Wandering Stars

They are... wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude 13

Stars were very important in ancient culture. We have GPS, they had the regular course of the stars. That was how they navigated. Stars that were fixed or regular in their orbits meant everything to them. But, if a person were deceived and tried to navigate by a wandering star (a star that didn’t have a regular orbit), then they could very easily end up lost or even dead.

Jude says that this is what false teachers are like. They claim to be guides, but they only deceive people and lead them astray. Jude says that these false teachers will end up in the blackest darkness just like a shooting star that disappears into the black emptiness of space.

This leads us to a question that every single believer should ask about anyone who would step forward to teach or preach God's Word to them. Here it is: "Does this person adhere to the predictable pattern of sound doctrine or are they a wandering star?" In other words, if you navigate your life based on their teaching, will you arrive at spiritual maturity or be lost to the Christian faith? Where are they leading you?!

You don’t sign up to go on a trip with somebody until you know where they're going. And you shouldn’t let someone teach God’s Word to you until you’re confident that they can lead you back to Jesus over and over again consistently.

Believers today have more choices than ever when it comes to which Bible teachers and preachers they choose to listen to. Whether it's the number of churches in your community, the number of podcasts available on your cellphone, or the number of religious-themed videos and memes you come across on social media; you have more teachers and preachers vying for your attention than ever before. Be very careful who you listen to and who you follow. Make sure you know where they are leading you. 

The Bible: More than Just a Book Written by Men

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:20–21

You would do well to commit these two verses to heart, because they offer a powerful antidote to one of the most prevalent false teachings of our day. That false teaching is often presented to us like this:

The men who wrote the Bible didn’t know all that we know, because science and culture hadn’t yet discovered all that we now know to be true. They had a biased and limited understanding of science, of gender roles, of LGBTQ+ issues, and of morality in general. Their perspective (and thus what they wrote in Scripture) was limited by the cultures and ages in which they lived. They didn't know any better, but now we do. This is why parts of God's Word need to be discounted or rewritten entirely to align with God's ongoing revelation of truth to His church. As our understanding of the universe and morality increases, we need to update our understanding of God's Word as well. 

This is a lie from the pit of Hell! And the two verses above make very clear where the flaw in their logic is. It's in the fact that they believe the Bible to be nothing more than a book written by men. If the Bible were in fact nothing more than a book written by imperfect men, then they would be right to point out that those men could hardly be expected to take into account knowledge and discoveries that had not yet come about. Imperfect men, writing completely on their own, would naturally be limited by the knowledge and opinions of their own age. But that is not what the Bible is!!!!

The Bible wasn’t written by men as they were carried along by their own personal opinions or whims. No! All Scripture finds its origin in God, not in man. The God who knows all things and lives outside of human culture and time inspired every word of the Bible. That's why it can be trusted.

False teachers will try to get you to believe the lie that the Bible is nothing more than a book written by men because they know that if they can convince you to believe that, then they can rewrite the whole Bible in their own image! But 2 Peter 1:20–21 reminds us that, "no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

So, don’t listen to anyone who slanders, criticizes, or attacks the authors of Scripture. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to get you to rewrite God’s Word or deconstruct the Christian faith. Because what they are really rebelling against isn’t ignorance, or the power structures of organized religion... it’s the God who wrote the Bible. They are rebelling against the Lord, and they are trying to recruit you to join in that rebellion. Don’t fall for their trap.

Your Church Needs You

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13

There's an awful lot of confusion nowadays about how the church is supposed to function. Many people think that paid church staff are supposed to do the work of the ministry. I mean that’s what you pay us for isn’t it? Paid staff are supposed to do the work and church members are like customers or consumers who receive the benefit. In my church that would mean that five people are supposed to meet the needs of about two hundred people. The end result of this model? You end up with five very tired church staff, two hundred unsatisfied church members, and a community that isn’t ministered to at all.

That is how a lot of Christians think the church ought to run! But that isn't what this passage tells us. According to verse twelve it isn’t the pastor or church staff who do the works of service, it’s the members. It’s God’s people! According to the passage, it isn’t about paid and unpaid staff. It's about pastors and teachers equipping God’s people to serve. But what does that look like?

My church has about thirty people who teach weekly. Those thirty people are called to teach and equip the other hundred and seventy people in the church. Then those hundred and seventy serve on various committees and teams to do the work of the ministry. And the five paid church staff help coordinate it all. That’s a better model, isn’t it? And the end result is thirty people ministering to a hundred and seventy. And now, because you have a hundred and seventy servants, you can not only meet the needs of the church but you can also reach out to and meet the needs of the community. 

That’s the model for church that we are given in this passage. And for it to work, Christians have to serve. If you are a Christian, then you need to understand that your church isn't a business you frequent. You aren’t a customer! You are one of the ministers who does the work of the Lord. So, if you aren’t serving in the local church, then there’s a problem. The church needs you! It can't grow and become all it needs to be if you every believer doesn't do their part. Are you doing your part to help build God’s kingdom and advance His church? If not, then it’s time for you to get to work. Find a church, and find a place to serve. We need you.

Contend for the Faith

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

Jude 3

That word ‘contend’ that Jude uses in verse 3 was sometimes used to refer to the struggle between two wrestlers in ancient times.* It comes from a root word that means to enter a contest, fight or struggle.**

I don’t know if you realize it or not, but there is a struggle going on right now for the hearts and minds of believers. We are locked in battle with an Enemy who wants to turn Christians away from the truth of the gospel. And Jude reminds us that we have to fight. We have to contend and struggle to keep the content of what we believe and what we teach faithful to the Bible.

You see, Jude saw that Satan was trying to disarm God’s people. He was trying to wrestle the greatest weapon the Church has out its hands. And that weapon is the truth of the gospel, the sword of the Spirit. If Satan could take the sword of the Spirit out of our hands and replace it with the lies of this world… well, that would be like taking a soldier’s broadsword and replacing it a kid’s plastic sword! The church cannot fight Satan or his minions with lies. We can't beat back the hordes of Hell if all we are armed with is a cheap knockoff… a distortion of the gospel.

Sadly, that is exactly what many churches today are trying to do. These churches have believed the lie that they have to go along with popular opinion to reach people. They’ve believed the lie that we need to stop talking about sin in church and start talking about self-help and self-esteem. They’ve believed the lie that “if we will just give a little ground here and there to conform to popular opinion; then Christianity will be less objectionable to lost people and we’ll see more people get saved!” But that simply isn’t true. 

When you look at churches in America today, almost without exception, those churches who have thrown gospel truth out the window are not growing... they’re shrinking. And the reason why is simple. When the church thinks and believes just like the world does, then (ironically) it no longer has anything to offer the world and people no longer have any reason to come to church.

It’s our distinctness our differentness that makes the church matter in this world. It’s the fact that we are a light shining in the darkness that gives us worth. If we turn the light off and embrace the darkness, then we lose everything. If we lose our uniqueness, if we lose the message of the gospel, then we have nothing to offer a lost and dying world.

If we are to save the souls of men, then we must keep a firm grip on the truth. That is critical. That is key. And Satan knows this which is why in every age he works so hard to wrench the truth from our hands. And that is why we must always "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people."

*Evangelical Commentary on the Bible: II Reason for Writing on Jude 2-3 in Logos Software

**Faithlife Study Bible on Jude 3