Receiving

Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help (Hebrews 4:16).

In Acts 20:35, the Apostle Paul preserved the words of the Lord Jesus: it is more blessed to give than to receive. Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesian elders there remains important to this day: Christians should give consideration to those who are weak, and should give liberally as they have opportunity to those in need. And, in general, Christians have taken ahold of this instruction: Christians often give as they have been encouraged to do so, and seek opportunities to be charitable. Christians have very much internalized this message from the Lord: they do believe it is better to give than to receive.

But Christians must not distort and twist what the Lord Jesus said. Jesus did not say, “it is best to give, not to receive.” Jesus used the comparative regarding how it is better to give than it is to receive. This does not mean that receiving is bad, wrong, ugly, or somehow suspect. While it is true Jesus was exalting giving at the expense of receiving, we should not imagine Jesus was encouraging Christians to refuse to receive or to look contemptuously upon the need to receive.

The Scriptures abundantly attest to all the things we have received, continue to receive, and will receive from God. God has made the whole creation and us within it; in truth, everything we have and are come as gifts of God we have received: these include, but are not limited to, our very lives, the creation we enjoy, our families and loved ones, the health and prosperity we maintain, and the skills and talents we proved able to develop (cf. Genesis 1:1-2:4, Acts 14:17, etc.). God has given us of His only Son, and has given us every spiritual blessing in Him which we can receive: these include, but are not limited to, reconciliation with God and one another, the Spirit of God, the witness of God preserved in Scripture, and the church (Ephesians 1:1-13, 1 John 4:7-12). In Christ God encourages us to ask Him so we might receive wisdom or to receive grace and mercy from Him whenever we need help (cf. Hebrews 4:16, James 1:5-7). And God has promised to give us eternal life in the glorified resurrection body, a future we cannot even begin to imagine, which we will receive on the final day if we persevere in our faith and hope until the end (Romans 8:17-23, 2 Corinthians 4:14-5:11, Revelation 21:1-22:6).

The Scriptures also attest to examples in which Christians received blessings and benefits from fellow Christians. According to Luke’s witness in Acts 2:41-48, 4:32-37, early Christians sold what they had and gave the money to the Apostles, who distributed so that no Christian in Jerusalem had any need. Christians in Antioch of Syria, Galatia, Achaia, and Macedonia, at times, would send collections for the needs of Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 11:28-30, Romans 15:25-27, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15). Paul counseled Timothy regarding the continual support of Christian widows without any form of support from the financial resources of the local congregation (1 Timothy 5:3-16). In all of these situations, yes, Christians gave to provide support to fellow Christians. At the same time, in all of these situations, this support was received by Christians, and at no point are any of them derided or held in contempt for receiving this kind of support.

Why, therefore, might Christians prove wary about receiving support? Many do maintain some concern regarding covetousness/greed or facilitating idleness and laziness. The Scriptures do provide some warrant for these concerns. Christians must always be on guard against covetousness and greed according to Ephesians 5:3 and Colossians 3:5. Paul chastised certain Christians in Thessalonica who had ceased working when they could continue to do so and had become idle and busybodies, and he commanded them to work quietly and provide food for themselves that way in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12. Christians, therefore, should not prove covetous, greedy, lazy, or as busybodies.

At the same time, a lot of the reticence Christians experience regarding giving is cultural. The American middle class ethos prizes and values effort and self-sufficiency, imagining that a person who works hard will be able to support themselves and maintain a decent standard of living. If a person is no longer able to support themselves or maintain a decent standard of living, and requires assistance, that person is seen as having failed to live up to middle class American values. We like to see ourselves as strong and able to give and support others; we do not want to imagine ourselves as those who prove weak at times and require assistance from others. We want to be “givers” and not “takers”; not a few have proven willing to cause themselves, and their families, untold suffering by refusing to receive benefits from others in order to preserve their sense of pride and standing.

The American middle-class ethos and story represent myths and damnable delusions and lies, for none of us are truly “self-made,” and none of us are “self-sufficient.” All of us have received various kinds of support and benefits from others which have enabled us to reach the position in which we find ourselves. There are plenty of people who work hard and for a host of reasons do not make a sufficient living to fully provide for themselves and their families; and there are people who have not worked hard for a day in their lives who are yet able to enjoy their lives with the wealth they inherited from their ancestors. This does not mean it is not good to strive to work hard and provide for oneself and one’s family; this is well and good and honored in the witness of Scripture (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12, 1 Timothy 5:8). But we will not always be strong, and we will not always be able to provide as well as we would like to provide. All of us will need to receive encouragement, strength, and support from one another in various ways. And, Lord willing, we will all have ways in which we will be able to give encouragement, strength, and support in turn.

Christians therefore do well to destigmatize receiving from one another and from others. It does remain possible for someone to prove covetous, greedy, idle, or lazy in constantly receiving and receiving and not giving in turn; we should resist these postures ourselves, exhort against them, and rebuke those who live in them. And yet, as we have seen, according to the witness of what God has made known in Christ and in Scripture, everything we have and are represent gifts from God which we receive in stewardship, and we will be held accountable for how we have used what God has given us (cf. Matthew 25:14-31, 2 Corinthians 5:10). We have received much from God: we should not be ashamed of it but should continually thank God and live in thankfulness because of all God has given us. As stewards of God’s gifts, we all have something we can give, and we should give what we have liberally; Jesus’ words remain true, for it does remain more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). At the same time, the only way anyone can give is for someone else to receive. If we refuse to receive from others, we deny them the grace of being able to give and to share in the blessings God has given them.

The Way of Jesus is the Way of humility, not pride. While we can understand the challenges and difficulties which can attend to the experience of finding oneself in need, or the humility required to receive from those to whom you feel you should rather be giving, Jesus is not glorified by refusal to receive gifts or support from others because of our pride or deluded belief in self-sufficiency or have judged others in our arrogance as unworthy of giving to us. We would never think to refuse the blessings God would give us directly; why, therefore, would we feel it acceptable to refuse the blessings God would give us through His people and others? May we continue to give to others liberally as we have opportunity, but may we also prove willing to receive so others can bless us by giving, so God may be honored in our mutual sharing and reciprocity!

Ethan R. Longhenry

The Letter of the Church of God in Rome to the Church of God in Corinth (Clement to the Corinthians; 1 Clement)

Dissension had arisen among the Christians in Corinth again. Paul and Peter were gone; the time of the apostles was passing away. The elders of the church in Rome determined to write to encourage the church in Corinth in general regarding their shared faith, and particularly in regard to the matters of dispute reported to them.

This letter from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth was composed anonymously. It was most likely written by one hand; tradition has associated it with Clement, recognized as a presbyter, or elder, of the church in Rome (cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.3). Clement would become known as Clement of Rome: later Christians would assert he was a co-laborer of Paul and appointed to the eldership by Peter himself, although many of them associated him with the Clement mentioned in Philippians 4:3, who was most likely a similarly named yet different person (Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics; Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 3.4.10). Later traditions also considered Clement of Rome a martyr, suggesting he was executed by Trajan around 100 by being tied to an anchor and drowned (Tyrannius Rufinus, Martyrdom of Clement). The letter from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth seems to be the only agreed upon writing we have from Clement of Rome; there is a second letter purported to have been written by Clement (2 Clement), but most believe it to be later and pseudepigraphal.

In antiquity, the letter from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth was known as “Clement to the Corinthians”; today we generally speak of it as the First Letter of Clement, or 1 Clement. Scholars disagree among themselves regarding the dating of 1 Clement, with some arguing for a date as early as around 70 and some for a date as late as 140. A date around 95 would make the best sense of the internal evidence: 1 Clement was written as if the passing of Paul and Peter was in the past but still known within living memory, and the “sudden and repeated calamities and reverses” the church in Rome was experiencing would be consistent with local persecution by Diocletian (1 Clement 1:1).

1 Clement can be read online through https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/1clement.html. After greeting the church in Corinth, Clement praised the Corinthian Christians for the well-deserved reputation of their faith in order to more strongly rebuke them for recent events in which some of the elders, or presbyters, had been deposed (1 Clement 1:1-3:4). Clement then listed out some examples of jealousy and its effects from characters in the Scriptures and from Greek and Roman mythology; in contrast, he also extolled the examples of Peter and Paul, and in so doing provided some of the earliest testimony to their martyrdoms (1 Clement 4:1-6:4). Clement urged the Corinthian Christians to repent and presented many examples of repentance from Scripture (1 Clement 7:1-8:6).

Clement continued to encourage the Corinthian Christians toward faithfulness and hospitality, appealing to examples like Enoch, Abraham, Lot, and Rahab (1 Clement 9:1-12:8). Clement warned against following after those who set themselves up as leaders in their jealousy but praised pursuing peace and especially humility, appealing to many examples, above all that of Christ, to encourage humility (1 Clement 13:1-19:3). After describing how the universe was subject to God’s rules of order and peace, Clement exhorted the Corinthian Christians to likewise obey God and honor the appropriate leaders over them, and confirmed this message with quotations from Scripture (1 Clement 20:1-22:8).

Clement turned to exhort regarding confidence in the Lord’s return and the resurrection, appealing to examples in nature, the (legendary) phoenix, and the witness of Scripture (1 Clement 23:1-26:3). In light of the hope of the resurrection, Clement would spend some time encouraging the Corinthian Christians to persevere in faithfulness and righteousness, drawing near to God, avoiding wickedness, and obtaining God’s blessings in the process (1 Clement 27:1-30:8). Clement considered how the patriarchs were blessed, and in so doing affirmed how Christians are justified by faith and not works (as Paul taught), but then also the importance of serving God faithfully (as Paul and James encouraged; 1 Clement 31:1-35:12). Clement affirmed how all blessings came through Christ whom Clement likened unto a commander or general; thus, all Christians should be subject to Him and to one another, and for everyone in their position to behave appropriately toward one another (1 Clement 36:1-39:9).

