel!” This was said with some authority. I pray that His perspective changed, as this mentality may be the very thing wrong with a humanistic Gospel centered on individual comfort and assurance. I am sure that the author of Hebrews would have had something to say to my fellow student some years ago.

When we become content only with the “elementary doctrine” of the Christian message we are effectively binding our hands and feet becoming incapable of truly expressing the Gospel to those around us. I think this is the mentality that is expressed anytime we hear the success of an outreach or ministry conveyed in numbers. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Gospel. We ought maybe think about the language that we use and instead of saying, “We had X-amount of decision for Jesus!” we ought say, and be content with, “the Gospel was advanced and many were impacted by the grace of God!” However, I fear this would not be the case in many situations and churches. People are addicted to the flashy show that we have made the salvation process. There must always be a good story to make us cry, or shout, or throw our hands in the air. Many have degraded salvation to a good soap opera story, on display for all to see.

We have become like a hiker. A hiker, who after traveling miles into the woods without seeing anything of interest finally sees a two-headed bear. Exclaiming for joy this hiker slowly sits and waits for the bear to return but the hiker never tries to follow the bear and learn more about it. Eventually the hiker will freeze to death as winter comes. The bear never returned.

            The problem was that the hiker had “experienced” the bear but truly did not seek to understand its habits and life. He had been “enlightened” to the existence of such a creature but really knew nothing of it. The issue is the same for many people in the church. The church is a place were people have, “been enlightened” and have, “tasted the goodness of the word of God,” and yet there is not true heart change. There is only legalism and strife.

            Here it may be that we are looking at a case of false profession. Assuredly there are those who profess belief but do not actually believe. This could be the case of this passage. Furthermore, this is frighteningly the case of many a church-goer today as well. As Arthur Pink states of the Hebrew Church we can also see in our own immediate context. Pink states:

“The Hebrews had become lukewarm, negligent, and inert; the gospel, once dearly seen and dearly loved by them, had become to them dull and vague; the persecutions and contempt of their countrymen a grievous burden, under which they groaned, and under which they did not enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Darkness, doubt, gloom, indecision, and consequently a walk in which the power of Christ’s love was not manifest, characterized them.”

As a result of being too concerned with things that were elementary they had become ineffective in their true calling to manifest Christ to those around them. Furthermore, in so doing they were in danger of showing the world that they had never truly believed to begin with. The profession did not match their lifestyle.

Hebrews 5:11-14

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

            I have, many times in my life, sat across from individuals in a “spiritual crisis”. It seemed to them that there was a spiritual need that they must have met. Furthermore, this conversation usually ends with an absolving of the bonds that exist between the individual church and the individual believer. Under the simple phrase, “I think it better for my spiritual growth”, the church is left with one less member and one more stripe in the battle for unity and purity.

            This situation is one repeated across the spectrum of Christianity. However, the issue is not one of “spiritual crisis” but milk addiction. The reality of the matter is one in which the individual finds their own desire to gourde themselves on milk more important than a call to feed and teach others. In this text we must see the reality of this.

            Here we see a church more concerned with things that are inconsequential than the proliferation of the Gospel of Jesus. In our context the author would say something similar. I can imagine the issues being worship music, communion style, dress at church, or any other litany of issues. The problem arises when individuals elevate non-doctrinal issues to a status that they should not obtain.

Here it would have been issues of tradition and law. The individual complantaint in the Hebrews church would have been obliged to think that tradition and observance of the Law was more important than Christ. However, the author says that is not the problem. The issue in the Hebrew Church is not a pressing need for more law but a pressing need for more Jesus. The author understands an important truth. A valid encounter with Jesus cannot be valid without a desire to move toward being a teacher to others.

            This brings light to the fundamental problem facing the church today. People have lost sight of the goal of Christ in us. I think of the great saints of the catholic and orthodox churches. The individuals have been lifted to a status of almost being a god in some rights. However, that was not the point of their lives. We also do the same with Christ. So many people need a rally cry, a cause, or a mission. This is not a bad thing. However, the possibility exists that we have allowed false images to take over our call to Christ.

