Jude 22: The Wrong Approach?

For years I've seen churches and youth groups sporting the theme "Making a Difference" from Jude 22. "Get out there, witness, and make a difference in someone's life." "Jesus is the key, only He can make a difference in the world." It sounds like a great motto, doesn't it?

This is such a prominent theme that just about everyone has probably heard of it. I've seen churches theme their entire year off of it. Youth Groups have made it their motto and focus. Books have been written on it. I've seen flyers, posters, and even T-shirts, sporting this theme. They often feature the whole phrase or just "M.A.D." saying "Let's go M.A.D.!"

If you or your church cling to that motto, I've got bad news for you. It doesn't mean what you think it does.

How did this topic come up? If you read my post about being really busy, then you know I'm in a summer class right now. That summer class is on the epistle of James. Right about now, you're thinking: "What does James have to do with Jude?" Well, a few years ago I had a Greek class in James. I chose to write my Greek paper on James 1:5-8. I was reminded of that paper today in class.

I don't usually bring Greek into a Bible lesson openly. It's just not necessary for understanding Scripture. However, sometimes it is helpful, and I think this is one of those areas. In my paper on James 1:5-8, I came across a word that I just had to research. The English word in verse 6 is "wavereth." When I study a Greek word, I look up every other appearance of that word in the New Testament, and I see how it is translated. Wouldn't you know it, one of those uses is the phrase "making a difference" in Jude 22.

So what does the word mean? The Greek word is diakrino. The root of the word means "to judge." With its prefix attached, it means "to distinguish, to determine, or to differentiate." When James uses the word, it refers to someone who can't make up his mind and wavers back and forth, not determining to believe God completely. The word does NOT mean "change." It doesn't mean "change someone's life."

Taking Jude 22 in context, let me tell you what the passage means. False teachers have arisen, mockers and scoffers have appeared on the scene (v.4, 16-17). Jude says that they are sensual and walk in their own lusts (v.18, 19). Then he reminds the believers that they have faith, love, and the mercy of God (v.20-21).

Therefore, he says, have mercy on some of these false teachers and wayward people. Make a differentiation, or judgment, between those who purposely would mislead you and those who have accidentally been duped. Some of those people are probably teaching things falsely because they've been taught falsely and they don't know any better. With those people, have compassion and correct them.

One of the biggest reasons this verse is misunderstood is actually not a Greek issue. This verse is taken out of context. The whole book is about false teachers who have crept in and are misleading the people of the church. It has nothing to do with soul winning and making a difference in people's lives. Romans would be a better place for something like that. "How shall they hear without a preacher?" (By the way, that simply means someone to tell them, anyone can be a "preacher" of the gospel).

You don't need Greek to figure that out if you keep the verse in context, but the Greek is what helped me figure it out because I realized that phrase doesn't mean what everyone thinks it means.


The Bottom Line
What's the bottom line? We need to stop twisting this verse and using it out of context. We should stop making T-Shirts, videos, posters, and flyers with this phrase on it. We need to stop making this our church theme for the year. It ought be our goal to rightly divide the Word of Truth and do honor by God and His Word. We can still use the theme, just not in relation with this verse.

As a final word, let me say that I am in no way bashing the people that use this phrase. In fact, some churches and pastors close to me have used this phrase. It is that very thing that gave me the burden to help you understand the meaning that God intended.

Will you help me in getting this message out there? Share this on Facebook and Twitter and with everyone you know. I want people to know what is the RIGHT way to understand this passage. If you are a Greek student, I encourage you to do the study yourself.

Think I'm wrong? I've been wrong before. Tell me about it in the box below. Give me stronger evidence to support the reason why the general interpretation is right.

Do you have any additional thoughts or comments? I'd love to hear about them.

Read more »

Ten Dangers of Advertising

Advertising can be one of the most powerful media tools at a church's disposal. There are plenty of reasons why your church should be using advertising. However, there are also some dangers about advertising. If done the wrong way, advertising can actually harm your identity. Treat advertising like you would treat a visitor. Follow these simple instructions to avoid doing anything that would give people a wrong impression of your ministry.