Clement then encouraged the Corinthian Christians to maintain the order in the church they had received, using the order of the sacrificial system of the Jerusalem Temple as a metaphor (1 Clement 40:1-41:4). The Apostles received the Gospel from Jesus who was sent by God; the Apostles then appointed those whom they proved by the Spirit to be bishops and deacons in the churches (1 Clement 42:1-5). Clement then appealed to Israel’s aspersions cast against Aaron and its results in Numbers 16:1-17:13 as an example (1 Clement 43:1-6). Clement then suggested the Apostles in Christ knew there would be strife over the name and office of the bishop, and they therefore made provision to have bishops appointed in succession, humble servants with good reputations; Clement then declared former faithful presbyters as blessed, and then excoriated the Corinthian Christians for displacing presbyters who were ministering blamelessly (1 Clement 44:1-5).

Clement chastised the Corinthians for their love of contention, and encouraged them instead to prove zealous about salvation and the message of Scripture, appealing to many examples from its pages, so they might resist strife and division and strive for unity in the faith (1 Clement 45:1-46:9). Clement then made explicit appeal to Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians and the party spirit condemned therein (1 Clement 47:1-3; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21). He considered it shameful how the “steadfast and ancient” Corinthian church would cast out its presbyters for the sake of one or two members; the report of this had gone beyond the church to the pagans around as well, causing even greater shame, and they should repent before Jesus and be reconciled to their presbyters and to their fellow Christians in Rome. and share in love, which Clement further commended from the witness of Scripture and in the world (1 Clement 47:4-55:6).

Clement also encouraged the Corinthian Christians to pray for those in sin so they would yield to the will of God, and for all who receive it to accept chastisement (1 Clement 56:1-16). He exhorted those who led the coup against the presbyters to submit to those presbyters and receive chastisement unto repentance, and manifest humility (1 Clement 57:1-7). Clement then exhorted all of the Corinthian Christians to receive the counsel from Rome; those who would prove disobedient would endanger themselves, but the Roman Christians would be guiltless (1 Clement 58:1-59:2). Clement then set forth an extended prayer to God in Christ to guard His elect, for His people to better know Him, to help His people, to praise His works, to forgive His people their transgression, and for the welfare of the rulers and for Christians to continue to submit to them while not resisting the Lord’s will in anything (1 Clement 59:2-61:3). Clement concluded the letter by reiterating his confidence in the Corinthian Christians, encouraging them toward faithfulness to God in Christ, commending those sent to bear witness to them and exhort them, praying for all the faithful in Christ to have the attributes necessary to prove well pleasing to God, encouraging them to send their witnesses back soon, and a doxological epistolary conclusion (1 Clement 62:1-65:2).

1 Clement was well and highly regarded among early Christians. It was reported to have been read in the Corinthian church on frequent occasions (and by which, we presume, its message was well received), and was also read frequently in other churches. 1 Clement has been found as part of the compilation of ancient Bible codices, and may have been continually highly regarded in some places well into the medieval period.

While knowledge regarding 1 Clement was never lost, the full manuscript of the letter was lost to history (at least in the West) some point during the medieval period. A portion of 1 Clement was found in 1628 in a manuscript of a Greek Bible given to King Charles I of England; the first full copy of 1 Clement was discovered in an 11th century Greek codex in 1873. Other copies of the letter in its Latin and Syriac translations would be rediscovered through various means in the nineteenth century.

What should we make of 1 Clement? While some early Christians may have regarded the letter as inspired of God, its author seemed content to provide exhortation rooted in the Scriptures themselves and in the witness of the Apostles. We best understand 1 Clement as providing critical, important evidence regarding the situation and organization of local churches in the immediate wake of the departure of the Apostles and before the development of the monarchical episcopate system of the second century and beyond.

Later Christians would presume Clement was the bishop of Rome writing to the church in Corinth, but the letter itself does not suggest he understood himself as such. He did not even identify himself explicitly; he was content for the letter to be representative of the Roman church to the Corinthian church. Clement, like Paul and Peter, seems to use “elder/presbyter” and “bishop” interchangeably, as can be seen in 1 Clement 42:1-5, 44:1-5 (cf. Acts 20:17-38, 1 Peter 5:1-4). It is worth noting that the church in Corinth by this point had presbyters (or at least formerly did, considering the reason for the letter), a situation which did not seem to be the case based on how Paul wrote his two letters to them ca. 54-56; and note Clement’s use of the plural, and not the singular, throughout.

1 Clement bore witness to the situation in the Corinthian church after the days of the Apostles. Clement expected the Corinthian Christians to be able to remember the things Paul had written directly and explicitly to them, and considered the church in Corinth as ancient and venerable (1 Clement 47:1-5). Yet, based on what was written, it would seem a couple of agitators had led to the dismissal and humiliation of at least some of the presbyters/elders/bishops of the church (cf. 1 Clement 47:5ff). The whole letter was Clement’s rebuke of this behavior; since the letter was preserved throughout antiquity, we have good reason to believe the Corinthian church accepted the rebuke and restored those presbyters/elders.

1 Clement also bore witness to how situations like this might be managed. At no point did Clement presume he, or the Roman church, exerted any kind of special authority over the Corinthian church; instead, he exhorted them to faithful conduct and made appeals on the basis of the Scriptures and the witness and example of the Apostles. He did threaten to consider them as no longer faithful to the Lord if they did not repent of their behavior in 1 Clement 58:1-59:2. We do well to note how Clement did not presume to have authority based upon his office personally or on behalf of the whole church in Rome; instead, the Roman church was writing to the Corinthian church to exhort them regarding their common faith in Jesus and to rebuke some unfaithful behaviors.

Clement did bear witness to a form of succession after the Apostles, but he did not testify to anything remotely resembling the “apostolic succession” claimed by the Roman Catholic or similar organizations. Instead, Clement bore witness to the same pattern we find in the New Testament: Jesus appointed the Apostles to bear witness to the Gospel and to distribute the message throughout the world, and they would appoint, by the prompting of the Spirit and the testimony regarding their conduct, bishops/presbyters/elders and deacons for the local churches (1 Clement 42:1-5; cf. Acts 14:23, 1 Timothy 3:1-12, Titus 1:5-9).

Clement very much testified to the importance and power of the Scriptures; a good portion of the letter represents quotations of various Scriptures. Most of what he calls Scripture comes from the Hebrew Bible; he proved more than willing to make reference to stories from apocryphal and pseudepigraphal works along with well-known Greek mythological and legendary characters. But Clement was not ignorant of the works which we would come to call the New Testament; his letter explicitly made reference to 1 Corinthians, used phrases from Hebrews, alluded to Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, and Titus, and seemed conversant with at least 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon.

Clement provided a lot of exhortation regarding faithful Christian living. He would commend faith in righteousness rooted in the life of Christ and informed by the examples throughout the Scriptures. His exhortations prove quite consistent with the exhortations the Apostles would provide in their written correspondence. His prayers asked for the same kinds of things the Apostles would ask for in prayer in their correspondence. Clement robustly affirmed the hope of the resurrection and would chide anyone who would discount or dismiss it.

1 Clement, therefore, provides Christians with a lot of encouragement regarding our shared faith in Jesus. Clement bore witness to the time of transition from the time of the Apostles to the perpetuation and growth of local churches shepherded by bishops/elders/presbyters and served by deacons, making appeal to the witness of the Scriptures in the Hebrew Bible and the memories and examples of Jesus and the Apostles, very much informed by the preserved writings of the Apostles and their associates in what would become the New Testament. May we share in that same faith in Jesus so we might also share in the resurrection of life!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Works Consulted

First Epistle of Clement (accessed 2026/05/27)

Judgmentalism

“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise…Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: release, and ye shall be released: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.”
And he spake also a parable unto them, “Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, ‘Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye’, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke 6:31, 36-42).

Jesus, in Luke 6:19-49, proclaims what is often called His “Sermon on the Plain.” His instruction is compelling on account of its clarity and direct application. We can always find ways to better practice these matters in our faith.

Tendencies toward judgmentalism are of special concern. Judgmentalism is endemic in the world. Everyone majors in judgment. Perhaps there is no mantle as easily taken by human beings than the mantle of the judge. Turn on the television: everyone is judging politicians, sports figures, liberals, conservatives, pundits, etc. If you have the stomach for it, read the comments on almost any news website or major blog; you will quickly see the black and judgmental hearts lurking underneath far too many in America and throughout the world.

People declaring their judgments on others are found everywhere. Liberals condemn conservatives as backward; conservatives condemn liberals as smug and elitist. People from different parts of the country, let alone the world, highlight their differences and judge themselves superior and others inferior based on those distinctives; “the sports team from my geographic area is superior to the sports team from your geographic area.”

The people of God are not immune from such judgmentalism. Sadly, far too often, the household of God is often seen as a hotbed of judgmentalism and sanctimony, full of gossip, slander, and all sorts of sins of the tongue. Too many Christians thoughtlessly tear others down with their comments, taking on a mantle not given to them, and many souls have been discouraged and broken by the tongues of professors of Christ (James 4:11-12). Such circumstances presume actual words; far more often people feel the icy stares and the mental judgments which are made but none would dare to speak. How many times have Christians fired off judgments before all the evidence had been heard? How many have spoken before they thought or prayed? How many have proven hypocritical, prosecuting certain sins while tolerating others, heaping nothing but scorn on those who commit the sins they are against but not daring to chastise those who commit sins with which they also struggle? Such is rightly called Pharisaism, and it is alive and well among the Lord’s people.

And yet, whenever any condemnation of judgmentalism would be offered, and any attempt to make sense of Matthew 7:1-5 and Luke 6:36-42 is offered, there seems to be an almost reflexive response: “but there are times we need to judge!”

Judgmentalism does prove prevalent because judgment is a critical element of life. Exercising proper judgment can be a matter of life and death: every day we make untold number of judgments about where to go, what to do, what to eat or drink, and what to avoid, and one wrong decision could cost us our life! When we encounter other people we have a primal impulse to assess whether they are friend or foe, a help or a danger. Those who are like us are more likely to be friendly; the greater the difference, the more likely they may be hostile. In many ways we are hard wired to judge.

And it is absolutely true that there is assessment, discernment, and thus forms of judgment in which Christians must participate. The same Jesus who condemned judgmentalism in Matthew 7:1-5 would go on in Matthew 7:43-45 to warn against false prophets and teachers, indicating that believers would know them by their fruits. Any sort of discernment of truth versus error demands judgment (Hebrews 5:12-14). A Christian must confront a brother or sister in Christ whom he or she believes has sinned against him or her (Matthew 18:15-18); local congregations must discipline any of its members who persist in witnessed unrepentant sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-13).