            The issue is one so much tied to discipleship. The health of the church in this book was directly tied to the teachability of the people in the congregation. These individuals were more worried about the sins in other people’s lives and beliefs than they were about there own usefulness to God. Furthermore, as a result they were flirting with the desire to deny Christ as God. We must realize that when we allow ourselves to be more concerned with an issue instead of with Jesus than we in a very visual way are denying Christ to the world around us. We must be teaching others. Christ says, “I will make you fishers of men!” When was the last time we truly lived the life of fishermen? Are we living a life that looks like someone who understands what it means to teach others in any context?

            My great fear is complicated by so much. It seems that the Milk addict often times feels completely justified by saying, “my spiritual needs are not being met.” This phrase is considered completely valid despite their total lack of ability to teach others. An individual who does not teach others is a perpetual student and therefore will never graduate to greater things. This should be concerning.

Hebrews 5:5-10

“So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

            “You are my Son,

     today I have begotten you”;

as he says also in another place,

            “You are a priest forever,

                 after the order of Melchizedek.”

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayer and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was feared because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Mechizedek.”

            I remember in my first pastorate I had an enlightening run in with my pastor (my boss). My first day of work he called me into his office. He wanted to have a talk.

He looked at me from across his desk and started into a long conversation concerning his expectations for me and his own experiences in ministry. Eventually he ended the conversation with these gracious words, “Jason” he said, “I am not going to manage you, I have hired you to be our youth pastor and I believe God has done that.” He continued, “I am going to let you do what God has called you to do and if something goes wrong well we will deal with it then.” These words would become one of the most gracious things I had ever had a pastor say to me.

            A year and a half later I realized something telling of that pastor. He understood what it meant to be a man who inspires leadership and lets leaders lead. When we picture this model to the world we will excite leaders and innovators to be part of our cause. However, the repercussions of the opposite are far reaching.

            We must see here that Christ’s own priesthood just as ours (the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer) is established and maintained by God. The people trusted the leaders that God had chosen to offer sacrifices for their sin, at least ideally. Faith was established when the individuals understood that Gods authority, His sovereign power was the proliferation point of the ministry, not the individuals ability to maintain and uphold the “traditions” and “actions” of men and their strategies.

            I submit that the meddling hand of faithless legalism was the cause of this passage.  The individuals in the Hebrews church who caused the division were ones that did not like the way things were being done. That is why the author of this passage felt the need to show the superior nature of Christ in His ministry. John MacArthur writes on this the following:

“Yet even though He was the divine Son, Jesus did not take the position for Himself. He told the Jewish leaders who questioned Him, “If I glorify Myself, My goal is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’”

Jesus understood that it was not the place of men to direct the will of God it was God to direct the will of man through His authority and grace. Jesus was the pinnacle of this example. Here we see the author of Hebrews making the same point. If the people truly trusted Gods will, as they said, than they would trust the Messiah Jesus. Not their individual agenda to project the law of their making into Gods works.

            Second, we must see that Jesus was a man that sympathized with others. If Jesus had been more concerned with everything being perfect all the time this would not have been the case. Casually people say, “the Devil is in the details” this is something said with glib. However, I think that we must realize that when we are caught in this cycle we loose the ability to sympathize with those we are called to minister too. Jesus shows us to rest in Gods promises whereas the devil uses individual’s persuasions to rip and tear at the hem of the church. Our enemy is not sympathetic and worry is his great tool whereas Jesus is caring and has sympathy allowing us the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.

            William Barclay states of the writer that he portrayed an important theme concerning Jesus’ own suffering in relation to us. Barclay cites a common Jewish thought of the day:

“There are three kinds of prayers, each loftier than the proceeding—praying, crying, and tears. Prayer made in silence; crying with raised voice; but tears overcome all things,’

Hebrews 5:1-4

“For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obliged to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.”

            I have often thought about the nature of ministry in our culture. The questions are endless as to the nature of calling and maintaining ones ministry. Furthermore, it is perplexing as a believer to constantly fight the cultural perception possessed by the many of our contemporaries. How can we as Christians make a difference when so many supposed “pastors” perpetually end up on the evening news displaying their sins for all the world to see?

            Here we see what qualifies one to be a priest in the church of God. In so many aspects this passage portrays the most important qualifications a pastor or minister should have. However, many times I have sat with people who felt “called” to ministry or leadership yet they were unable to truly understand what that meant.

