February 19, 2016
Scripture Reading: 2 John 7
7I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Questions for Reflection:
John has been instructing the church that they should love one another and walk in love. The natural question is why is it so important for believers to do this? In verse 7, we find the answer to this question: “I say this because many deceivers….have gone out into the world.”
Many people have abandoned the church and left. How do you think the church that John was writing to felt? What was the issue that led to their departure? It is always important to keep the context from which and into which the original letter was written in mind. John was writing to a church that had been divided around the identity, person and work of Jesus Christ. What divided and split the church was not minor preferences like pew color or the composition of a worship team; they were being broken apart by a poor understanding of a foundational issue.
John uses a word that is not often used in our day in verse 7, “antichrist.” When we see that word, we tend to paint this picture of the antichrist as this end times object. There is a place for that interpretation. . Yet John says that anyone who denies Jesus as coming in the flesh is the deceiver and the antichrist. Gary Burge notes, “This figure is the quintessential opponent of Christianity, one who is radically opposed to Christ and who dismantles the very center of the faith, not someone with marginal theological differences.” It’s important to note that John uses high evocative language, but he does so around central theological issues. What can we learn from this for the church today?
A word that we tend to throw around is “heretic” or “heresy.” Often if someone disagrees with us on our understanding of politics, the church’s role in politics, worship style or even Bible translation, we may hear those words batted around. Yet, those are not necessarily heresies. We need to keep in mind what are personal preferences (even if we have strong convictions about them) and what are core and central to the Christian message. While we may disagree with another churches approach, another Christian’s application of doctrine or the methods they may employ, if the cross is central, if Jesus Christ is at the heart, it probably is not heretical and they are probably not the antichrist. We need to be less concerned about non-essentials so that we can work together to truly help people far from God experience Jesus.
How can you work toward unity in the faith? Do you know what the essentials of the Christian message are? How would you define them? If you don’t know the essentials, we would recommend you check out C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. It is a great place to begin building your understanding of the essentials.