Thus we all have powers of discernment, and we use them. When we first encounter a person, we make on-the-spot judgments based on a person’s appearance, clothing (or lack thereof), attitude manifested, diction and language usage, and so on and so forth. We invariably compare and contrast how we view them with how we view ourselves. As we interact with others, we judge what they say and do. We cannot help but make such assessments, for without them, we could never calibrate if and how we should respond or engage with them.

And yet sin has corrupted our powers of discernment (Romans 3:23). As fallible humans, our powers of discernment may prove inaccurate. We are beset by inadequacies, insecurities, and fears: when confronted with something foreign, different, or alien, our perception of others may be colored by our fears and insecurities. We can never truly and “objectively” judge another without reference to ourselves; our discernment regarding others speaks volumes about how we see ourselves and our relationship to God, the world, and our fellow human beings.

So we will discern, assess, and thus judge. The real issue, in the end, is what we decide to do with our judgments. And this gets to the heart of Jesus’ concern and instruction in Matthew 7:1-5 and Luke 6:36-42. What will we do with our discernment?

How we respond to others expresses our heart and how well we have aligned with Jesus’ instruction. Judgmentalism, in the end, is proving arrogant and sanctimonious when we should have manifested humility and mercy. Such things have nothing to do with the assessment itself: it has everything to do with how we respond to others based on that assessment!

We will manifest either arrogance or humility based upon how willing we prove to own up to our failings, inadequacies, and limitations. Such is Jesus’ main concern in Matthew 7:1-5.

Many have attempted to blunt the force of Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 7:1-5 by appealing to Matthew 7:2: “see, we can judge others; we just need to use the right standard so that our judgment is right.” Such entirely misses the spirit of what Jesus says. At no point does Jesus doubt that the “judged” person has difficulties or problems; after all, he has a mote or speck in his eye, and that mote or speck should be removed (Matthew 7:3-5). Yet, as James will ask in James 4:11-12, who has given us the right to judge our brother in various matters? Are we any better than they? According to what God has revealed in Christ, no, none of us are any better or worse than anyone else; we are all sinners worthy of condemnation, none of us will be saved because of our merits, but are entirely dependent on God’s grace as manifest in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:20, 23, 5:6-11).

Yes, we will be judged by the same standard that we use to judge others. That means that just as we judge ourselves by our intentions but others by what they actually do, so others judge us by what we do rather than by our intentions. As humans we are all far better people in our minds than we are in reality (James 1:22-25); we wish to do good but we struggle to do so.

Jesus would not have us stop assessing but to start “judging our judgments.” What happens if our assessments have proven inadequate or even false? Are we willing to amend them or do we stubbornly hold on to our judgment? What would cause us to keep believing something that is not true? In many instances, pride and insecurity. What if we have rushed to judgment before all the facts are in and our judgment proves woefully inaccurate? Will we hasten to correct ourselves in humility, or will we pridefully resist? Have we learned to perhaps hold off in our final judgment and consider our assessments provisional until we can obtain more information? Above all things, when we see the failings or difficulties of others, do we use them as means by which we can feel smug about ourselves, as if we were superior to them, or do we consciously recognize our own failings, weaknesses, difficulties, and limitations? Arrogance, insecurity, and pride are the fuel of sanctimony. While no one likes having another speak of their flaws or weaknesses, it is far more tolerable to hear about them from someone who admits their own failings and weaknesses and approaches with humility than from someone who is “never wrong” and acts as if he or she is better than everyone else. Jesus has already told us this: He did so by means of the illustration of the beam and the mote (Matthew 7:3-5). Judgment may prove necessary, but we must always remember who we are.

Yet, as we have seen, it is not enough merely to know who we are and keep that in consideration as we judge. If we would follow Jesus we must go farther and show mercy, doing unto others what we would have them to for us (Luke 6:31, 36). Very few, if any, would presume to be perfect or sinless: people generally recognize they have flaws and limitations. Deep down we know that we depend on mercy from others. And so it is not for nothing that James says the following:

For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment (James 2:13).

We know how this plays out even in our sinful world. News headlines are filled with stories regarding people caught in various transgressions. Those who were famous for harsh judgmentalism about various sins yet caught in that very same transgression are judged harshly. Others who proved more humble and were merciful toward others and yet were caught in transgression are judged less harshly. We also know this in ourselves: it is easier to prove more lenient in judgment to those who manifest humility and mercy than it is for those who major in judgmentalism. We take a bit of perverse pleasure in watching a judgmental person get what is coming to them based on Matthew 7:1-2. As they have judged, so they have been judged; as they have measured, they have received in full.

Jesus modeled mercy. He rightly could have condemned all of us for our sin; He instead came to save us (John 3:16-17). He was given many opportunities to sharply condemn sin; throughout He never compromised or commended sin, and yet He showed mercy to sinners like the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11), yet heaped condemnation upon the Pharisees and other religious authorities (Matthew 23:1-33). The “sinners” knew they were sinners and looked for redemption; the Pharisees and religious authorities presumed to be holy, righteous, and without sin, and were judged as they had judged.

If we want to receive mercy from the Lord, we therefore must show mercy to others. Mercy does not mean that we compromise and call evil good. Mercy does not mean that we sugarcoat the difficulties or act as if nothing is wrong. But mercy does demand that we do not give the condemnation and justice we think we have the right to give; mercy, after all, is not giving what is deserved. This mercy is informed by humility; we recognize that we are flawed and fail, and so we recognize that others are flawed and will fail. When we show mercy, we are looking for reasons to encourage and to redeem, just as our Lord does. We will always have plenty of reasons to condemn; so does Jesus. And yet Jesus wants to save.

As Christians we must take very seriously what Jesus teaches about judgmentalism. We must first challenge our resistance to Jesus’ instruction: why is it that we have such an almost reflexive impulse to commend judgmentalism? We must stand firm for truth; yes, people in our culture, as in every culture, feel as if we are being overly judgmental no matter how we point out their sins and failings. But how much of this resistance is because we are attempting to justify our own weaknesses and sins and our predilection for arrogance and sanctimony in how we treat others?

We must then look in the mirror. Would we want people to be judging me in the same way that we judge them? Quite honestly, no. Are we showing mercy to our fellow man? Quite honestly, no. Would we want to be tried before a court of brethren or of worldly people? Probably not. Yet are we not too often guilty of wanting to use the gavel on others? The Scriptures make it clear that such self-assessment is very difficult, and most shrink away from it (James 1:22-25). Yet we must come to grips with our inadequacies, hypocrisy, weaknesses, fears, insecurities, and failings. There is no other way in which we will see the beam in our eye. We otherwise cannot learn humility.

Then we must practically consider how to move forward. If we could just break down the judgments, we might find the humility to be able to actually reach more people in more meaningful ways with the water of life. The greatest to the least among us have a need to be served by those who would show them the Gospel, and we have no right to consider it to be “beneath” us. Jesus loves your political opponent as much as He loves you. So much of our witness is hindered because people feel judged and not loved. Far too often Jesus’ example is inverted: in Jesus’ name Christians condemned sinners like Jesus condemned the sanctimonious religious authorities and offer hope and relief to religious persons like Jesus offered to repentant sinners. May it never be! The comfortable must be made uncomfortable, and the uncomfortable offered relief; may we exercise proper discernment, humility, and mercy in these ways.

If we could just break down the judgments, maybe the back door of the church building could be closed. Far too often we treat the spiritually weak as the spiritually errant; we do not encourage and strengthen them but spiritually shoot them through sharp judgment and chastisement. It is absolutely shocking what some Christians believe they have the right to say to other Christians which proves highly judgmental, gossipy, slanderous, or at the very least counter-productive, pushing away the very people whom we should be drawing closer. Far too many times everyone is on the watch for specific sins but allow many others to be perpetuated without comment. How often, in the name of attempting to protect the youngest Christians, they are all but driven out because of a superabundance of focus and concern? Furthermore, how many Christians are not allowed to grow up or mature in the eyes of their fellow Christians, still put in the same box and perspective as they were 5, 10, or even 20 or 30 years ago? If people reached out a loving hand more quickly than the ruler of judgment, what could happen?

For good reason does Jesus direct His instruction about judgmentalism, perspicacity, humility, and mercy to His followers. We need to hear it. We need to come to grips with it. We need to take it seriously, both inside and outside of the church.

We all struggle with judgmentalism; we solicit your prayers for strength, humility, and a willingness to show mercy. We pray for all of you toward the same end. The more mercy we show and the less judgment we produce can only lead us to being better disciples of Jesus. May we judge as God would have us to judge, in humility, show mercy, and obtain the resurrection in Jesus!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Elijah’s Flight

For all intents and purposes, Elijah should have been greatly pleased. After all, the Israelites had just recognized that YHWH, and YHWH alone, was their true God, after He gave Elijah the victory over the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:18-40). Furthermore, on account of his own prayer, God returned the rains to the drought-stricken land (1 Kings 18:41-46). It had been some time since a prophet of God had been so successful before the people.

Yet Elijah was running for his life; Queen Jezebel was none too pleased with the death of her prophets and the humiliation of Baal, and she sought Elijah’s life (1 Kings 19:1-3). Elijah was a pragmatic man, fully aware of the vicissitudes of power and the people: they may have believed YHWH was their only God yesterday, but tomorrow they will not cry out to save Elijah from Jezebel’s hands. Elijah, therefore, flees to the south, and petitions to die…yet the Lord has much in store for him (1 Kings 19:4-7).

Sustained by angels, Elijah reaches Mount Horeb, where about seven hundred years previous God had given the Israelites the Law and made His covenant with them (1 Kings 19:8; cf. Exodus 19). He lodges there forty days and nights, and then the word of YHWH tells him to come to the outside of the cave in which he stayed. Elijah is confronted first by a strong wind, and then an earthquake, and then a fire, yet Elijah knew that the Lord was not present in these. The small voice, indeed, the thin silence, that followed, however, represented the presence of YHWH (1 Kings 19:9-11).

When asked about why he has come to Horeb, Elijah states:

“I have been very jealous for YHWH, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:14).

