“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
A few days ago I was watching “Coyote and the Roadrunner.” (Okay, I know that this is on the Cartoon Channel. But these cartoons are all classics. That is my story and I’m sticking with it.) What ran through my mind was that the old coyote just kept on trying. To be sure, his efforts always ended in tragedy, but it occurred to me that we could learn from his consistency. Wouldn’t it be good if we Christians kept on keeping on in the good that we should do for Christ and never quit? Jude wrote to the recipients of his letter to “earnestly contend for the faith.” “Earnest” is a good word. What it means is to really care about something and be dedicated to doing it. We should certainly be earnest in our endeavors to serve Christ and win people to Him. Wouldn’t it be great if we would be as earnest about the faith as we are about our favorite football teams? (just sayin’) I think that what we would say today instead of "be earnest," is “hang in there.” We need to just keep on keeping on in living for Jesus, serving Him and spreading the faith. We don’t know a lot about Jude, except that he was probably the brother of Jesus, but we can know that he was earnest about his faith and that he hung in there in the living and practice of the faith. The Bible is filled with good examples of people who hung in there in their service to the Lord. Moses comes to mind. Think of what he had to face every day in leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt and across the desert. If anyone ever had reason to quit, Moses would have been the one. Of course, Paul comes to mind who wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7 as his martyrdom approached: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Notice the italicized words: “finished” and “kept.” These are the words of a person who has hung in there and served in all kinds of situations – good and bad. Throughout church history there have been people who hung in there and kept the faith going through good times and bad. Let’s look at a few reasons today why people quit and do not earnestly contend for the faith. First, I think of “feelings.” I have almost come to the conclusion that in the estimation of many church members, their feelings are the most important things in the world. If someone “hurts their feelings” they feel perfectly justified in quitting and going their own way. There are people that require us to walk gently around them, lest we hurt their feelings. We shouldn't have to waste time dealing with hurt feelings. Second I think of power. Sometimes in church we are about as bad as Republicans and Democrats. We sometimes can’t get anything done for the kingdom because people had rather argue about how to go about it than to go about it. Actually, it is called a “party spirit.” Paul dealt with it in the church at Corinth and told them to stop it. If what we are doing isn’t moving us forward, it’s probably moving us backward. The real power in any Christian work is Jesus Christ, Who is to have first place in all that we do. Third, I think of the attitude of “let the preacher do it.” (Or “let the music director, youth leader or a deacon do it.”) God has gifted every Christian with spiritual gifts to keep His work going on an even keel. He has gifted leaders and followers, and they all have work to do in His service. Fourth, I think of the fact that some think that certain Christian work is beneath their dignity, or their great talents. If the cross was not beneath the dignity of Jesus, and if washing His disciple’s feet was not beneath His dignity, then there is no service beneath our dignity. Let’s make up our minds that we are going to “earnestly contend for the faith," and hang in there in our service for the Lord. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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