1. Don't fake your success.
The following information is a summary of the article Blogging Can Be Disastrous. It proves that advertising that presents fake or falsified information will only lead to disaster. Don't advertise that you've got 400 people in wall-to-wall crowds on Sunday when your church only has 40 people in a room big enough to fill 200. It might attract visitors, but as soon as they arrive they'll realize you faked it and they'll tell everyone they know you were deceptive. You'll not likely get any more visitors. Ever.

Dr. Pepper failed in 2003 when it tried to advertise it's new product, Raging Cow. It was a new type of flavored milk. To promote it, they pulled in a bunch of teenagers and told them to go blog about it as if they had just discovered the milk and thought it was amazing. They were to act like consumers, not paid employees promoting their product. The scam was revealed and the product flopped.

In 2006, Wal-Mart also failed miserably doing the same thing. You probably know some people who are McDonald's or Wal-Mart fanatics. You know, the type that just have to visit every single store in every city they go to because it's some sort of game to see how many stores they can go to? Wal-Mart hoped to capitalize from this mentality. They hired two guys to travel around the country in an RV visiting every Wal-Mart. They were to then blog about their experiences, thus making Wal-Mart look as popular as places like Hollywood or Disneyland. It, too, was exposed, the blog disappeared off the web and Wal-Mart dealt with a lot of bad publicity.


2. Don't fix what isn't broken
If you've got an ad source that works. Keep it up. Don't try to change it because you think people are getting bored with it. When you stop receiving feedback from that source, then think about changing it.


3. Don't reinvent the wheel. Creativity isn't always the best.
Be careful how you advertise. Going way out on a limb will just have people confused and possibly put off by what you're doing. Stick with what works, but don't be afraid to put your own twist on it. Just keep it within reason.


4. Don't advertise based upon culture.
This is a strong temptation for a church. Many churches compromise their standards because they think they can attract the world by being like the world. Truth is, people are sick of the world and want something different. McDonald's advertised for culture with it's "I'd hit that" campaign and it failed miserably. Coca-Cola tried it with OK Cola. Ever heard of it? Not me either. The reason is that Coca-Cola attempted to release a new soda in 1993 based upon the OK Manifesto. Except there was no reason for it. They just attempted to be culturally cool.


5. Don't steal images, brands, or copyrighted information.
This should be a no brainer, but don't steal. Everyone knows you've done it. It doesn't look cool, and you'll lose your credibility. It's so tempting to do because that ad campaign was so largely successful.

Case in point: Church juice posted an article about stealing logos a few months ago. The author happened upon a church who tried to advertise ministry opportunities to it's members. It took Nike's slogan "Just Do It" and their logo and made it "Just Try It." It was a sad disgrace of an attempt. It's fun to do parodies every now and again, but make sure your obvious about the spoof. Don't try to look professional with someone else's work.


6. Don't sell more than you can offer.
Words like "Best Prices" are okay to say...if you can back it up. If you don't truly mean it, don't say it. We're churches. We represent God. Let's not lie to people in our advertising. You've all heard the grandiose promises of the candidates running for President, yet they fail to back up those claims. How does that make you feel? It doesn't give you greater confidence in the guy, that's for sure. Your church cannot afford to lose credibility and the confidence of the people around you.


7. Don't sacrifice your message for design.
Simple designs communicate better than flashy "attractive" ones. Graphic masterpieces and techno-gadgets are a thing of the 90s. In today's age, people relate good quality advertising to clean advertising. Some of the best websites are a simple white, yet they have an aura of power about them.


8. Don't advertise everywhere.
More ads in less places is better than less ads in more places. Simply put. If you have a chance to advertise on TV for one day, even if it's an ad during every commercial, and that's it, you're wasting your time. People will have forgotten you by tomorrow. But a newspaper ad that is seen every single day for years will attract more attention. Why? It's better to reach 10% of your audience 100% of the time than to reach 100% of them only 10% of the time (TheRadioStations.com).