YHWH’s response is concise and to the point:

“Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:15-18).

Elijah then goes and anoints Elisha son of Shaphat as YHWH directed (1 Kings 19:19-21).

Such, then, is the narrative of Elijah’s flight. There is much we can learn from his example.

1. Even after success, there is no guarantee of contentment. Elijah, assisted by the hand of God, made powerful demonstrations to show the people the error of their ways. Even after YHWH was proven over Baal, and the prophets of Baal were dead, and the rains returned, however, the edict of Jezebel was worrisome enough to Elijah that he felt compelled to flee to the south. Such things also remind us of the fate of our Lord Jesus, who, after being praised by the multitude at His arrival in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9-11), would be condemned to die by crucifixion by the same crowd, at the prompting of the religious authorities of the day, less than a week later (Matthew 27:23). If such things happened to our Lord Himself and the great prophet Elijah, we certainly should not be surprised if it happens to us. We can demonstrate powerfully Christ in our lives, being obedient to Him as we ought, striving for the furtherance of the Gospel, even to the point of success, only to suddenly find ourselves under great persecution. In these situations we must trust God who is faithful (1 Peter 2:18-25).
2. YHWH was in the still, thin silence. When the word of YHWH came to Elijah, exhorting him to stand at the entrance of the cave, Elijah was confronted with wind, earthquake, and fire. In the end, however, the presence of YHWH was only present in the still, thin silence. Even after the death of Jesus, wicked and adulterous generations seek signs (Matthew 12:39). People search and search, striving to find some physical evidence that will lead them to believe. Not a few people are waiting for some form of “road to Damascus” experience, where God will literally knock them over so that they can believe. Yet what do we have here? God is not in the tempests, but is present in the silence. It is within the creation that we can see the work of God; it is within the omnipresent yet inescapable truths of life that we see our need for God.Furthermore, we see that God’s presence is a sign of peace. God was not in the tragic, life-threatening and earth-shattering forces presented to Elijah. God was in the thin silence that came afterward. We can only have peace in God and Christ Jesus (Romans 5:1). Satan may tempt us sore, yet we must strive for that thin, silent peace from our glorious God.
3. Elijah’s despair led him into depression and into feeling isolated. For some reason, be it the general hostility he faced, the current situation with Jezebel, other factors, or a combination of the above, Elijah despaired into a state of depression, feeling as if he were the only one left striving to obey YHWH. This feeling is easy to understand, and it should give us pause, seeing one as mighty as Elijah feeling in such a way. The constant battle against sin, both without and within the church, many times will lead a Christian to believe that he or she is the only one who is standing up for God. God’s responses, however, are very instructive.
4. God put Elijah to work. When Elijah confessed his feelings to God, He put Elijah to work, instructing him to return and to anoint three persons, Elisha, Hazael, and Jehu, three men who would, by various means, lead to a significant downturn in Baal service in times to come. Interestingly enough, Elijah ends up only anointing Elisha, while the latter anoints both Hazael and Jehu (2 Kings 8:7-15, 2 Kings 9:1-10). The main emphasis here is that God gets Elijah to get back to work to redirect his energy, shifting away from negativity by showing him His plan for the future, and how both he and Elisha fit into that plan. While we ourselves may at times despair about our condition, feeling as if we are striving for a losing cause, we can see from the example here given to us that we need to get to work (2 Peter 1:5-8)! When we set ourselves working for the cause of Christ, we give our minds no opportunity to dwell on that which may depress or turn us away from our goal. We should also heed Philippians 4:8 in this regard:
   

   Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

   When we make the decision to focus on what is good, and not what is evil, we will find ourselves to be better Christians and better servants in the Lord’s vineyard.

5. God had reserved for Himself 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed their knee to Baal. God’s final statement to Elijah was sufficient to point out Elijah’s great error: believing that he alone strove to serve God. While we may understand his feelings, after all, he seems only to face persecution and suffering, even Elijah does not know everything that is going on, nor does he know what everyone else is doing. God alone knows such things. While Elijah ran from persecution, there were 7,000 in Israel who stayed and did not fall into the idolatry of Baal service. Paul uses this very example of Elijah in Romans 11:2-5:
   

   God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel:
   “Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.”
   But what saith the answer of God unto him?
   “I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
   Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

   While it may sometimes seem like we are alone in our striving for the right, let us take comfort, and gain strength for the fight, to remember that there remains a remnant according to the grace of God. There are many faithful Christians throughout the world; we do not have to be alone.

While Elijah’s flight in many ways exposes his human shortcomings, we see in him a good servant of God: he had his moment of weakness, and yet he picked himself up, returned to Israel, and continued doing the work of God until he was taken up into the heavens. Let us learn from the example of Elijah, and continue on in the good fight.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written,
“For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

Ethan R. Longhenry

Rejoice in Peace

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).

Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia (part of modern Greece); Paul first visited the area and preached Jesus around 51 (cf. Acts 16:11-40). Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi most likely around 60-61 from Rome while living under house arrest there (cf. Philippians 1:1). Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians in order to provide them assurance and encouragement regarding his house arrest in Rome and to exhort them to continue to live as faithful citizens of the Gospel and to privilege their heavenly commonwealth (Philippians 1:1-4:1). He had most recently given specific exhortation for Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord, and for “Syzgyus,” or “true yokefellow,” to help them do so (Philippians 4:2-3).

Philippians 4:4-9 would represent Paul’s peroration in his Letter to the Philippians. A peroration is a concluding message designed to recapitulate what had been said, to stir up the emotions of the audience, and to leave a lasting impression upon them. Yes, Paul would continue afterward by explicitly bringing up his support situation in Philippians 4:10-20, and so Philippians 4:4-9 does not strictly conclude Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. But Philippians 4:4-9 nevertheless remains Paul’s peroration, since it is his final attempt at truly stirring up the hearts of the Philippian Christians by providing them encouragement and exhortation in their faith.

Paul’s peroration in Philippians 4:4-9 can be compared with similar kinds of messages in Romans 12:9-21, Colossians 4:2-6, and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-25. Sometimes we might consider these Paul’s “scattershot” messages, since they seem to present a series of rapid-fire exhortations encouraging various forms of faithful conduct. But Philippians 4:4-9 does not present itself as much “scattershot” as some of these other passages; Paul continually returns to the theme of peace in God in Christ.

Yet Paul’s first theme in this peroration featured rejoicing in the Lord Jesus (Philippians 4:4). He had already encouraged them to do so in Philippians 3:1, and here he repeats himself for emphasis. Paul had spoken frequently regarding rejoicing and opportunities to rejoice throughout the letter (cf. Philippians 1:18, 2:17-18, 28, 3:1, 4:4, 10). Even if Paul would not bring rejoicing up again in this peroration, we do well to understand the rest of the message in light of this exhortation to rejoice. Rejoicing in the Lord does not mean a denial of difficulty and distress; Paul certainly has valid concerns and apprehensions at the moment, and no doubt the Philippian Christians had some trials going on as well (cf. Philippians 1:1-27, 4:2-3). Despite all the difficulties, however, they could all share in their joy in Jesus: they shared in the life of God in Christ no matter what they might experience in terms of physical distress, grief, and pain. This joy, therefore, is not nearly as much an emotion as it is a decision: it required Paul and the Philippian Christians to remember in whom they had entrusted themselves no matter what they might be experiencing. Paul was under house arrest in Rome and could not even be fully confident he would survive his trial, and yet he could rejoice in the Lord and encourage others to do the same. We can gain much from his example.

Paul then encouraged the Philippian Christians to conduct themselves so others might see their epieikes, their gentleness or moderation, and declared the Lord (Jesus) was near (Philippians 4:5). These two statements are surely related to each other: the Lord Jesus was both watching them and would return soon, and so it was wise for the Philippian Christians to behave themselves with gentleness/moderation toward others. In truth, Paul could have appended the recognition of Jesus’ watchfulness and return regarding any and every command and exhortation he could make regarding the faith and conduct of Christians. Yet mentioning Jesus’ judgment and return in light of gentleness/moderation is likely consistent with his exhortation in Romans 12:18-21 and Peter’s in 1 Peter 4:12-19: the Lord is watching, the Lord will judge, and the Lord will render vengeance better than you will. Therefore, in those circumstances and situations in which the Philippian Christians would be tempted to prove forceful about their rights or standing or whatnot, and to resist being wronged, Paul encouraged them to instead prove gentle and moderate, for the Lord would well and truly avenge.

Paul then exhorted the Philippian Christians to not be anxious about anything; instead, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving they should make their requests known to God, and His peace, which surpasses understanding, would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Peter would provide a similar exhortation in 1 Peter 5:6-7, urging humility before God and casting cares upon Him since He cares for us. The logic behind these exhortations remains compelling: much anxiety and worry involve some level of attempt to exert control in areas under which we have very little control, and we do better to entrust ourselves to Almighty God who does exert control over all things. The Philippian Christians were thus encouraged to make their requests known to God yet with thankfulness: to thank God for all He has already done and provided goes a long way to provide assurance and confidence of God’s continual faithfulness in preserving, strengthening, and sustaining us through whatever we are called to endure, and God would provide His peace which surpassed understanding to that end. We can profitably consider this peace as the reconciliation we have with God, how Jesus killed the hostility between God and among one another on the cross (cf. Ephesians 2:11-22); but we should not prove entirely dismissive of the possibility God will provide, through His Spirit, a calmness and peace in the soul of His people despite all they may be experiencing and enduring.

Unfortunately, Philippians 4:6-7 has often been used to deny the reality of anxiety as a mental health concern for many people, with a blithe and blasé insistence people suffering with anxiety should just pray more and/or better. Paul manifestly has more conscious forms of worry and anxiety in mind; it would be unreasonable to understand Paul as suggesting those who have subconscious, “irrational” anxieties over which they exercise little to no control to just pray and “get over it.” Instead, we do better to have the kind of pastoral heart Paul had for the Philippian Christians and many other Christians toward those who struggle mightily with various forms of anxiety. Yes, we all do well to turn to God and pray about such things. If we continue to struggle with anxiety even when we are faithful in prayer, it is no sin to seek medical and/or psychological support to help address anxiety, and to encourage, not condemn, fellow Christians who experience such challenges and difficulties.

