| 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. |
| —from the Book of Jude |
I began this series of blog posts with the intention of doing my best to unpack this short Book of Jude. If, as the old saying goes, “Dynamite comes in small packages!” then the Book of Jude packs a terrific whallop. As I stated in my first blog post on this topic:
As distasteful as the message the Apostle Jude intends to communicate to the fledgling church, it remains a powerful and timely warning for us today.
We often talk about corrupt politics, corrupt government, corrupt businesses, and sometimes even a corrupt church. The etymology of the word “corrupt” greatly informs the use of the word in our society today. The word “corrupt” comes from the idea that the “core” of someone or something has become “ruptured” or “burst apart from within.”
Concerned about all manner of sin and corruption that had wormed it’s way into the church, the Apostle Jude wrote with determined urgency. He wanted to warn the church about the impending disaster that would befall them, if they did not amend their ways.
By the time he wrote this letter, Jude had observed that the greatest threat to the church came from within. By slyly finding an entrance into the inner circle of the believers, individuals with evil intent could cause an erosion of trust and effectively rupture the core of the church.
I have written in each of the previous blog posts in this series about the harm that comes to the church—the body of Christ—when the core becomes ruptured. It spells doom for the church. Why? Because once the core of a church becomes ruptured, it can no longer fulfill the mission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave His church in the Great Commission, as recorded in Matthew 28:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
A ruptured core means the church has positioned itself in a place of utter failure. Oh, it may continue to meet and otherwise exist for some time after the core becomes ruptured. But, it operates as a shadow of its former self. And, the very people who have ruptured the core inherently lack the spiritual sensitivity and discernment to identify that the core has become ruptured. If someone does suggest that something seems wrong with the church, those same core-rupturing individuals quickly deny the obvious truth.
In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, Jude adds one final example to his list of dramatic experiences by making reference to the plight of Sodom and Gomorrah. You can find an account of this tragedy beginning in Genesis 13:13 where the Scripture records:
13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
Homosexual behavor principally marked their sin. The king of this area seized Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family, and carried them off. Abraham had to come to Lot’s rescue.
Later, as recorded in Genesis 19, God sent two angels to Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot welcomed them and housed them in his home. But, the wicked men of Sodom demanded that Lot surrender the angels to them so they could sexually molest them.
Even though Abraham had pleaded for God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah—if he could locate just ten righteous men in those cities—Abraham could not find even that small number of God-fearing men. So, God rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) down on the cities and utterly destroyed them, initially sparing only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters—though following her disobedience to God’s command, Lot’s wife was later turned into a pillar of salt.
God’s judgment is swift and sure. Though God has great patience and waits a long time for men, women, boys, and girls to acknowledge their sins, repent of their sins, and receive His pardon through the precious blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He will bring judgment on those who rupture the core—those who corrupt His church.
As I have stated repeatedly in this series of blog posts, on the one hand, we must strive to push back against those who desire to rupture the core of the church. On the other hand, we must do so with hearts full of God’s love, with an awareness of our own inherent sinfulness, and with total reliance on the leading of the Holy Spirit. And, as I will frequently state during this series of blog posts, that represents quite a challenge.
