I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. - 1Timothy 3: 14-15 (ESV)
The church of Jesus Christ is supposed to stand for something. We have responsibilities in our society, for our society. On a spiritual level our responsibility is to represent the Gospel to a fallen world. We represent the Gospel by preaching it, in an uncompromised manner, to those who are still walking in darkness. That they may come to the foot of the cross and be saved as we were. We represent the Gospel with our lives as well. How we live and interact with people is often how they will view the Christ we claim to represent. There is nothing more disheartening than watching Christians who seem to operate oblivious to these responsibilities. To actively push people away from the Savior of their souls.
I spend a great deal of time dealing with the failure to preach the uncompromised Gospel. The modern theories of church growth alter the Gospel to the point where churches are full at the cost of attendance in heaven. Feel good gospels. Sugar coated gospels. Greasy grace gospels. Man centered gospels. Purpose driven gospels. Seeker friendly gospels. All of them significantly altering the truth. As it turns out when we read the key verses today, the truth is what we are charged with protecting. These verses are from the Apostle Paul to his protege Timothy. His instructions thus far have been to teach how one ought to behave in the household of God. How we ought to behave in the household of God. Not just the physical church building beloved but within the body of Christ existing in a fallen world. Does Paul teach that we are to behave solemn and pious? Does he teach that we should behave as if we were super-spiritual? No beloved. He reminds us all that we as the church are supposed to be a pillar and buttress for the truth. Not for faux righteousness. Not for moral superiority. Not for social works. A pillar and buttress for the truth.
The dictionary defines pillar as an internal support. We commonly view them as columns inside of a building that hold the building up. Internally, that is within the church, we are supposed to hold up the truth. Just what is the truth?
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. - John 17: 16-17 (ESV)
The primary responsibility we have inside of the church is to adhere to the Bible. It is not a book of suggestions. It is the revealed will of Almighty God. Why do you think Satan spends so much time attacking it? Trying to discredit it? We have entire denominations that have walked away from the inerrancy of Scripture. Without it, they are no longer in the truth. They are no better than the world who just makes it up as they go along. Truth is malleable in the world. It can be shaped and molded as we see fit depending on the prevailing social mores of the time. What was considered unacceptable morally just fifty years ago is now the bulk of your prime time sitcoms. Yet when the world casts their gaze upon the church they ought to see the consistency of the truth.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13: 8 (ESV)
Which is why it is such anathema when we see so many Christian leaders and preachers try and change who Jesus is. For those on the inside, they try and make Him into a cosmic genie in a bottle. A spiritual ATM for our whims because we are so special. A bellhop to carry our bags and a busboy to clean up our messes. For those on the outside we too often present Him wrapped in barbed wire, ready to slice up anyone who gets to close. We register Him as a republican and have Him point His holy finger in pious disapproval at the very people He is trying to save. None of which is true and we are also supposed to be a buttress of the truth.
The dictionary defines buttress as an external support or prop. Besides representing the truth internally we are also supposed to represent it externally to the world. I do not mean just the Gospel either. It goes without saying that presenting the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best way we represent the truth to a fallen world but it must go beyond that. The number one reason why people say they will not go to church is because they believe Christians to be hypocrites. Think about that for a second. The world thinks we are liars. The sad thing is quite often they are right. We operate under the blessing of absolute truth. We know there is right and wrong. Good and evil. Black and white. The world operates in shades of gray where everything is up for debate and the truth can be different based upon perspectives. It seems whenever the church gets involved in the things of the world, it abandons absolute truth and delves into the shades of gray. We see this especially in the realm of politics, where far too many Christians could care less about objective truth. But the world is watching beloved! We still have a responsibility to be a buttress for the truth.
Here is an example just from yesterday. There was an article posted on a prominent Christian website by a prominent Christian author that was titled: "First Lady Michelle Obama Declares War on Chick-fil-A." When you unpack the story you discover of course that she has done no such thing. The efforts of the first lady to address the rise in childhood obesity has led to new standards for what our schools feed our kids. Snacks can no longer exceed 200 calories for example. This was passed four years ago. Right now however it is effecting a high school in South Carolina that used to sell Chick-fil-A products to students and now they will not be allowed to. You can say that this is governmental over reach. You can debate the wisdom of forcing our kids to eat better. Those are all points for discussion and debate. What you cannot however do is pretend that Michelle Obama has declared war on Chick-fil-A. There is a word for that and the word is - LIE. It is an untruth. It damages the witness for Christ. If we cannot be trusted to speak honestly about secular matters such as school lunch programs, why in the world would the unsaved listen to us about eternal matters?
Does something so seemingly inconsequential matter? Absolutely! These are the matters the world judges us by! The comments section was filled with Christians slandering the First Lady, often in vile terms, and people who saw right through the lie in the title and throughout the article. Later that day some of the unsaved who read this article will have someone try to speak about the Gospel to them and they will have none of it. We have been bought with a price beloved and we have responsibilities that come along with our glorious inheritance. The things we get all riled up about should have eternal value. I guarantee you this. On the Day of Judgment no one is going to care or think about the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. No one is going to care about this political party or that. The only thing that will matter is if they accepted the truth of Jesus Christ in time. That is why the truth is so important right now. As Christians we have a responsibility to be on the side of the truth at all times. We are the pillar and buttress of the truth. We are to embody it internally and externally. Within the the church and within the world. Let it be so, in Jesus name.
Rev. Anthony.