Paul’s following exhortations in Philippians 4:8-9 should be understood in light and as part of Philippians 4:6-7: Paul would have the Philippian Christians think upon anything which was true, respectable, just/righteous, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and/or praiseworthy, and he would have them do that which they heard and saw in him; if they would do these things, the God of peace would be with them. We could attempt to dissect every characteristic listed in Philippians 4:8, yet they seem to represent a commonly known and accepted sort of list of virtuous things; the overwhelming force of the whole is where the power of this exhortation lies. This is as close as Paul will get to encouraging a “positive mental attitude” in his exhortations; while such things tend to be encouraged today with a view of “self-optimizing” and getting “gains” in whatever discipline one seeks to obtain such “gains,” Paul encouraged this kind of thinking to promote faith and trust in God in Christ through the Spirit. The world has always and will continue to be full of news and meditations which lead to despair, discouragement, distress, and grief. Humans easily get ground down by the constant need and negativity; compassion fatigue remains a real thing. We should never turn a blind eye to the distress and grief in the world, but we should also not allow ourselves to get dragged down into profound despair because of such things, either. If we give thought to what is true, respectable, just/righteous, etc., it will be easier for us to feel and act in ways consistent with those virtues; if we give thought to their opposite, exercising virtue proves more challenging.

This was not the first time Paul encouraged the Philippian Christians to follow his example, and he frequently encouraged Christians to observe and follow his example (Philippians 3:17; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Timothy 1:13, 2:2). We can often find this appeal to follow the example of people problematic, since we tend to focus on how people often fail to live up to the full example and stature of Jesus. We can have every confidence Paul did not want anyone to follow him in his faults and temptations. But Paul did not prove as deluded about human nature as many of us do: he understood how people are social beings and their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors will conform to groups as patterned by influential members of such groups. This proved all the more important for the groups of Christians since many of them were coming out of a very different set of socio-cultural behaviors. In short, everyone has heroes to which they look up and will often try to emulate. Paul did not attempt to suppress this tendency; he instead encouraged Christians to find better examples and “heroes.” They could have done a lot worse than what they saw in Paul. No one should follow any human example to the point of participating in anything contrary to the purposes of God in Christ; nevertheless, we should strive, and encourage others to strive, to look up to faithful Christians and imitate them in their faithfulness.

Paul very much wanted the peace of God to be with the Philippian Christians (Philippians 4:9). He wanted them to share in reconciliation and relational unity with God in Christ through the Spirit and among one another. Perhaps this does have something to do with the recent difficulties and dissensions between Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3); maybe it also would provide them refuge and shelter in the midst of distress and persecution coming from outside forces.

We also do well to rejoice in the Lord, strive for all to see our gentleness and moderation, to continually pray with thanksgiving and make our requests known to God, focus on that which is true, faithful, lovely, and excellent, and imitate faithful Christians so we might all share in the joy and peace which comes from God in Christ through His Spirit. We will always have some kind of resistance or difficulty from the world, but it is so much worse when we find division and dissension among ourselves; God has not called us to thus exemplify the world, but to find peace and joy in Christ together to bear witness to God’s work in Jesus to every successive generation. May we entrust ourselves to God in Christ through the Spirit as encouraged by Paul and share in the joy and peace of God forevermore!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Giving

By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” (Acts 20:35).

The Apostle Paul did not often explicitly quote the Lord Jesus, let alone preserve for us a saying of Jesus not otherwise explicitly attested in the four Gospel accounts. And yet, in Acts 20:35, Paul concluded his message to the Ephesian elders by reminding them to help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord regarding the blessings of giving. Paul thus attested to the importance and power of giving, and giving has represented a strong hallmark of the Christian faith then and ever since.

Giving involves providing some kind of benefit or service to another without expecting remuneration or return. When we think of giving, we naturally focus on giving of material resources, especially money; a lot of the encouragement regarding giving in the New Testament centers on the giving of money to those in need (e.g. John 13:29, Acts 4:32-5:11, 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15). Yet giving should never be understood only in terms of providing money to others: Peter encouraged Christians to serve one another with the various gifts God had given them in 1 Peter 4:10-11 immediately after he exhorted them to show hospitality to one another without grumbling in 1 Peter 4:9. James commended “visiting widows and orphans in their distress” as an important aspect of “pure and undefiled religion” in James 1:27; giving them money may prove necessary, but “visiting” also involves the gift of presence and time, which often proves even more important and precious to people than material resources. Therefore, Christians do well to consider giving of their time, their presence, sharing a table, and using the skills and talents God has given them for the benefit of others.

Nevertheless, while giving certainly involves more than just providing money to others, giving in Christ does not require less. Paul spoke of how Jesus became poor so the Corinthian Christians could be made rich by His poverty in order to encourage them to provide financially for the Christians in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:9-11). John rhetorically asked how the love of God could reside in a Christian who has the world’s goods, sees his fellow Christian in need, and shuts off his compassion toward him (1 John 3:17). John would go so far as to say such a Christian actually hates his brother, and by extension, becomes his murderer (1 John 3:15)! Likewise, James the Lord’s brother insisted on the importance of having works done in faith in James 2:14-26, yet note well the controlling example he gave: if a Christian is poorly clothed and lacks food, and we tell him to be warmed and filled but do not provide anything to warm or fill him, what good have we actually done (James 2:15-16)?

Early Christians thus bore witness to the importance of giving for the needs of fellow Christians. Paul described it in terms of equality and in light of the manna God gave Israel in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15: as every Israelite had the same amount of manna whether he or she gathered a little or a lot, so God has given enough to Christians so they might have enough if those who abound share with those who lack. The earliest Christians were marked and known by how they would sell their possessions and provide for one another (cf. Acts 2:41-48, 4:32-5:11). How would everyone be able to perceive how Christians share in the love of Jesus if Christians did not provide for each other when in need (cf. John 13:31-35)? If Christians find themselves destitute and impoverished, and fellow Christians do not lift them up and provide for them, then the people of God have failed in their duty to embody the life and work of Jesus.

While Christians are to provide for one another in their households and in the faith (cf. 1 Timothy 5:3-16), such does not excuse disregard for those who are not Christians. Paul himself was eager to remember the poor (Galatians 2:10); he charged the Galatian Christians to do good to everyone as they had opportunity, especially of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). Such aligns with Jesus’ instruction to give to all who ask of us (Matthew 5:42). Therefore, while we do well to prioritize providing for fellow Christians in need, we also do well to assist others who are not in Christ when opportunities arise to do so.

Christians are often tempted to associate giving primarily in terms of giving to the local church. Local churches do have financial responsibilities to support evangelists and evangelism, to provide benevolence to Christians in need locally and abroad, and whatever proves necessary for the collective, joint encouragement of its members (cf. Acts 2:42-48, 4:32-5:11, 11:27-30, Romans 15:25-28, 1 Corinthians 9:1-15, 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15, Hebrews 10:25). In Christ God has authorized such local congregations to obtain money in order to meet those financial responsibilities by means of collections taken up from its constituent members and any others who would wish to give on the first day of the week (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4). Christians therefore absolutely should contribute to their joint work as members of the local congregation as they have prospered and have opportunity to do so on the first day of the week. Yet, as we have seen in many other passages, God also expects Christians to be giving as individuals to those within and outside of the faith (e.g. Matthew 5:24, 10:8, 25:31-46, Galatians 6:10, James 1:27, 2:15-16, 1 John 3:17). Our giving as Christians, therefore, should not only be defined by what we contribute to the work of the local church, but also should strongly feature what we are giving in our personal lives as we prosper and have opportunity.

In Christ God has encouraged and exhorted Christians to give, and to give liberally. Nevertheless, such giving has not been charged by command as an obligation, nor should it be perceived as a burden (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:8). God loves the cheerful giver according to 2 Corinthians 9:7, for it is the desire in the heart to give and share, paired with actually giving according to one’s means, which glorifies and honors God (2 Corinthians 8:10-12). A “gift” which is imposed by requirement or obligation is no longer a “gift,” but has become dues, customs, or a tax. A gift given begrudgingly or reluctantly is not worthy of the lavish gifts God has freely and lavishly given us in Christ, and ultimately provides no real benefit to the giver (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:7). Attempts at line drawing and figuring out the bare minimum we should feel compelled to give, therefore, entirely miss the point. If we give only because we feel obligated to give, or would rather not, we have a major heart problem, and must repent before God in Christ lest we be found as impugning upon the grace and kindness of God manifest in Jesus.

God has freely given everything we have and are to us; we brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out of it (cf. 1 Timothy 6:7). In Christ God has welcomed us to share in unimaginable grace, and “grace” means “gift” (e.g. Ephesians 1:6-7). God has given us so much, and we are called upon to be effective stewards of all God has given us. God will hold us accountable for how we have used all the things He has given us. As God has given so much for us, it is right and natural for Christians, as reflecting the heart of God in Christ, to be giving people, desiring to share with one another and with everyone the multitude of blessings God has given them. Christians should share their gifts, presence, skills, and time with one another; Christians should show hospitality as well. But Christians also should prove liberal in their giving of financial and other material resources. Yes, Christians should give to the work of the local church as joint participants in its work; but Christians should also freely and cheerfully give to fellow Christians and those outside of the faith in need as they prosper and have opportunity. May we prove faithful and liberal in giving to others as God has given us so much in Christ so we might continually share in the life of God in Christ through His Spirit!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Judging Righteous Judgment

As Christians, we are called to living lives of faith, putting our trust in Jesus as Lord, seeking to follow His patterns and ways to His glory and honor (John 14:6, Hebrews 2:10-18, etc.). At one point, Jesus strongly encouraged the Jewish people who were listening to Him to use their powers of discernment to judge righteous judgment based on the situation they had seen in John 7:24.

Yes, Jesus did also warn people regarding judgment in Matthew 7:1-4: judge not lest ye be judged by the same standard. Throughout Matthew 7:1-4, Jesus’ concern remains primarily about our tendency to want to judge other people, especially how we judge other people by what they do but ourselves by the standard of what we intend. God has never given any of us the authority to determine anyone’s standing before Him: we all will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus, and we do best when we allow Him to fulfill that role and be the Lord and Judge of all, and not ourselves (Romans 14:10-12, James 4:11-12). Christians are liberated from the drive or need to judge other people in order to love and encourage them as Jesus would have them do. But determining how we should live and how we should glorify God in Christ through the Spirit is not at all the same thing as judging other people. The righteous judgment we do well to judge involves how to manage life in its manifold difficulties.

