Now Get To Work (1)

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,  keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Jude 1:20-21  NIV

Building yourselves up – Someone wrote to me:  “To [sic] much hassle opening daily scripture. Change it to once a week.”  I wrote back telling him that study and thinking are not for everyone.  But isn’t it a shame?  It’s “too much” to actually examine God’s word every day.  Better if it’s just once a week (like going to church).  No wonder the world is a mess.  If this is the attitude of many (and I’m afraid it is), then God takes second, no third, oops, no seventh place in my week.  Isn’t it great that religion can accommodate such expressions of “faith”?

NO!  I don’t think so!  Even Jude, that smallest of all apostolic writings, tells his readers that building themselves up in the most holy faith isn’t optional!  It’s not a part-time, sometime, once a week, not “interfering with my really important life” kind of thing.  But, of course, it’s not for everyone.

In Jude’s letter these two verses are really one continuous sentence.  Building yourselves up is directly connected to keeping yourselves in God’s love.  Stop one, stop the other.  The Greek verb is epoikodoméō [to build on]^[1]  “This verb comes from the group of oíkos [house, family, household, race].”^[2]  Jude uses it as a present, active participle.  The task of his readers is to continuously expand their faith.  A present, active participle is an “every day in every way” kind of action.  Once a week doesn’t cut it.  The word means “to build on something,” “to build further.”  It occurs in the apostolic writings in 1 Cor. 3:10 for building on a foundation that is already laid, with all the responsibility that this entails. Another use is in Eph. 2:20: believers are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

This term follows the Rabbinic pattern of continuous learning, of digging deeper and deeper into the text, and of bravely engaging in continuous re-learning.  There is a solid foundation, but that’s not the end of the story.  A follower who is not engaged in probing is not fulfilling God’s intention, and consequently, not placing himself in God’s love.  That’s a very tragic thing.

Topical Index:  epoikodoméō, to build up, Jude 1:20-21

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 674). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 674). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.