The Book of Jude, v.1, pt.1

v.1
An impassioned believer. A lover of God's Son. A lover of His bride. Zealous, not for his personal reputation, nor for a personal victory; rather, he is zealous for the name of God and His reputation among the members of the church. This is Jude, also known as "Judas" brother of James and half brother of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jude is a man of favor, in that he is related to a high ranking official in the early church. Yet, he does not cling to that. He calls himself instead, "a bondslave of Jesus Christ." As such, it is no wonder that Jude pens this potent word of warning to the believers of the first century church. It is no wonder, for it is His Master, OUR Master, who gave Himself for her, buying her out of the slave market and setting her free.

No wonder Jude writes with such passion and conviction. But where is ours? Can we take a lesson just from knowing the book of Jude exists and that a man stood up, when others were willing to be quiet?

I admit, it's easy to bash the church. To look at her flaws and to see what has become of her by the hands of less than worthy men. It is easy to join in with the crowd, who under the guise of wishing reform, would openly mock and berate the church, the Bride of Christ.

Not so with Jude, who stands and sounds the alarm that the church must be defended, loved and cherished. And yet, what if he were an evangelical believer today? Perhaps if he were, he might just leave the church and go to another one. Maybe he would leave and take some other disillusioned with him.

Jude's heart is quite contrary. He stands up and recognizes the real enemy is not the fellow parishoners. The real enemy was not the Pastor, or in his case, group of Pastors. Indeed the real issue for him is both his relationship to His Christ and the enemies of His name, who we will see, slithered into the church to bring harm to the Bride of Christ.

Is our heart like Jude's? I pray that mine would be.