We can see how this works in terms of matters of sin. We can all think of many different thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which are clearly sinful and contrary to God’s purposes, and they have come under explicit censure in passages like Galatians 5:19-21: we can think of things like adultery, greed, murder, outbursts of anger, abuse, etc. Yet there are other matters regarding which most will admit present difficulties, but the Bible does not explicitly spell out whether it is to be considered sin or no. When it comes to these matters, there are some who approach some matters of sin not explicitly revealed in the Scriptures as if it were explicitly revealed in the Scriptures, and there are others who approach matters of sin not explicitly revealed in the Scriptures as somehow less sin or matters concerning which we have no right to condemn as sin.

It can be tempting to fall into the trap of a strict “legalism,” either attempting to add additional laws and commandments to the Scriptures, or argue anything not explicitly condemned in Scripture cannot be condemned. Yet we do well to consider Paul in Galatians 5:18-24: while in the midst of elaborating upon the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, Paul identified “things like these” among the “works of the flesh.” To this end, Paul did not intend for us to understand him as presenting an exhaustive list of all possible sins. Others might be imagined. “Drawing lines” is entirely against the point here.

Human beings like their legalism and their lines. Legalism allows for rationalization of things which go against the intended spirit of a discipline. Lines mean that it can be known just how far one can go before getting in trouble. How often do human beings “ride the line”, so to speak, in their actions and behaviors? Everyone knows that there could be circumstances beyond our control (or within our control) that will lead us to cross the line, but that still does not make us think that we should stop doing so. In such circumstances, we have no one but ourselves to blame for the failure.

As long as we look at these matters in strict terms of line drawing we will not get to that which Paul intends. As Christians we are called upon to make judgments, and to make righteous judgments based upon the witness of the Scriptures regarding what God has done in Christ through the Spirit (cf. Hebrews 5:14). Paul provided a very clear means by which we can ascertain what is right from what is wrong: the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:18-24).

If something correlates to “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, [or] orgies,” we are to avoid them. We have crucified these desires with Christ.

If the thought, feeling, or action engenders “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” then it is well and good for us so we might better exemplify the fruit of the Spirit.

These examples, and many more in Scripture, empower us to judge righteous judgment. We can identify a given thought, feeling, or practice, and consider it in light of this witness. We can determine whether we can glorify God in Christ in such matters or not.

This is all part of the great and eternal wisdom of God displayed in Christ and revealed in Scripture. Despite what we may have desired, God did not present all revelation in some kind of disembodied, timeless form. God communicated in and through specific people in specific times and contexts: Israel in the ancient Near East; in God in Christ in the province of Judea in the days of Tiberius Caesar; throughout the ancient Mediterranean world of the first century. We do not live in those contexts; we live in the twenty-first century in all kinds of places with differing thought processes and customs.

God did not abandon us to hopeless shoulder shrugging about how to approach life in these different contexts. Instead, He has given us the witness of Scripture and the presence of His Spirit. We can discern from Scripture who God is in Christ; we can turn and view our culture to see how we can best speak a word of life regarding the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus into it. We can try to bring the life of the Kingdom established through all God accomplished in Christ to bear in our time and place. There will be many points of continuity between how Christians today and Christians who have gone on before us would think, feel, and act; the Gospel does not change. But what we must emphasize and what might be brought to bear on what best reflects Jesus versus what accords with the works of the flesh will vary to some degree or another across different places and cultures at the same temporal moment, let alone across time.

Such is why we must be wary of the impulse to impose our determinations about custom upon all Christians at all times. This endeavor has not gone well for Christianity in general, and is not a little responsible for the great variety displayed among various beliefs across the spectrum of “Christendom” writ large. We may think we are just accepting as righteous what is righteousness, and calling out sinfulness as sin. And, to some degree or another, we probably are. Yet we are just as likely to also tell on ourselves regarding our socio-cultural prior values in the process.

To this end, each and every generation of Christians is called upon to judge righteous judgment. We are called to affirm and promote the good news of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. We are called to display the fruit of the Spirit and resist the works of the flesh. We are equipped by means of the Spirit and the Scriptures to discern good from evil and to glorify God in our context. We are invited to best determine how we can bring the good news of Jesus to bear in the world in which we are living today. We need to be ready and willing to forthrightly call out matters of sin and transgression even though they may have a lot of cultural popularity today or represent part of the heritage we have inherited from our ancestors. And we must likewise be prepared to commend what is good and right, well displaying the fruit of the Spirit, even if it may come from surprising sources. God remains at work in His creation, and Jesus remains Lord as much today as He was two thousand years ago. May we seek to glorify and honor God in Christ in all things so we might share in the resurrection of life!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Oppression and Rebellion

If it were not already apparent Amos of Tekoa was not sent to Israel to make friends, it would become painfully obvious once he condemned the elite women of Israel and sarcastically castigated their service to YHWH in Amos 4:1-5. It is almost a wonder he was not immediately seized and punished for what he had to say.

YHWH had called Amos for a moment away from his flocks and sycamore trees in Tekoa, a village south of Jerusalem in Judah, to proclaim His word to Israel a couple of years before the big earthquake around 760 BCE (Amos 1:1, 7:14). Amos had begun with a series of accusations and condemnation of all the nations in the southern Levant, finally arriving at Israel itself (Amos 1:2-2:16). He warned about YHWH’s impending punishment for their covenant violations (Amos 3:1-2), for YHWH had spoken, and therefore Amos had to prophesy (Amos 3:3-8).

We deem Amos’ denunciation of the elite women of Israel as Amos 4:1-3, yet in context this denunciation seems to conclude a series of such indictments which began in Amos 3:9: Egypt and Philistia were invited to see the oppression and violence the Israelites were committing, and how a superior enemy would plunder them (Amos 3:9-11); as a shepherd might present to its owner a few pieces of a sheep to its owner as evidence of destruction by a lion, so only a few pieces of a bed or a couch might be salvaged from Israel (Amos 3:12); YHWH promised to destroy the altars at Bethel and the great mansions and multiple dwellings of the elite on that day (Amos 3:13-15). And so, likewise, the “cows of Bashan,” who demanded their husbands provide them with more drink, would be carried away and thrown out (Amos 4:1-3).

Bashan was in Gilead in the Transjordan, not terribly far from the Golan Heights of today, and was famous for its high-quality pasturage (cf. Numbers 21:33, 32:33, Deuteronomy 32:14). By “cows of Bashan” living on “Mount Samaria,” Amos referred to the well-fed and maintained wives of the elite living in Samaria, the capital of Israel. Since we find some positive comparisons between animal flocks and women’s anatomy in Song of Songs 4:1-2, 6:5-6, we should not assume the Israelites would automatically find Amos’ description as offensive; nevertheless, he certainly was not speaking of them positively or warmly by means of the comparison.

Amos indicted these women for oppressing the poor and crushing the needy and demanding their husbands provide them with more drink (Amos 4:1). We should not imagine Amos thought they were the ones actively and personally oppressing the poor; instead, their husbands were active and personally doing so, and they were the beneficiaries of that behavior. Their husbands might well have been active in doing so, at least in part, because of the continual cravings and desires of their wives which they wanted to satisfy.

YHWH swore on His holiness: these women would be lifted up or carried away by or on a tsinot (we do not know exactly what this word means; such is why it is translated as “shields,” “hooks,” “baskets,” or “ropes” in various translations) or in sirot dugah (seemingly literally “pots of fishermen,” but because of the parallelism, “hooks” is also suggested); they would go out in the breaches, or holes in the walls, and would “cast themselves” (as rendered in the Masoretic Text) or would “be cast” toward “Harmon” (Amos 4:2-3). We cannot make sense of “Harmon” as rendered: while it is perhaps some unknown place name, most believe we do best to amend the text somehow, either to “Hermon,” a mountain appropriately in the Transjordan Gilead near Bashan, or to similar words referring to a dung heap or a fortress. As we can tell, the textual issues related to Amos 4:2-3 complicate our ability to understand its particular meaning, but Amos warned the elite women of Samaria they were going to suffer one of two quite unpleasant futures. Either they would be captured alive, dragged through the breaches made in the walls of the successfully invading enemy with some kind of hook or something of the sort, destined for slavery, or they would be killed, their corpses unceremoniously dragged and dumped. Even if they themselves were not the direct agents of oppression and exploitation, they would experience what it was like to be oppressed and exploited soon enough.

If Amos 4:1-3 looked backward, so to speak, to conclude the series of prophetic oracles which began with Amos 3:9, then Amos 4:4-5 looked forward, introducing a new series of messages from YHWH. At first, it might seem Amos was inviting Israel to serve God by going up to Bethel and Gilgal, bringing and offering sacrifices and presenting their tithes; yet Amos was setting them up for a sarcastic invitation and biting denunciation, inviting them to go to Bethel and Gilgal to rebel in these ways as the Israelites loved to do (Amos 4:4-5).

The Kings author would condemn all Israel for the place and types of service they would offer to YHWH as not commended by Him and in direct rebellion against His purposes to maintain His name and presence in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:25-33). While Bethel was one such place established by Jeroboam ben Nebat, Dan was the other; Amos instead mentioned Gilgal, on the Jordan River near Jericho, where Israel first crossed the Jordan and Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River (Joshua 4:19-20). Hosea would also bear witness regarding cultic activity taking place in Gilgal, and so we have reason to believe there was some kind of temple or altar set up there (Hosea 9:15, 12:11). Therefore, it remains possible Amos was condemning all the offerings the Israelites were making as rebellious because they were not being offered in Jerusalem at the Temple.

Nevertheless, “rebel” was the strongest possible word which Amos could have used to describe the transgressions taking place. Amos was not merely condemning the Israelites on what many might deem a technicality; he was condemning them for vainly imagining they could continue to go to these cultic sites, perform the requisite sacrifices and give the requisite donations, and that would mean all would go well for them. Their rebellion in other ways, maintaining the exploitative and oppressive systems and behaviors for which Amos had already roundly condemned them in Amos 2:6-16, 3:9-4:3, could not be so easily atoned. The Israelites could not imagine they could live in ways which powerfully transgressed their covenant with YHWH and then think they could offer YHWH sacrifice and everything would be well and good. Far, far from it.