9. Use testimonials instead of promotions.
If you can help it, the pastor should not be the one making the sales pitch in the ad. This doesn't mean the pastor can't be in it, but testimonials from every day people will go heaps further in the eyes of your viewers. Why? Because your biased, that's why. It's the truth. You've got so much time invested in it, you'd say your church was soaring if all it had were penguins (If you don't get that, don't think about it too hard...Penguins don't fly). Glad Tidings Omaha does this amazingly well. Check out their website and you'll be bombarded with testimonials from the home page.

10. Don't insult your audience.
You may think that your church has what everyone needs, but telling someone they're dumb if they don't go to church isn't the best way to get them to come. Instead, tell them what they do need. For instance, if you're trying to get smokers to stop smoking, you don't tell them "Only idiots smoke cigarettes." Instead, you show them what cigarettes do to your heart and lungs. Now obviously not everyone will respond to that, and not everyone is going to respond to your church ad.

Read more »

Songs that Shouldn't Be Sung Part 2

This post is a continuation of Conservative Songs that Shouldn't Be Sung. If you haven't read that post yet, read it first. I've studied out some of these songs at the request of some readers, and I've also left out some that were mentioned by others yesterday. You'll want to check out what has or has not been discussed already.

6. We've a Story to Tell to the Nations.
A reader left a comment about this song in yesterday's post and I really wanted to research it a bit more and share with you what I learned. This is the worst kind of song. That's because it's tricky. It reminds me of the verse in Jude where the false teachers have "crept in unawares." A lot of people don't understand the theology behind a song like this. In a way, that's a good thing. It means they won't ever take the song the wrong way. But at the same time, it can influence your thinking to wrong doctrine.

This song is very strongly Post-Millennial. Right now you're saying, "What's that?" Post-Millennialism is the belief that we are currently in the 1,000 year time period mentioned in the Bible. Or rather that the thousand year time period will happen and people will live through it without a rapture ever taking place. While I don't believe that (it's a much debated topic among good men), it's the next part that has me screaming, "Heresy!" They believe that society will essentially become more and more good as Satan and his forces gradually become more and more defeated.

"How will they be defeated?," you ask. Why, by us witnessing and sharing the gospel. Yes this is the belief that evangelism will usher in the kingdom of God by making society more and more like Christ. That's a wonderful thought, but anyone who believes this has got their head stuck in the mud (yes, like an ostrich). I'm doing everything I can to get the word out about Christ yet society, from my perspective anyway, keeps getting worse and worse (Scientific laws of entropy anyone?). Does anyone else notice this too? Or am I the only one? (I'm being facetious if you can't tell).

My point? Don't sing it. It's subliminally teaching your congregation about bad doctrine.

7. Here I Am, Lord I'm talking about the version that has "I, the Lord of sea and sky" in the lyrics. I actually really like this song; the tune anyway. But as someone suggested to me, it's really kind of backward. It focuses completely on self, like I've Got a Mansion. What's worse is that it actually has you singing as God in the first person. I never thought about that when I sang it, but then again isn't that what I've been saying all along? We never think about the songs we sing. To place yourself in the place of God seems bad and prideful doesn't it? I suppose the rationale is to see it from God's perspective, which there is nothing wrong with trying to understand something from God's perspective. As a matter of fact if we had God's perspective of sin we'd think twice about some of the sins we blatantly commit.


8. On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand.
This is another reader suggestion. The whole premise of the song is that you are toiling through life and you stand at the banks of Jordan. Jordan was known to overflow in the rainy season and badly so, but soon you will cross Jordan and enter into rest, a.k.a. Heaven. The only problem is that Canaan Rest is a symbol of the peace that you find through God in this life. It's me accepting Christ as my Savior and now being at peace with God, having my sins atoned for (at-one-ment). Heavenly rest is the rest that the song has in mind. It is God's rest. It's the rest He took at the end of the Creation week and it's the rest that awaits for us one day.

The problem is that he didn't know the difference between Canaan rest and God's rest. He also didn't think that one through very clearly because Israel didn't have rest immediately upon entering the land. They had to clear it first, and then they didn't really ever do that, Hebrews says they never really got the rest they were supposed to have because of disobedience and unbelief.

