These verses comprise what may be the most controversial passage in the Bible. This interpretive dilemma is answered in several different ways. There is the insecure group interpretation. There is the secure group interpretation. There is the mixed group interpretation. Which is correct? Are any correct? Get ready for a theological collision of epic proportions.
If each of us can make a lasting difference in the lives of 10-20 people in our lifetimes, that difference will be felt for generations to come. Our mission is defined by what we do for others and how we influence their lives. That truth stands at the heart of Matthew 10.
Jesus and His entourage seemed to treat religion as if it were a party. Their actions, of course, offended many who clung to the accepted religious practices of the day. However, while holding to their traditions, they missed a great work which God happened to be doing among them. Are you ready for the party?
Do you know the man who led my father to Christ? I could have been raised by a father who despised Christ, but someone led my father to Christ and my father led me to Christ. The man who led my father to Christ, though dead for decades, still has an impact on the world. That’s called greatness.
Is it possible to make a connection with God without a priest? If a priest is really necessary, just who are these priests; how many are in existence; where can they be found; and how is it possible to make sure that any so-called priest is the genuine article?
The movement of history and the advance of technology have not, and cannot, invalidate or discount the Bible’s relevancy to the circumstances and dilemmas of anyone who has been created in God’s image. The disposition of the Bible is constantly up-to-date. It touches every present moment and speaks to that moment with power and relevancy.
James addressed a congregation whose members had made a dichotomy between faith and practice – as long as a person believed right, behaving right didn’t matter. In terms that are clear, James presented his audience with this biblical truth: We are held accountable by God for what we know.
We sometimes think that we are invincible, that we are without vulnerability, that we are beyond the reaches of disaster and calamity. Then along comes an unexpected, colossal reminder that, indeed, we are exposed and unprotected, that we are susceptible, that we are without defense. Then what?
Going beyond the first step of faith, i.e., being saved, to living by faith in the realm of the impossible is an essential element to following Christ. Further, believing God for the present and future is more important than believing Him for the past. The life of the believer is to be centered in what God is doing through our lives now, not what He did through our lives in the distant past. Just shut-up and drive!
James characterized his congregation with such terms as conflicts, quarrels, fights, anger, cursing, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and every evil thing. The admonition we might expect to require the least emphasis in the church is the shocking reprimand that arose as a primary theme of James’ preaching. Surely, today’s church is different. No way do we need such tough confrontation in century 21, or do we?