Amos of Tekoa stood before the Israelites and condemned the elite among them for their exploitation and oppression of others. He sarcastically denounced their attempts at fastidious religious observance as increasing rebellion. He warned about the dangers to come.

But the Israelites would not hear him. Granted, the elite of the Kingdom of Israel had prospered recently in ways their ancestors could have only imagined, but Israel had been a going concern for the better part of two hundred years. Were they really that much worse than their ancestors? Had they and their ancestors not brought offerings, sacrifices, and tithes to Bethel and Gilgal and other places all this time, and were not all things going as they had for quite some time? Israel was enjoying a wonderful moment of prosperity, and they could have easily imagined their good fortune continuing for some time. Why, then, should they take this southern “crank” seriously?

Within a generation, all Amos prophesied came to pass. Shalmaneser V and Sargon II of Assyria would besiege and conquer Samaria in 722/721 BCE (cf. 2 Kings 17:1-6). The Assyrians would eventually exile a good number of the people to Assyria, but they would have no doubt plundered Samaria thoroughly, slaughtered untold thousands of people, and enslaved a good number of the remaining women, especially those among the elite. While being dragged off into slavery, or while watching Assyrians or others drag corpses out into trash heaps, maybe some of the older Israelites would have remembered the words Amos had spoken against them. It would not have provided them any relief in their distress.

The Word of YHWH through Amos was recorded and preserved for our understanding (cf. Romans 15:4, 2 Timothy 3:15-16). From Amos 4:1-3 we can see how those who materially benefit from exploitation and oppression are held as responsible for such abuse as those who actively perpetrate it. We should not deceive ourselves into thinking as long as we offer appropriate, right, and timely service and devotion to God in Christ, all will be well despite persevering in perpetuating terrible sins against other people at the same time. We might enjoy times of good fortune and think all has been well with us, all is well with us, and therefore all will be well with us. And we might well enjoy good times for quite some time. Yet such “normalcy” does not commend, excuse, or justify the exploitation, oppression, and rebellion which may be perpetuated; everything will seem “normal” until it no longer will be, and judgment and reversal is often swift and appropriate. As the elite Israelites leveraged their power and authority to exploit and oppress the poor and needy among them, so they would suffer exploitation and oppression themselves when overtaken by the Assyrians. That same cycle has persevered until this day.

Instead, we do better to heed the warnings of the prophets and, as Amos would soon tell Israel, allow justice to flow like torrents of water, and display righteous actions like a never-ending stream (Amos 5:24). May we seek to serve the Lord Jesus in justice, righteousness, and truth, doing good to all people, and finding life in Him!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Agreement in the Lord

I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I say also to you, true companion, help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:2-3).

Wherever there are people, there will be interpersonal conflicts. Sometimes it is manifest who is more in the “right” and more in the “wrong,” and sometimes not. Sometimes the best thing to do is to “bury the hatchet” and work for peace.

Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia (part of modern Greece); Paul first visited the area and preached Jesus around 51 (cf. Acts 16:11-40). Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi most likely around 60-61 from Rome while living under house arrest there (cf. Philippians 1:1). In Philippians 1:1-26, Paul thanked the Philippian Christians for their joint participation in his work, prayed for them to abound in love and act wisely, and reported as favorably as possible regarding his circumstances. Paul then established his primary exhortation: they should live as faithful citizens of the Gospel together and suffer for Him well (Philippians 1:27-30). Paul then argued and reasoned on the basis of his primary exhortation (rhetorically called the probatio): the Philippian Christians should share the same mind and seek the best interests of one another, rooted in the example of Jesus in His humiliation and exaltation, as they saw embodied in himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, and to resist any “Judaizing” teachers and tendencies while striving to obtain the resurrection in Christ and to well represent their heavenly commonwealth/citizenship (Philippians 2:1-4:1).

Paul then turned to address a very specific situation in the Philippian church: he encouraged or appealed to Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord (Philippians 4:2). He endorsed “Syzygus,” the “true yokefellow” or “true companion,” to help them (Philippians 4:3). He did commend Euodia and Syntyche (and perhaps the “true yokefellow” as well) as sunelthesan, “fellow strugglers” in the Gospel; he provided the same commendation to Clement and some others as sunergon, “fellow workers,” all of whom have their names in the book of life (Philippians 4:3).

Almost everything about this situation has attracted a lot of speculation over the years. We do well to humbly confess how little we actually know regarding what was transpiring in Philippi in this situation: after all, we are reading other people’s mail, and only one piece of the correspondence at that. We can maintain complete confidence in the Philippian Christians as knowing exactly what was going on between Euodia and Syntyche, their standing and work within the congregation as well as the identity and standing of “Syzygus,” Clement, and likely the other fellow workers Paul had in mind. We, however, do not, and we should be careful about how much we are willing to suggest in these matters.

Nevertheless, we can draw some conclusions with some confidence based on what Paul has revealed in Philippians 4:2-3. “Euodia” means “prosperous journey” and Syntyche means “fortunate”; both are Greek names, and we do have good evidence for the presence of some prominent Greek families in Philippi. Philippi might be a Roman colony, but it remained in Greece, and it would have been difficult to imagine Philippi remaining predominantly Roman in that kind of environment.

Euodia and Syntyche are both women; the KJV rendering of Euodia as “Euodias” remains without warrant. Euodia and Syntyche have a lot of prominence within and influence upon the church in Philippi; we cannot otherwise make sense of why Paul would feel both comfortable and compelled to directly and explicitly call them out and encourage them to agree in the Lord otherwise. Whatever the nature of their contention or disagreement, Paul held both women in high regard, characterizing them in ways which strongly suggest they worked actively in ministry with Paul during his time in Philippi. Many have spoken of Euodia and Syntyche as “leaders” among the Christians in Philippi; some have imagined them as among the “overseers” to which Paul wrote in Philippians 1:1, or have gone so far as imagining each woman was overseeing or in some other form of leadership in two different house churches which were therefore now in some kind of competition or disputation with each other or something of the sort. While such exercises might work to expand the imaginative horizons, none of them come with any concrete, substantive evidence to commend them. The Philippian Christians know the situation; we do not. Therefore, we will leave the situation as we can best understand it: there were two Christian women among the Philippians, Euodia and Syntyche, who had worked diligently with Paul in the work of ministry in the Gospel and who maintained sufficient prominence as to warrant Paul’s explicit interjection into the midst of their disagreement.

What was the nature of their disagreement? We know even less about this than about the women themselves. We can imagine all kinds of possibilities: perhaps one of them said something about or to the other which was misunderstood and the situation escalated. Maybe they disagreed about some matter of liberty before God. Maybe it was a situation which came about relatively recently; maybe they never got along all that well, and something happened which made it all worse. But again, all of this is entirely speculative: we are told nothing about the nature of what happened, only that Paul wants both of them to “be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2). We trust the situation is primarily interpersonal, did not involve unrepentant and pervasive sinfulness, and neither woman was teaching in ways contrary to the Gospel which they had received from Paul (cf. Romans 16:17-18, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Galatians 1:6-9).

But we can know the disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche was affecting far more Christians than just Euodia and Syntyche, because Paul explicitly called them out by name and wanted them to come to an agreement in the Lord. This was not Paul’s standard way of handling situations like these; many times we are left wondering who he might be talking about, because he often handles situations in correspondence obliquely, likely so as to not add to the shame or hurt feelings of those involved (e.g. 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, 7:8-13). Naming Euodia and Syntyche meant to call out the situation publicly, which means the situation was most likely already quite public. Considering the prominence of Euodia and Syntyche, and the proximity of the Philippian Christians to the situation, perhaps no Christians among them felt comfortable or authorized to adjudicate or mediate in the situations. It is an assumption Paul had heard about the whole situation from Epaphroditus (cf. Philippians 2:25-28), but the assumption is not unreasonable; it would also not be unreasonable to imagine the Philippian Christians charged Epaphroditus with bringing a report of the situation to Paul so he might be able to speak some word about the situation. Again, how Paul found out and how it was presented to him is not explicitly revealed and remains speculative. But we do know Paul was made aware, and Paul felt it needed to be addressed publicly.

Paul was not going to take a side. He simply encouraged both Euodia and Syntyche to “be of the same mind in the Lord,” very consistent with all he had been encouraging for all the Philippians to do throughout Philippians 1:27-4:1. In the eyes of some commentators, this situation between Euodia and Syntyche was so significant as to be what Paul had in mind throughout the letter every time he encouraged the Philippian Christians to work together and be of the same mind in the Lord. While such is possible – and even if it were not as significant, it would certainly be on Paul’s mind as he wrote Philippians 1:27-4:1 – we should also take care lest we blow up the situation all beyond proportion. Paul addressed the situation in two verses and provided as much commendation for the women as exhortation. He has worked long and well with Euodia and Syntyche, and has all confidence they will work their situation out. At this point in time, neither woman is either “in the right” or “in the wrong”; perhaps neither woman had ever really been in either of these positions. Their ability to work together in the Lord remained far more important and precious than whatever it was which was dividing them at the moment. Both women needed to reconcile with each other.

Paul did not expect this to happen without any kind of intervention; such is why he encouraged the “Syzygus” to help them in Philippians 4:3. While some translations and versions transliterate the Greek term, as here, to suggest it as a name like “Euodia” or “Syntyche,” we have no other evidence of anyone being named “Syzygus.” Especially since the word has the adjective gnesie (“genuine” or “true”) connected to it, we understand it better as a description of an otherwise unnamed person (probably a man): the “true yokefellow,” “true companion,” or “faithful fellow worker.” Again, Paul did not explicitly identify who this was, but we can have every confidence the Philippian Christians would all know regarding whom Paul was speaking. Many have speculated that Epaphroditus himself was the “Syzygus” Paul had in mind, and there would be much to commend this conclusion: he was well regarded by Paul and the Philippian Christians, had recently spoken with Paul, perhaps about these matters, and was manifestly sufficiently trusted by the Philippian Christians themselves since they had sent him with their financial gift to Paul (cf. Philippians 4:18). While Paul may have provided oral encouragement to Epaphroditus in terms of this task, this commendation was written for the benefit of the Philippian Christians so they would perceive and understand how Paul had commissioned him in this work and so they should accept and support him in doing so (especially Euodia and Syntyche themselves!).