If I take that approach then we're never really going to get the rest because Israel never got their rest either. Do you catch my train of thought? Did the guy intend to be Biblical? Probably. Did he succeed? No.

EDIT: Based on a conversation in the comments below I would like to clarify my comments. My problem with the song is merely the fact that the song has instilled a misconception in the minds of the our church members. Because of this song people relate crossing the Jordan with going into Heaven. When you couple this thought with Scripture it can create confusion. It is my opinion that we should avoid songs that create confusion.


9. Honey in the Rock If you ask my wife, she'd tell you that #1 on her list is Honey in the Rock, #2 on her list is Honey in the rock, and #3 on her list is Honey in the Rock. Now I don't know that I'd say the song is THAT bad. In fact, I have fun singing it randomly just to hear her go "No!" and watch her cover her ears. I did this last night at Wal-Mart and she started beating me with her purse all the while I'm laughing like crazy.
But truthfully, it's just an annoying song. There is a Bible verse to support the title of the song (Ps. 81:16). It references Christ being our Rock (which is very Biblical) and our joy can be found in Him. It actually seems quite encouraging looking at the lyrics, but the tune is just so obnoxious. It's on my "not like" list, but I can't call it unbiblical so I pegged it down toward the bottom despite my wife's feelings.

The only objection that I have for it is if the congregation loathes the song, then it's not accomplishing it's purpose of focusing our hearts on God, thus shouldn't be sung.


10. Good Christian Men Rejoice.
I'm probably stretching it with this song. The first line of this song probably wasn't written first. The second two verses are just fine. However, the first line, which actually talks about the day of Jesus' birth, instructs Christian men to rejoice because Jesus is born and is currently, at that particular moment in time, in the manger.

The problem is that "they were first called Christians at Antioch" a couple of decades after Christ's birth. If your argument is that Christians alive now are encouraged to rejoice, then you've got a time element disagreement. Christians now rejoice because Christ is born right now and in the manger. It doesn't make much sense.

EDIT: Read the comments below. I have rescinded my issues with this song. Plus, even if it did have some grammatical issues, that doesn't mean we shouldn't sing it. I probably shouldn't have put this on the list to begin with. I'll leave it here as a learning experience for someone who's interested.


I know there plenty more we could probably list, but we'll stop it here. I hope you haven't been discouraged by these posts. It's not my intention to discourage you because you can't trust the songs you sing, but instead to be like the Bereans in the New Testament and look in the Scriptures to see whether these songs line up. Plus, throwing out 10 songs when you've got a hymnal of 600 really isn't that bad now is it?

Just like last time, if you have any more songs to suggest that shouldn't be sung I would love to hear about it. Or maybe you think I listed a song that shouldn't be on the list. Let me know. Leave a comment in the box.

I'd also like to run a Questions and Answers article about music tomorrow. If you have questions, tell me about them on my Facebook page.

Read more »

Conservative Songs That Shouldn't Be Sung

Do you have any songs that just irk you? I mean, they really rub you the wrong way. I'm not talking about songs that you don't like because they're not your style or "flavor." I'm talking about songs that just sound unbiblical or that stretch the truth. I've got a few of them.

Now let me make something abundantly clear from the beginning. I am a conservative, I'm proud to be a conservative, and have no desire to be otherwise. However, I'm also not a hyper-conservative or anyone that believes "Hymns and nothing but." As a matter of fact, I'd strongly disagree with that approach. I align myself with the Bible, "Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."

Again, lest I sound like I'm about to start debating contemporary vs. traditional or classical vs. rock, I'm not. I'm missionary and a designer, not a musician or a student of music theory. If you are interested in those types of discussions, I've got some really great articles planned for this week's From the Experts on Friday. They are qualified to answer those discussions and I hope you'll look forward to reading them.

In an effort to help you music guys out there, I want to highlight a few songs that I believe to be unbiblical or have little spiritual value. Is not the goal of our song service to promote a worship of God? Is it not to remove our thoughts of ourselves and focus our hearts and minds Godward? How can songs that disagree with Biblical principles do this? They can't. So why do we sing these songs in church?

