Full of Grace and Truth

     A dichotomy, according to dictionary.com, is "a division into two parts or kinds; a division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups."  There are all kinds of dichotomies created in Christian thought; to name a few: God's sovereignty and our free will, the kingdom already and the kingdom not yet; God's grace and our responsibility, to name a few. There can be valid discussion and debate over these matters without breaking fellowship.
     Sadly, today, some would have us believe we can have varying opinions on essentials of the Christian faith. Believe what you want about salvation, justification, the authority of Scripture, Christ's deity, virgin birth, bodily resurrection and personal return. Sorry. I believe that disagreement about these is out of bounds, and if carried to extremes, disagreement about these could bring about the breaking of fellowship, because those who would deny these things would be showing themselves to be not truly of the faith.  But that is not the main point I wish to make in this post.
     There is another man-made dichotomy that has crept into the church these days. Some Christians feel they can only express their faith by sheltering themselves from or by attacking the culture. Others feel they can be faithful by serving others, but that their moral life doesn't matter. They can follow whatever dictates the current culture espouses on moral issues. So we either isolate ourselves from the culture, or we imitate the culture. There is a third way - we are to penetrate and seek transformation in the culture, to be in the world but not of it. As a former pastor/mentor of mine used to say, "It's great for the boat to be in the water, that's where it belongs. But God help you if the water gets into the boat."
     History shows that the early church was known for its compassionate love toward all, especially the least, AND for their high moral standards. It was not either/or but both that attracted new disciples and turned the Roman empire upside down. But more importantly, the New Testament is clear about these issues as well. Let me cite several key texts.
     James 1:27 says that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." See the both/and emphasis? Yes, we care for the needy and marginalized. But we also do not let ourselves get sucked into the zeitgeist, the worldview of the prevailing culture.
     Peter weighs in on the topic in 1 Peter 2:11-12. "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us."
     This is not new to the apostles. On the first matter, "the abstaining from sinful desires," Paul 's counsel is to run from these things as fast and as far as we can. But Jesus is even more graphic. He takes our sexual purity so seriously that He tells us not to even look at a woman lustfully, to cut off our hands or pluck out our eyes if they offend us. Now we know this is figurative, because He says clearly in Mark 7:21 that the source of our sin is the heart. But at the very least, He means that we are to "be careful little eyes what we see, little ears what we hear..." We watch our intake from television, movies, popular fiction and the internet.
     On the second matter, Peter is obviously echoing Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount about being the light of the world (Matthew 5:16). The Greek word for "good" speaks speficially of compassionate, caring kind of works on behalf of others.
     Paul's take is in a slightly longer passage from Colossians Chapter 3, where I am preaching for several weeks. First he talks about "putting to death" all sorts of sexual sins and dirty-mindedness, as well as sins of the tongue (verses 5-9). This is followed by a directive to "clothe" ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (verse 12). So our life is to be a balance of continually taking off the old graveclothes of worldly sins while, at the same time, continually cultivating virtues of compassion in our lives. This is called Christlikeness.
     My point is that we do not get set the agenda. Too many in the church today are opting for the social ministries of kindness to the poor while advocating thr acceptance of sexual lifestyles and sinful habits which are declared out of bounds by Scripture. We simply do not have the freedom to do this and be true aliens and exiles in this world. If our citizenship is in heaven, it must be shown both by what we reject and leave behind and by what we show forth in ministry to the last, the lost, and the least. This is not a cafeteria, brothers and sisters, where we get to pick and choose. This is a family dinner where we are expected to eat everything on our plates.
     Nothing else honors and treasures Christ to the degree that we ought. We are called to be both holy and compassionate in our living - just like Jesus. He was able to walk that fine line - which reminds me of a great song from a few years back by Christian artist Wayne Watson:
     There's a fine line between taking bread with a lost man
     And being consumed by his way while reaching out in love,
     Temptation's right at your door, guard what you're thinkin' of;
     It's a fine line. When I hide my eyes
     From the darkest of life's insanity, from the worst of the world's profanity,
     I've gotta be careful I don't miss someone in need of me,
     It's a fine line.
     ...not talkin' about walkin' fences, not talkin' about compromise,
     But living and breathing as pleasing in His eyes.
     So where do I walk, where is my place,
     The straight and the narrow, the road of grace;
     Holdin' fast to You, walkin' at Your pace, walkin' on the fine line.
     Jesus is our example, and Jesus is our power to live this way. He was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). And in Him, we can be, too.
     "And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3). So let's walk like this is true.