Don’t be ignorant . . . don’t be uninformed

It occurs to me that I may have been remiss. A month or so ago, I wrote about Harold Camping’s prediction that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, and ‘gather up the faithful and judge all of humankind’.1 That, of course, did not happen. Jesus did not return to collect his children on that day. However, since that time, Mr. Camping, (a man I knew from my childhood in Northern California), suffered a stroke. And since the stroke, his radio program has gone off the air; incidentally, his largest sphere of influence had been from that internationally broadcast program. (Does that make you stop and think about the consequences of false teaching?)

Why would I say I was remiss? While discussing Camping and his prediction about Jesus’ May 21st return, I failed to comment that Jesus will INDEED return for ‘his faithful.’ That said, Jesus clearly said he will “come as a thief in the night,” or at an unsuspected time. [Hmmm . . . what would you like to be doing when you hear the trumpets’ sounding his arrival?]

Having taught through Paul’s letters to Galatia, Thessalonia, Corinth, and most of his letter to Rome, I have no doubt that Paul is/was the greatest teacher the Christian church has ever known. One mark of a good teacher is his desire to make sure his students are not uninformed about the things of which he, the teacher, has knowledge . . . Three different places, he introduced his teaching with, “I do not want you to be ignorant . . .” So, regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ, Paul wrote, “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God … we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”2 Do not be ignorant, do not be uninformed—Jesus is coming again. Be ready, make sure you are right with God, because you are not going to know the date or the time ahead of time.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul taught the young believers, saying, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant,” (just referenced in “The Pathway to Purpose, part two.”)3 He explained the origin of the gifts, and their purpose and function in the body of Christ. Why would Paul use this language, ‘I do not want you to be ignorant or uninformed’? The gifts of the Spirit matter! They make the community of believers vibrant and alive, able to live and serve with passion and on purpose, because they equip individuals to be creative, life-impacting individuals! They empower us to become who we were meant to be. That’s why Paul didn’t want the Corinthian believers to be uninformed about their spiritual gifts, nor does God want today’s believer to be ignorant! Christian, do you know how God has gifted you? Are you using those gifts to serve God?

And here we find ourselves nearing the end of Romans chapter 11, where Paul says beginning in verse 25, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery…that all Israel will be saved.” As followers of Christ in 2011, we need to understand that though many of the Jews in Paul’s day had spurned the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and many still do today—God always has his “chosen ones’ in his heart and in his mind . . . he did in the first century, he does today, and he will at the end of time. While mankind might break their covenant with God, he does not break his covenant with us. He will execute a plan for the redemption of the Jewish people.

Three things of which Paul said, “I do not want you to be ignorant”—Jesus’ second coming, the gifts of the Spirit, and God’s covenant with Israel. Do the three bear anything in common?

As I sit here in Mission Viejo, California, getting ready for Danny’s second All-Star baseball game, (my 13 year old), I ponder as I watch folks stream by with balloons and wearing team colors, but ‘what do the three have in common? Perhaps the most obvious thing is that the three instances speak of promise. First, as soon as Jesus ascended into Heaven, two angels appeared, and said, ‘this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.’ A promise—Jesus will come again, in the clouds.

Second) Acts chapter one records Jesus’ instruction to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then “you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”4 The gifts came through the empowering of the Holy Spirit—for the purpose of growing the church, and expanding the body of Christ. Third) God will keep his covenant with his chosen ones, and therefore, we Christians are to continue to support Israel, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Of these three, do not be ignorant . . . do not be uninformed.

Christine


1 http://www.facebook.com/l/0fcbdij6imxearmrT3vNGHVhJ1Q/pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=673

2 1 Thessalonians 4. 13-18

3 http://www.facebook.com/l/0fcbdu128oDsySNW33DLm73bPig/pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=697

4 Acts 1.8