Point of Clarification

Aug 27, 2006 Print This Post

//MOOD: Thinking

//ITUNES: Spiderman Theme from the album “Babalu” by Michael Buble

OK, let me say that this weekend was a blast. It was good to dive back into teaching, especially the book of Titus, which I was very excited about. Dan’s band also did an amazing job and it was so fun to tell that church that we are going to be ordaining Dan in a few weeks and adding him to the pastoral team.

Something weird happened this weekend, though. If you weren’t at Riverview this weekend, this may not make any sense. So, you can skip this post if you wish.

Dan mentioned to me after the Saturday night message that I had inadvertently said that those who were insisting on circumcision for salvation in Crete “didn’t take Scripture seriously.” Well, that is definitely not true: if anything they were radically committed to the Bible. They just took part of it (the Old Testament) as stronger than the writings by Paul and the message of Jesus. They were wrestling with how to apply this new faith in light of their Jewish upbringing.

So, I made sure that I didn’t say that in the other services, but I think I flipped it too far in the other direction. I off-handedly said a few times (can’t remember in which services) that both the Legalists and the Ungodly in Crete were Christians. I’m not so sure that is true either.

This all came flooding into my head during the last service when I was teaching on this passage:

Titus 1:15-16

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

The reason this struck me was the word “unbelieving.” It literally means “without faith” or “without belief.” That made me wonder if the people he was talking about were Christians or not.

I read different commentators and they have different opinions on this.

So, let me clarify:

Both the Legalistic and Ungodly people that Paul was referring to in Titus were in the church. That doesn’t necessarily mean they were Christians because every church has both Christians and non-Christians in it. And people who are Legalistic or Ungodly but claim to follow Jesus are a barrier to those around them who are not Christians. Because non-Christians see these people in the church and assume that they represent Jesus.

There are, therefore, 4 barriers (not just 2), Legalistic Non-Christians, Legalistic Christians, Ungodly Non-Christians, Ungodly Christians.

There is one thing we are all called to be: Godly Christians (or as I said this weekend “Razor’s Edge Christians”).

Hopefully this makes sense. I figured I’d post my thoughts on the blog first, so I could get comments from those of you who were there this weekend. Then, I will clarify everything next week to make sure everyone understands what I meant to say.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Facebook comments:

Growing up in the Lansing area, I wanted nothing more than to get out. My exit strategy included a complex mixture of schemes for an urban church plant, iProducts, and an elaborate Bollywood car chase scene with zombies and catchy techno music.

As a 40 year old man, I find myself entrenched in the Lansing area at a church I love (Riverview), with 4 kids I love more (a high schooler, a junior higher, a middle schooler, and an elementary schooler), and a wife I love the most (Grace).

Instead of planting one church, I dream of helping hundreds get started without ever leaving my home base. I still love my iProducts and use them as tools to help lead and teach the thousands who attend Riverview. And when no one is looking, I blare the techno music and send my unimpressive resume to casting agents for Bollywood zombie films.

Want to get NoelHeikkinen.com delivered to you via email?

NoelHeikkinen.com