Here's my list of songs that I don't think are worth singing.

1. I've Got a Mansion.
This is #1 on my list. If there is a song that I can't stand it's I've Got a Mansion. There is so much wrong with this song. First, the focus is on me. Me, me, me. "I've got a mansion," "I'm satisfied," and "I want a gold one, that's silver lined."

The type of mansion people think of when they hear this song.

Secondly, it's awfully self-centered. It essentially says, "You know what. God, I can deal with what you've given me here on this earth, but boy you better have something good for me in heaven. I want a gold crown that's silver lined!" When you get to heaven the last thing you'll be thinking about is what types of crowns you should get or how big your "mansion" should be. You're going to fall on your face and cry "Holy!"

Speaking of mansions. Did you know that the Greek word translated mansion really has the idea of an "apartment?" That doesn't mean the translation is wrong. That word just means something different today. But the original penman's (of the Scripture reference about Christ preparing a mansion for us) culture was different than our own. In that day, a son would take on the family business which was often run out of the home or a near by building. In order to best help out with the business, the father would build an appendage to his house so that his wife and family could live close by. That's what God is going to do for us; keep us close to Himself.

Is the song wrong for using the word mansion? No, because technically it's in the Bible, but the interpretation of that word is horrendously misapplied.

2. The Eastern Gate.
This song poses a series of questions. How do they know it will be morning? Do they actually plan on meeting someone there? Plus this song seems to show evidences of a belief in salvation by works or at least a loss of salvation. "Then be ready, faithful pilgrim, lest with you it be too late?" If you are a faithful pilgrim, then there is no too late for you. That's it for my comments. You can see I was really passionate about I've Got a Mansion. It's about 3 times longer than the rest of these will likely be. But The Eastern Gate seems pretty unbiblical to me.

3. There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit.
There's a chance a lot of you won't know this song. But it's about the most worthless song in the history of Christendom. How does this prepare my heart for God? "There's a sweet spirit in this place. There are sweet expressions on each face." Okay? If you just want to sing songs, that's great, but we're supposed to be worshiping God, which this song does not.

4. We Three Kings of Orient Are.

This song is just unbiblical. It's unbiblical in that sort of oblivious sense. The author probably didn't intend to write an unbiblical song, but he did. It's like the assumption that everyone has that Noah's ark looked like a bath tub and had giraffe heads poking out of the ceiling. We (as Christians) are "great" for assuming that because there were three gifts, then there were three men. That's just a bad assumption. Can I prove there were more than three men? No, but can you prove there were only three? Certainly not.

And how do you know that they were kings? The Bible never calls them kings. They were called Magi. They were most likely astronomers or scientists. They watched the stars. How else would they have seen Christ's star? People assume they were kings because someone told them they were in a Sunday School lesson when they were kids. After all, those gifts are mighty precious to be given by anyone but a king, right? (Notice my sarcasm).

5. Bring Them In.
There's nothing theologically wrong with this song, it's just kind of awkward. At least it's awkward when you consider this scenario. You've been trying to convince your unsaved relative to come to church with you. He hates church and wants nothing to do with it, but he loves you. It's your birthday (or some other special occasion) and you convince him to come with you. He's already uncomfortable and already thinks Christians are arrogant. Then the music director asks you to turn to Bring Them In and you start singing "Bring them in from the fields of sin."  What a great impression that has on our unsaved visitors. Certainly they feel loved, I'm sure. They'll just be dying to come back after that one.


I've got 5 more songs I could list, and probably will list tomorrow or the next day. But I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for you.

Do you have any more songs that have bad theology? Ones that honestly and truly should not really be sung because there's no Biblical evidence to support it or it obviously teaches something anti-Bible? How about some that provide no spiritual value and aren't worth singing because they don't really praise God? I'd love to hear what you think about all this. Leave a comment in the box below.

If you find this article as interesting as I do or are as passionate about this topic, will you share this with your friends?

This post has a second part. Keeping reading Songs That Shouldn't Be Sung Part 2.

Read more »