Zeal For Truth

This is part of an eight part series on the importance of fellowship. Read the other parts here:

Part 8: Unconditional Love
Part 7: Honesty
Part 6: Fighting Superficiality
Part 5: Sanctification
Part 4: Why You Need It (Yes You)
Part 3: Dealing With A Dead or Dying Church
Part 2: Accountability
Part 1: Introduction

I’d like to qualify a term that I am going to throw around in this peice:

anti-fellowship: the building up of barriers and walls between believers that discourage biblical fellowship; often through - but not exclusively limited to - traits, traditions, attitudes and outright lies that that Christians tell themselves and one another to avoid and thwart fellowship and it’s fruit in their lives.

One of the most significant contributions to anti-fellowship is dishonesty. It is a major problem with the church, and I will qualify “in the church” as meaning - individual bible-believing, born again Christians. We lie. We lie to ourselves of course - convincing ourselves that we are good people, that we’re smart, that we’re popular (etc…). But I am specifically speaking about the lies we project - the deliberate misrepresentation of who we are and what were about to other Christians.

Lia, Liar - But Your Pants Aren’t On Fire (Because You’re Saved)
John talks about this dishonesty (John 1:8-10):

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

The language in John’s epistles always struck me as awkward, even harsh at times - is he really calling some Christians liars? Is really saying things like - “his word is not in us” and meaning actual Christians? I used to chalk John’s harsh words up to those “obviously” fake Christians and never even began to think that they could apply to me or people like me, who are saved, perhaps even in ministry, believe in the bible and go to decent churches.

But John is just articulating the obvious - we don’t want to admit we’re sinners, that we have needs or that we’re immature. John also is reminding us of the severity of our sin problems. But lastly, John is also telling us that we have indwelling sin and a propensity to hide, ignore and deny our sin nature.

This is a reason we avoid fellowship. The lies we have told to ourselves and to others will be exposed by fellowship. For example, even though someone may never say “I never gossip and am generally trustworthy” they might have this view of themself. They might go to great lengths both deliberately and out of habit to appear to be righteous and good. At some point in this process, they convince themself that they really have “conquered gossip” and are somehow without sin in the area.

A person who has become this deluded is going to have a crashing revelation when either they realise themself, or someone points out to them, that actually they are sinning and have not, in fact, conquered anything. Obviously this “crashing” can be made worse by judgemental friends and leadership, or by confrontational/angry rebukes. But these are separate sins, and while important, ultimately have no linked, causal or excusable relationship to the first sin(s). And this original sense of exposure and judgement is completely fabricated - John tells us so. The cure to sin is not our righteousness, but confessing our sins.

Examples of Lies
Some other examples of self deception and “saying we have no sin” are easy to identify in ourselves. Here are some common lies we tell ourselves:

I am righteous - Some like to pretend they are more moral and righteous than other people. These are usually the first ones to condemn others: homosexuals, adulterers, politicians and other easy targets. It is the same tactic governments use to propagandise a war - take the focus away from the crimes you are committing and focus on the otherness of someone else - effectively demonising them. It has been fashionable in the last decade or so to also include academics and theologians in this group of disconnected and “elitist” others. Someone with a PhD or a seminary education is classified into categories such as “liberal”, “postmodern” or “progressive” just because they have a formal education.

I am popular - Some like to pretend they are popular and well-liked. These are the first to gossip. Oh, not things like “John is such a jerk and I don’t like him” - but rather - “you know, we should really pray for John. He’s been having family trouble lately. And after being put on disciplinary probation at work, he’s sure to need our help.” The fact that someone compulsively gossips shows that they take a lot of stock in the opinions of others and could be a point of revelation about this lie. Confession is tremendously important here - specifically, confessing idolising men’s opinions above God’s. These people need to focus on their own sin, their own hearts and the grace that God has given them through the cross.

I am gifted - Some like to pretend their gifts are greater than others. These are the first to shirk those “lesser responsibilities” such as feeding the poor, comforting the weak and even prayer. Oftentimes an overzealousness for doing ministry is a way to distract ourselves from getting the ministry we need. It’s easy to subdivide Christianity into a) those who minister and b) those who need ministry. But there is no such division in the bible - we all have needs and we all have gifts. We should be simultaneously ministering and being ministered to. And we also need to stop idolising ministry as a “position” or a title - as though we can only minister in some official capacity in a church.

In the process of changing churches, I had an opportunity to take four months off of any worship leading. I felt overwhelmed with all of the ministry I was getting, and my relationship with God grew by leaps and bounds. I wonder if I had been so focussed on “giving ministry” that I was missing opportunities to be ministered to by others.  Moreover, I got to expand my ministry in ways I never thought possible - helping people with manual labour, praying for them, providing counsel and giving financially.

Dealing with dishonesty is not complicated - it simply requires confession: to “say the same thing” - as the Greek declares. But part of this is an understanding from all Christians that instead of trying to appear perfect, it is much more important we recognise and embrace our imperfections, focussing on the God who is perfecting us (Philippians 3:12), and not attempt to muster up the initiative and power to change ourselves.

Onto the final entry: Part 8: Unconditional Love.