Radioactive

save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh   Jude 23

With Fear – Is it possible that contemporary Christians have so watered-down the warnings that we no longer see the danger when we exercise mercy?  Jude seemed to think that there was great risk associated with compassionate acts.  I wonder if we recognize just how “radioactive” sin really is.

There are a lot of textual problems with this verse.  Not all ancient manuscripts include this phrase (en phobo).  Some put it in other places.  It is no longer possible to determine what the original letter actually said.  But the message is still important.  Mercy, especially the kind that snatches people from great sin, is laced with danger.  “But for the grace of God,” is the watchword of all compassionate work.  No man is any less potentially sinful than any other man.  Whenever you get close to the fire, remember that you can also be burned.

One of the humiliating aspects of modern Christianity is its penchant for denying weakness.  We are tempted to claim moral superiority, to act as if those terrible sins so heinous to God could never be part of our pristine lives.  The truth is much murkier.  Until we really come to terms with our own deep desires to defy God, we have not confronted the essence of our sinfulness.  When we fear social impropriety more than the wrath of God, we are likely to mount a proper defense of our white-washed character.  We won’t stand up in the congregation of the redeemed and admit our lusts.  We won’t confess to our jealousies, bigotry or envy.  We don’t want to look bad in front of the home-town crowd.  So, we claim immunity when we meet the alcoholic or the addict.  He is not like us.  He has fallen.  We are raised – or so it seems.

Should we be shocked when the great names of the Christian community are discovered in immoral relationships or addictive behaviors?  I don’t think so.  We should be shocked to discover how much we have raised these leaders onto a pedestal of propriety.  We should be shocked that we have forgotten that the church is for the sick, not the well.  And we are all sick – mortally wounded by the enemy.  We are all capable of the worst of humanity, even more so when we live in a world that denies our cancerous souls.

There is a reason Jesus suggested we spend our time with the brokenhearted, the prisoners, the sick, the blind and the downtrodden.  It is not entirely about compassion toward them.  We are to spend time in their company so that we will never forget who we are.  We are these “least” people, spared of their circumstances only by God’s protection.  The day you think you are better because you are saved is the day you will be singed by the flames.

Enter into the task with fear.  You might see yourself in the fire.