I don’t know if this has ever happened to you but it happens to me way too often. I meet someone and at first blush I’m excited because they seem to be as committed to the same ideas as me. However, over time, I realize we aren’t alike as I thought. They haven’t changed. I am noticing their inconsistencies. Their words and actions don’t match. When you realize this, you begin to question yourself and analyze everything they’ve ever said or did.
It’s why when I begin to wrestle with God about why He allows (you fill in the blank), I look at how those who were closest lived out their faith after Jesus left them. Did you know:
Peter and Paul - Both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.
Andrew - went to the "land of the man-eaters," in what is now the Soviet Union. Christians there claim him as the first to bring the gospel to their land. He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and in Greece, where he is said to have been crucified.
Thomas - was probably most active in the area east of Syria. Tradition has him preaching as far east as India, where the ancient Marthoma Christians revere him as their founder. They claim that he died there when pierced through with the spears of four soldiers.
Philip - possibly had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and cruelly put to death.
Matthew -the tax collector and writer of a Gospel ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. Some of the oldest reports say he was not martyred, while others say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.
Bartholomew - had widespread missionary travels attributed to him by tradition: to India with Thomas, back to Armenia, and also to Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he met his death as a martyr for the gospel.
James - the son of Alpheus is one of at least three James referred to in the New Testament. There is some confusion as to which is which, but this James is reckoned to have ministered in Syria. The Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and then clubbed to death.
Simon the Zealot - so the story goes, ministered in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.
Matthias - The apostle chosen to replace Judas. Tradition sends him to Syria with Andrew and to death by burning.
John - The only one of the apostles generally thought to have died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in the Ephesus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home. During Domitian's persecution in the middle '90s, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There he is credited with writing the last book of the New Testament--the Revelation. An early Latin tradition has him escaping unhurt after being cast into boiling oil at Rome.
After the death of the apostles, we do not find great missionary figures of the stature of Paul. Yet the faith continued to spread like wildfire -- even though Christianity was declared an illegal religion.
Today, we open the second book of John. Remember, he was the only one to die of old age so His words give us insight into his heart and what mattered most to Him.
So let’s begin, with a little background. The scholars and historians don’t agree if this letter was written as is stated to a woman or to a house church. Many believe the use of the elder, lady and children is a veiled way of addressing the leaders of a church in an area where the church was underground due to persecutions.
1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
John uses the words truth and love four times in these initial verses. Warren Wiersbe writes: “Truth is not only an objective revelation from the father, but also a subjective experience in our personal lives. In other words, Jesus is more than some simple acknowledgement of a historical figure but an understanding so real it changes us from the inside out.
John’s writings are filled with the understanding that “reality” as opposed to appearance requires several ingredients.
Belief - The cornerstone of our lives is the belief in a God so powerful He can create the universe and so humble, he would also be a man who would die and rise. And so loving, Jesus would leave behind the Holy Spirit to guide us. Reference a few of the disciples dying for the belief.
Love - love requires a choice to have no bounds. God chose to come to earth as a man being both fully God and man. Jesus then chose to die for our misdeeds. His grace saves those willing to accept the gift. Unconditional love works that way. No matter what you do or say, God’s grace and mercy are there for you.
I will never forget when I was still far from God. I believed in a higher power but not the traditional judeo-christian understanding. I had decided that “God is love.” I liked that statement and tried to live that bumper sticker faith. Anything that didn’t seem “loving” by my standards was evil or “of man.” It worked until the moment my son walked into the street and was 4 inches from the foot of the car's hood. You see, when he was a very little boy, we were working in the garage together. I turned my back for a second and He ran down into the street. When the car honked its horn behind me, I ran to the street, gave a pleasant wave and smacked his bottom and yelled at him to never do that again. As he looked at me and cried, I will never forget thinking that sometimes love requires discipline and obedience.
It also shaped my understanding of the bible as God’s word. God didn’t have hundreds of authors write His story. He wrote it out of love. The insights and commands were placed in the bible with warnings of love of a parent for a child.
Obedience - in 2 John verse 6 look how John stresses the importance of how we walk or live, telling readers to “walk” in obedience and love.
I Love the story of the thief who goes to a confession for the first time in a long time. He sits in the church and upon seeing the 10 commandments begins to cry for what seem like hours until the confessional booth is open. When it looked like no one else was there, He snuck in to share the ugly facts of life lived on self will. After he was given his penance of Our Fathers and Hail Marys, he re-read the commandments on the chapel wall. It was then he realized, they were guardrails to keep oneself from getting hurt or paying the consequences of hurting others
Moving back to the scriptures:
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we[a] have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
(John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”)
Did I say, John is the only disciple to die of old age. Like an elderly grandfather who was once a celebrity because of his role walking with the Savior. The “truth” is something that John has: heard, seen, touched. For him and us, the “truth” is not a what, but a who. It’s Jesus. He is the Truth that never changes. Our God so loved us, He came, died and rose again to give us a future with Him beginning today.
So as Christians who claim Jesus as our Lord and who have surrender our life to His direction we have only two steps to walk in life:
Step #1: If we love God, we will obey God.
Step #2: If we obey God, we will love others.
Don’t be misled: Knowing and abiding in the truth is the calling of every Christian. Therefore, our personal relationship with Christ will never be just personal. It’s a calling to share and transform the world for His glory.