            I remember once as a younger man sitting in a Mississippi church feeling the absolute weight of what the church expected of me as pastor. In so many rights it seems that many in the church think that a pastor is supposed to be a combination of father, husband, friend, C.E.O, and Jesus. Furthermore, a minister is supposed to maintain all of these things while still remaining perfected to their calling and their own family. It might be said that often times we think that a minister of the Gospel is supposed to be invincible. Like a young child sees their father as some sort of superman many church parishioners and non-church goers see their pastor and Christian friend. However this passage would point to something different.

            Again here we are confronted with the humanity of Christ in its coexistence with His divine nature. All priests in the O.T. were an archetype of Christ. We read in chapter 5 V.1-2 which says:

“For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness”        

Although Christ was not and is not weak He did come in the nature of a servant, first to God and His glory and then in his ministry to human beings. We see this in the Book of Philippians 2: 5-7 where Paul states of Christ the following:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men”

It should seem therefore; that the true nature of a High Priest, pastor, or church member as one who takes on the lot of those they ministers to. However, it is frightful that many pastors may be projected into some untouchable figurehead of an organization. The professional church minister is something that was never intended.

            John Piper has spoken and written a great wealth on this issue. Piper is very telling on the nature of ministry by saying:

“We are fools for Christ’s sake. But professionals are wise. We are weak. But professionals are strong. Professionals are held in honor. We are disrepute. We do not try to secure a professional lifestyle, but we are ready to hunger and thirst and be ill-clad and homeless. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. Or have we?”

The idea that professional ministry could be the answer to the lost around us it not a well thought out pattern of being salt and light. The professional attitude of the world around us has lead to a great wealth of strife. A professional ministry may appeal to some but the idea of such an appealing is one that should give us pause.

Hebrews 4:15-16

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with out weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in everyway, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”

            When I was in college I went through a great period of doubt. I began to wonder about my salvation. I would sit for hours and think to myself, “am I really saved? Does Jesus really love me? How can I still sin and be a Christian?” I think that at some point many in the Church will go through a period of such tempering. It is common, it is difficult, and it is important.

            However, I think that inevitably people will often times in these situations begin to seek wise counsel. I actually confess that in my period of doubt I became so desperate for help that I even sought some not-so wise counsel as well. It was during this time that I would go to friends, teachers, and pastors and inevitably work the conversation to a point where I could ask, “How can I know that I am saved?” It always seemed that the answer was lack luster. The conversation would work to a point where eventually they would ask, “Well!” as if they had, had some great moment of clarity, “Have you asked Jesus into your heart?” My answer was always the same, “yes more than once!” This was very frustrating and repetitive.

            Eventually, I came to a point where I realized that I needed to sustain myself in faith by God and God alone. That only in His Son would I ever find rest and know that I was His and He was mine. However, I had learned something about speaking with friends and seeking “counsel”. Unless we seek counsel from someone who has been there before, there is really no way that they can ever identify with and sympathize with our sin. Furthermore, the only reason why  Christian accountability is valid is that it is based upon Christ Himself. Who had experienced every moment of struggle that we do as well.

            That is the point here of this Scripture. The point here is the dual nature of Christ. Note here in the text that we see the author state, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with out weakness”. The point is this; that Christ has experienced the exact same struggles we have as well. Furthermore, we see here that Christ, as high priest, can atone for our sins but also identify with us and sympathize.

            An important theme here to see is that many in the Hebrews Church thought as the high priest appointed from men thought. These individuals had sought to elevate themselves through religious knowledge and observance in order that they might be more holy than the average bear. As Yogi Bear was proud of his picnic basket stealing abilities the priest had become proud of their religious abilities. However, here we see the one factor that separated Christ from them. Christ was a High Priest that identified with the people. Christ had all the right in the world to be proud but he was not. Christ was a humble sinless servant.

            This is often the attitude that we take toward the world as well. I remember once I was watching a movie when I was in Bible College. Me and my girlfriend at the time had rented the movie assuming there would be no real issue with language or content (which for the most part there was not). About one quarter through the movie a young lady came through the door just in time to hear one of the only curse words in the movie. She then stopped in her tracks, gasped, shook her head, stared, huffed, puffed, and turned and walked out the door. This turned not only myself and my girlfriend off, but also many others in the room.

            We might here read this and scoff. However, I would challenge us to think of times that maybe we have been scoffers at sin rather than sympathizers. Not sympathy in the way of condoning but rather sympathy in the way of caring about the person committing it. If someone has the flu I can sympathize with them and not begin vomiting uncontrollably just as I can sympathize with someone who struggles with homosexuality and not become a homosexual.

