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FAITHFUL LIVING – BY THE BIBLE

Christian one-upmanship does not bear any spiritual fruit.  Yet many of us dwell, or at least dabble, in one-upmanship every now and then.  Who has read the Bible 16 times over?  Who has served the longest in church?  Which ministry is the most important?  Whose great-great-grandfather was the most famous Christian in Singapore? The list goes on—ad nauseum.

That is not to say that we should not work on reading the Bible many times over or prioritise the areas of service (as the Holy Spirit leads).  But merely talking about such contentious issues does nothing except to cause strivings and splits.  Which leads only to bitterness and stalemate, as far as the work of God is concerned.

Division was something the Jews were good at.  They loved “foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law” (Titus 3:9).  Foolishness, in this context, has its roots in the Greek word “moros”, from which we get the English word moron.  Genealogy refers to the Jew’s love for tracing their roots, particularly, back to father Abraham.  And strivings about the law refers to the conflicting interpretations about rites in the Law of Moses as contained in the Talmud.

It was as if, says one Bible scholar, that with “no piety of their own” tracing their spiritual heritage to a godly bloodline made them feel good about their pedigree.  But if Christ has saved us despite ourselves (we have nothing lovely to offer Him, really), why the self-assurance in who we are?  Rather, the confidence should be in whose we are: the Lord’s.

The term “trustworthy saying” or “faithful saying” is used four times by the Apostle Paul in his letters.  All four references point to Jesus Christ.  First, that He came to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).  Second, that Christians must flex their spiritual muscles into service, not just gab about godly living (1 Tim. 4:7-10).  Also, that we look always to His return (2 Tim. 2:11) – if we have just tomorrow to live, would all that divisive talk be important?  Finally, in Titus, the truth is that we have been saved “not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (3:5).

So, if there is any boast, let it be in this one thing, recommends Jeremiah in Jer. 9:24:
“that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.