Title: Right Hearts, Wrong Minds
I. “They have a zeal for God…”
Paul is quick to point out that the intention of the Jewish people is in the right place, they do want to know God, and this fact amplifies Paul’s heart felt remorse for their situation.
I know I can relate to this. If I am knee deep in an exasperating theological debate and I come to the conclusion that the person I’m debating with doesn’t even believe in the same God I do, it is indeed frustrating, but there is some comfort offered if I really believe the person that I’m dialoging with does seek after Truth, but just hasn’t found it yet.
I tend to have a lot more patience with this type of person, one who is willing to enter into a debate, then the person who just tells me I’m wrong and they are right.
I recall one time during my college years that I visited a friend from High School who was attending Southern Illinois University. That night my friend, and a bunch of his college buddies all went out to a restaurant to hang out and talk the night away. I found myself getting into a heavy discussion which over the course of two hours turned into a heated debate with a fellow student who himself was Jewish. We agreed on creation, we agreed on Abraham being the father of the Nation of Jews, we agreed that Heaven and Hell were certainties, we agreed that the Messiah was an actual person, not just a metaphor.
Where could we not agree? He believed the Messiah had not yet come, and I believed he walked the earth 2000 years ago and his name was Jesus of Nazareth. We, sadly, could not get pass this point of impasse, just as Paul could not get past this same issue with his own people.
Sensing that the discussion was going round and round and that is was getting later and later into the night and the potential to damage this newly found friendship was getting greater with each passing moment, I turned to my new Jewish friend and I said this:
“Todd, we have exhausted the conversation at this point, and I’d love to have another after we’ve each had time to digest what we’ve challenged each other with. Why don’t you give me one more thing to think about and I will do the same for you, and we will part as friends, and perhaps someday even be brothers.”
What is the point of my story? If you sense that someone is really seeking after the Truth, don’t damage the relationship for the sake of winning the argument. Keep the lines of communication open that you may be able to deepen the friendship and keep the discussion alive.
When I was younger my father would occasionally take me camping. I remember one night as the fire had died down, we prepared to go to sleep and went down to the stream with a bucket. I filled the bucket and returned to out campsite. As I approached the fire with the bucket of water my father said, “Son, what are you doing?”
I replied, “I’ve gotten this bucket of water and I’m going to put the fire out. The fire has died down to nothing but ashes, and we no longer have use for it. In the morning, we can build another fire.”
My father said, “Son, there is still use in that fire, there is still warmth in that fire. Let it ember, and it the morning, we’ll return to the ashes, and the heat that is preserved will kindle a new fire.”
How often, because we are obsessed with being right, do we douse a fire with gallons of water to prove that we are superior over the fire? And in the course of doing so, we render the fire pit useless because it becomes soaking wet?
Pride is a tricky thing, my brothers and sisters. That voice in your head that is telling you to defend God with the utmost vehemence may not be from the Spirit. It may in fact, be the Enemy, wanting you to create another enemy, that the Truth of God is no longer discussed and pursued between the believer and the non.
II. So what was the Jew’s flaw?
Read vv.2/3/4
“Knowledge vs. Ignorance”
We see here Paul juxtaposes ignorance and knowledge. The Jews wanted the right thing, but they were ignorant in how to attain it. Paul has been pleading with them that the way to the father is through Christ the son and they are insisting that Christ is not the son, and in doing so they “seek to establish their own righteousness” through the Law.
Imagine if I went down to home hardware one day and said to Mike, “Mike, “I’m looking to cut down a tree in my yard.” And Mike says, “Okay…why are we standing in the plumbing section?” (For those of you who know me, this scenario is not that far-fetched…)
Then suppose Mike takes me over to the chainsaws and begins to explain to me that the point, purpose and design of a chain saw is to cut down trees. But I refuse to listen, I explain that for generations my people have been attempting to cut down trees with PVC pipe and that is what I will continue to do.
Now, Mike knows that Mike is right, and he has a choice. He can call me a fool, and walk away. Or he can sell me the PVC, and tell me to come back if it doesn’t work out for me. Mike and I want the same thing: The tree to be cut down. The way I want to do it is foolish, prideful, and ignorant.
And such is Paul’s frustration. He knows that Christ is the end of the Law, and he also knows that the Law without the blood and grace of Christ can never produce salvation. So he patiently prays and laments over His people.
Application for us: Let us be wary that we not become the Jews. Let us not get so wrapped up in tradition and heritage that we allow that to become our path to Truth, instead of the blood of Jesus. Let us put no additional requirement for salvation, beyond that which the scriptures command. I fear this is something that churches are doing, without realizing it, and it’s turning people away from the Church by the thousands.