            However, it seems that often we think that we can make a difference through a megaphone. Like the Tokyo Rose through a radio speaking to American G.I.s in World War II we think that we can make people surrender their sin to Jesus by speaking loudly enough from a safe distance. This is not, and never, will be the case. We have to get dirty, get real, and get to work. If we don’t we will never be seen as humans by those that we pray for. We will only be seen as disconnected, non-caring Pharisees, and that is the opposite of Jesus. 

Further Study 

Hebrews 4:14

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

            I remember when I was very young I would go to work with my father on Saturdays. He would load me up in the car, buckle me in the car seat and drive to the mall where he was the manager. We would pull into the parking. As we would begin to get out of the car he would look down and smiling he would say, “Jason!” and I would look back and say, “Yes” with excitement. I must admit now I always knew what he was about to say but I loved every minute of it and would wait anxiously for this little tradition to play out. He would pause and almost as if some great pitcher looking down from the mound he would exclaim, “Jason, who’s the boss with the red hot sauce!” I would giggle uncontrollably and say as loud as my little voice could, “You are!” He would smile and I would smile. I loved Saturdays with my dad and often times miss those moments that we shared.

            The story that we see here is similar to the one that I had with my father. Jesus as the High Priest of our faith is our great leader; He is, for all intensive purposes, “the boss with the red hot sauce.” However, we, like my earthly fathers employees, are prone to forget this reality. We long to think that we are better leaders than He. This was also the problem that many of the Jews in question were struggling with in this text.

Here we reach a key theme to the Book of Hebrews. The author of the text seeks to employ Jewish language in order to explain the Gospel in terms that could be understood by His audience. It is in this passage that we see Jesus portrayed as a “high priest”. This is of great significance to us and should be understood further, as it has great practical implications to us as well as the original readers of the Hebrews text.

The point here is one that is very difficult for many (if not all) to grapple with concerning the tenants of the true Christian faith. We are not the high priests of our own faith. This was of great significance to the audience of this text. There seems to have been many that sought to think themselves smarter than Christ. Some may say that this is not of great concern to the modern church. However, I would exclaim that this is not the case. There are too many “experts” and not enough humble leaders in the church today. This should be of great concern.

The fact is that we need a high priest. It is a high priest that was needed to take an atoning sacrifice before God. However there was a catch. No human is perfect enough to stand in the presence of God. Our sin is so offensive to Him that it cannot be seen in His presence. How could our sin ever be atoned for if we ourselves could not bring it before Him and seek forgiveness? A mediator, a perfect sinless human made in the image of perfection was needed to mediate for us. A perfect high priest was what was called for. More so, a high priest, who himself, was sinless and needed not sacrifice himself.

Barclay has an interesting point on the issue concerning the nature of Christ in the Book of Hebrews. He states:

“What was needed was a perfect priest and a perfect sacrifice, someone who could bring to God a sacrifice that once and for all opened the way of access to Him.”

Christ was the only individual who met the two qualification needed for such an action. One reads further concerning this that, “He (Christ) is the perfect priest because he is both perfectly human and perfectly God.” Christ was the answer to this problem and no man or women, regardless of their depth of spiritual knowledge and holiness, can ever claim priesthood as Christ does.

            The role of a High Priest was a daunting one and with it came much responsibility and pressure. The only “person” good enough to live it was Christ Himself. Yet, man continues to seek this role for himself. In our own action we implicate Christ as being quasi-human and therefore quasi-God. In order for any argument to entertain a diminished view of Christ as human it must also mean that they will diminish Christ as God. We must not make this mistake. For it was the grave mistake that many in the church of the Book of Hebrews made.

            The situation in Hebrews is one in which legalism is seeking to overtake grace. With this legalism the people of offence were in all actuality trying to lower the Godhood of Christ. If it were that we were supposed to follow laws or tenants in order to have a full religious experience we would in essence be lowering God to something that we can attain or “experience” through a process of action. This was the message that the offenders to which this book is addressed were portraying to the world around them. In a sense they were saying Gods grace is sufficient but in other settings and in other terms they were picturing a system in which their pride had been elevated. These individuals were proclaiming the prophets but not their master. Furthermore, that master was and is Christ as High Priest. If they (and we) do not see Christ as a perfect High Priest we will forever lose the truth and effectiveness of the Gospel.

