Orthodoxy

SCRIPTURE: 2 Sam. 4-5; Ps. 139; Matt. 16

Haven’t you realized yet that bread isn’t the problem? The problem is yeast, Pharisee-Sadducee yeast.” Then they got it: that he wasn’t concerned about eating, but teaching—the Pharisee-Sadducee kind of teaching.

Matthew 16:11-12

OBSERVATIONS: Teaching that doesn’t result in life-change is worthless. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is worthless. Using rules to manipulate and control people is worthless — and wrong.

APPLICATION: Joey, the point of teaching orthodoxy isn’t to “be right.” It’s to be faithful. Recognize that the Pharisee-Sadducee kind of teaching will never get the Church anywhere but in the ditch. Trust that Christ is ushering in a new Kingdom — and it’s not about rules and the enforcement of them. It’s about loving each other.

PRAYER: God, let me keep faith for the sake of the kingdom — not for the sake of power. Let me be true to the throne of Christ — and not for the chance to sit upon it myself. Let me be broken, empty, worn, pressed, and laid aside — but let me be used for the sake of the Christ. Amen.