Paul commended Euodia and Syntyche (and “Syzygus” perhaps as well) as fellow strugglers in the Gospel and as fellow workers, and as having their names in the book of life (Philippians 4:3). These are strong forms of commendation and recognition of joint participation in the work of the Lord, consistent with Romans 16:1-4 and similar passages. In the resurrection we can ask all of them regarding their work together in the Gospel. The “book of life” imagery is found elsewhere in Revelation (e.g. Revelation 3:5, 20:12, 15, 21:27, 22:19); its presence here testifies to the prevalence of the metaphor for those presently saved as recognized before God in Christ in heaven.

One other worker is called out by name in Philippians 4:3: Clement. Nothing else is ever said about this Clement in any other passage of Scripture. “Clement” is a Latin name, and there is evidence of its use in Philippi around this time. In antiquity, some early Christians considered this Clement to be the same Christian as the Clement who would become one of the elders of the church in Rome and the author of the letter from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth which we now call 1 Clement (cf. Eusebius, History of the Church 3.4.10). Clement was a fairly common name in the Roman world, however; while it remains possible the Clement Paul commended in Philippi would later become the Clement who became an elder in Rome and the author of 1 Clement, it is far more likely they are two different Christians who happened to share the same name.

As we have seen, all kinds of discussion and speculation have attended to Paul’s exhortations to and commendations of Euodia, Syntyche, and some of the Philippian Christians in Philippians 4:2-3. These discussions and forms of speculation often tell us much more about us than about these faithful Christians in the days of Paul. Nevertheless, we can appreciate how Paul felt compelled to address the situation while remaining confident the situation would be resolved well to the glory and honor of Jesus. All of this attests to the strong relationship Paul had with Euodia, Syntyche, and to many other Christians in Philippi, and should encourage us in our labors for the Lord. We also do well to make sure we agree in the Lord and to encourage Christians who have some kind of interpersonal disputes to resolve them and work well together to glorify Jesus. May we also be proven as struggling together for the Gospel and faithful fellow workers in Jesus whose names are written in the book of life, and may we share in the resurrection of life with Euodia, Syntyche, and our fellow Christians in the church in Philippi on the day when the Lord Jesus returns!

Ethan R. Longhenry

The Gospel and the End

The good news of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, is not over. The story has not yet reached its conclusion; such is why we have continually spoken of Jesus’ imminent return, since it has yet to take place. God has proven faithful; therefore, we maintain great confidence He will continue to prove faithful and Jesus will return as God has promised. We can maintain a similar confidence in how the return of Jesus will be aligned and consistent with the story of His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship, and will not prove the repudiation of any or all of what God has accomplished in Christ.

We must say such things because the eschaton, the end, when the Lord Jesus returns as promised, has proven to be one of the great lightning rods of controversy, disputation, and dissension among the people of God and in society in general. Early presumptions about Jesus’ return caused great distress and grief among the Thessalonian Christians, and the people of God have been distressed and given reason for consternation about such speculations ever since (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).

When we approach matters of eschatology, we do well to remain humble: we do not wish to become as those whom we critique and become dogmatic regarding matters we do not, and cannot, fully understand. We do well to insist on those matters on which the Apostles staked the Gospel, and be charitable in disagreements regarding matters where we put all the witness of Scripture together slightly differently or provide emphasis on different matters.

The Apostles strongly insisted on the expectation of Jesus to return to judge the living and the dead according to what they did while in the body. While in the flesh Jesus spoke of the judgment to come in passages like Matthew 25:1-46; the angels solemnly promised Jesus would return in the same way He ascended in Acts 1:10-11. Paul affirmed the judgment to come in Acts 17:30-31, Romans 2:5-11, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; James expected a judgment to take place as well in James 2:12-13, as did the Hebrews author in Hebrews 10:26-31, Peter in 1 Peter 4:5-6, Jude in Jude 1:13-15, and John in Revelation 20:11-15.

Likewise, Jesus and the Apostles also strongly insisted on the expectation everyone would experience either the resurrection of life or resurrection of condemnation on that day of judgment. In light of Daniel 12:1-2, Jesus spoke of the day of the resurrection of life and condemnation in John 5:28-29. Paul staked the legitimacy of the faith on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:1-20, and went on to likewise insist on the future resurrection of believers in 1 Corinthians 15:21-58. Philippians 3:21 should leave no one in confusion: Paul expected Christians to be raised from the dead bodily and transformed to become like Jesus in His resurrection body, a prospect we can also see from John in 1 John 3:1-2.

In this way all will go to their eternal destinations: those who were condemned will experience the “second death,” given over to their desires to be separated from God and thus alienated from the Source of light and life (Matthew 13:47-50, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, Revelation 20:11-15). Those who will be saved will be those found in Christ or justified by Christ on the day of judgment; they will receive unimaginable glory from the Father and will dwell in the presence of God forever where all will be made right and new (Romans 8:15-23, 2 Corinthians 4:14-5:11, Revelation 21:1-22:6).

Jesus and the Apostles have also assured us of how many would come to sow confusion regarding these matters in various ways but all for ungodly reasons. Some would suggest the day of the Lord Jesus had already come and the resurrection has taken place, as some did to the Thessalonian Christians in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 and Hymenaeus and Philetus went about preaching according to 2 Timothy 2:17-18. In our day some suggest the destruction of Jerusalem was the only “day of the Lord” imagined in the New Testament, thus suggesting the resurrection is spiritual and has already taken place. In this way such advocates perpetuate the gangrenous type of false teaching like that of Hymenaeus and Philetus, and they should be marked and rebuked accordingly. Others would come and suggest the exact opposite premise: the Lord Jesus would not return in the way He ascended, since everything continues as it always has, as seen in 2 Peter 3:2-4 and likely Jude 1:18 as well. Many might well feel justified in this posture: it has been almost two thousand years since Jesus ascended to the Father, about as much time as passed between Abraham and Jesus! This kind of scoffing undermines confidence in the Lord’s judgment and return and would encourage less than godly behavior. Instead, we do better to maintain our confidence in God’s faithfulness, patience, and kindness, knowing how a thousand years is as one day to God just like one day is as a thousand years to Him (2 Peter 3:8). The Bridegroom is taking longer than anyone might have expected; we do best to make sure to have as much oil as possible to wait for Him (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

Much of the consternation, confusion, and disputation that takes place regarding the Lord’s return has far less to do with Jesus’ actual final return and much more to do with the imagined events which would lead to that event. The nature of the thousand years, or “millennium,” expressed in the vision of Revelation 20:1-10 has been argued about and disputed ever since it was shown to John by God in Christ. For the past two hundred or so years, however, the various types of stories concocted under the premises of dispensational premillennialism have proven unduly popular, instigating wave after wave of eschatological interest, confident declarations of the return of Jesus, looking out for the Antichrist or the signs of the “rapture,” locking successive generations into a paradigm of expecting great devastation and violence to accompany the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not for us at this time to go into great detail regarding the distorted decontextualization of Scripture and the great violence done to the text in order to come up with the stories regarding the supposed “rapture,” “tribulation,” “Antichrist,” and other such aspects of dispensational premillennialism; we encourage you to visit A Study of Denominations: Plymouth Brethren for such an investigation. Instead, we would like to ask how the narrative presented according to the various theories under the umbrella of dispensational premillennialism proves consistent in any way, shape, or form with the good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship. The violence, bloodthirstiness, utter disregard for the creation and its value, and many other elements of the presentation of dispensational premillennialist theories may thrill the hearts of red-blooded Americans, but such is not how we have learned of the Christ who suffered such violence and degradation. God will vindicate His people who have suffered injustice, oppression, and persecution on the final day, and He will establish His justice and righteousness (Romans 12:19-21, 1 Peter 4:9). But it will be consistent with, and not contrary to, how God has established His purposes in Christ.

Ever since Jesus ascended there have been people predicting exactly when and how they believe Jesus will return. Almost every major political figure has been called the Antichrist by someone or another. People have claimed Jesus was going to return on date after date after date, and yet we are all still here. This does not mean Jesus is not going to return. Instead, it shows how foolish and stubborn people have proven, unwilling or resisting listening to the words of the Lord Himself, how he promised that the day and the time of His return is known only to the Father (Matthew 24:36). If we try to stand up and claim to know when Jesus is coming back, or confidently declare how a series of events needs to happen first, and of course how all those events are all leading up to events taking place in our own lifetimes, then we will more likely than not end up looking as foolish as all of those who have done so in the past, and will be made as ashamed as they were and are.

Neither the Lord nor the Apostles have left us without guidance regarding these matters. Contrary to dispensational premillennialist Christology and ecclesiology, God’s purposes in Christ are not awaiting the restoration of Israel according to the flesh and a series of events which look like a more “literal” or concrete fulfillment of the prophets; instead, God is restoring Israel through what He already has accomplished in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship, and the church is the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). We do not need to look for a series of events to take place, for all which was necessary has already taken place. On some day in the future, whether tomorrow or in another few thousand years, Jesus will descend again as He ascended, and all will be judged and share in the resurrection of life or of condemnation (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We are not called to live in constant anxiety about the prospect of that day, nor should we be dulled into complacency and spiritual stupor because it has not yet arrived; Jesus and the Apostles have called upon all of us to remain prepared and vigilant, relationally one with God and His people in Christ, ready whether the Lord returns tomorrow or well after our earthly lives have ended (Matthew 24:38-25:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

God is faithful, and has demonstrated His faithfulness in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship. We have every reason to believe God will do what He said He will do, and on the day He has appointed, Jesus will return and all will share in the resurrection, whether of life or of condemnation. The end will not prove the repudiation of the Gospel, but its ultimate fulfillment. Everything God intended to accomplish in Jesus will have reached its satisfaction, and the people of God will share in His glory and presence forever in eternal life. Maranatha! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Ethan R. Longhenry