Hebrews 4:12-13

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

                        On June 4th 1940 Winston Churchill said the following words in a speech given to rally the English people in the face of a looming war with Germany. He said:

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

These words became infamous in the coming years and decades as the British people fought to remain British. The people of the Empire found themselves facing odds that seemed insurmountable in the face of Hitler’s Germany. However, the one thing that Churchill understood so well is this simple fact. Words have power.

            So is also the case of our text at hand. One commentator on this text said it very plainly. This writer stated, “The point of this passage is that the word of God has come, and is such that it cannot be disregarded.” Yet throughout the course of Christian history it has been this very fact that has come under so much attack. As the bombs of Germany tried to demolish all that symbolized Britain so the enemy of Christ has sought to compromise the great finite truths of Gods word. Often times doing so whilst wearing the very trappings of that which it hates.

            The unique nature of the situation in the church here is one in which the author of this text sought to define the very foundation of what it meant to be Christian. The answer to the writer of the Book of Hebrews was a simple one. The Word of God was and will always be the answer. There is no amount of practice, tradition, or thought that will ever circumnavigate the great wealth of assurance that comes from the word of God. However, religion had and will continue to have a great effect on ones ability to see this simple fact.

            William Barclay makes a profound statement about the word of God. Mr. Barclay said that, “When people take God seriously, they immediately realize that his word is not only something to be studied, not only something to be read, not only something to be written about; it is something to be done.” This is sticking in the face of the contemporary church in which we live. How many “Christians” find themselves more concerned with practice and observance than they do in living out the idea that there is, “something to be done”? So many it seems have become bogged down in the thought that personal holiness equals Gospel living. However, this in some regard may not be the case. In fact an over exaggerated sense of holiness can lead to the very opposite. There is only one formula for true holiness and that is found in Christ, and Chris as the word of God. All other actions and processes lead to legalism.

            Now, I am not saying that personal holiness is of no importance. However, I am saying that often time’s individuals get lost in the quest for it. Instead of seeking to know God in his Word, many seek to experience God in deeper “ways” forgetting the Gospel in the process. This in someway leaves only selfishness at the core of what we portray to the world around us. I would even propose to say that this mentality is no less expressive of who we care about than the rich young ruler who so promptly stepped over the body of the starving Lazarus. The wealthy man was so assured of his status before God that he cared not to stop and care for the weak and dying around him.

            This is ultimately what happens when a Church community becomes more concerned with themselves than with those whom Christ is still calling. The scary fact is that most do not see it this way at all. I imagine that many in the Hebrews church were seeing this same issue in their context. Many in the Hebrew’s church would have proclaimed the very name of God yet, lacked grace and love. As a result many individuals in the church would have become disillusioned with the Gospel, falsely associating Gods word with the legalism of the prideful. With each proclamation of the supremacy of Moses, or Joshua the Gospel was defamed. With every word or call for individuals to go back to the Jewish practical religion the grace of Christ was attacked.

  I would put forth the idea that many pastors do the same in our context. So many, it seems, preach a problem and answer version of the Gospel. This I would say is more in an effort to comfort rather than drive individuals to a deeper call to Gospel living. When we present the Gospel as the great problem solver we present a Gospel that is man centered and not Christ centered. The people of God should be challenged to think and move further into the trusting of God and His word through speculation. When we present ourselves as having all the answers (even though we do in Gods word) we set the church up for failure. Inevitably we will reach an impasse at which we cannot provide all the answers (or more importantly the answers that people want which may not be the best answers). It is here that unlike Ruth people will choose the path of Orpah. It will be easier to go home to the gods that individuals worshiped before.

            This brings us to why the Word of God is of the upmost importance. When the author here states, “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” the word used is of great interest. The word “uncovered” literally translates, “naked”. In short what we are seeing here is the author making a statement on the final authority of God in the judgment of men. In the end there will be nothing that will stop God from seeing the very nature of our claims on the Gospel. There is no amount of activity, clothing, or pomp (which in that day and even in ours is an effective way of setting oneself apart) will ever stop Gods word from either condemning or exalting. The word has great power and should never be dismissed. All things are answered in Christ and His embodiment in the word. That’s the bottom line.

For further study:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/retreat-or-risk

http://www.johnpiippo.com/2010/08/consumer-religion-fuels-clergy-burnout.html