fake christians.
Y’all, go ahead and pour another cup of coffee and open up your Bible to Jude. It’s a short book (only one chapter), so dive right in and I’ll wait here.
Now that you’ve finished reading, let’s chat.
Listen, I cannot even deal. I don’t know if we are in the end times, but gosh—it’s like Jude wrote this little letter in 2020. I read it this morning 3 different times and I am sitting here, shaking my head a little uncomfortably and muttering “Wow” over and over. I’m not going to lie, I teared up around verses 14-16 because my heart breaks for those lost souls. But I also rejoiced in Jude’s confident doxology in the last few verses, because say it with me: “God. Is. In. Control.”
Before we take a closer look at some of the passages, let’s go over a little background on Jude. The book opens up by saying, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.” And who is James? You know, the fella who wrote the book of James—he’s a little bit of a go-getter, a lot of a faithful follower, and the half-brother of Jesus. So if James is the brother of Jesus, then Jude is probably the brother of Jesus too (I know what you’re thinking, “Way to state the obvious conclusion, Alex!” You’re welcome.)
I don’t know about you, but I find it interesting that both James and Jude open up by identifying themselves as servants rather than relatives of Jesus.
“Hey, do you know the guy who came & performed miracles & gave His life for the salvation of humanity & rose from the dead? He’s the Son of God and I’M HIS BROTHER.” I mean, I would probably say a little something like that if I were them.
But they don’t. Both Jude and James call themselves servants of Jesus, and I think that tidbit of an introduction is worth noting here. Sounds like they may have eaten a few slices of humble pie at some point.
Okay, moving on.
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Jude’s audience is made up of Christ followers. We don’t know for sure whether they are Jews or Gentiles or a combination of both, but they are clearly familiar with the Old Testament so they are at least aware of Jewish teachings.
In verses 3-4, Jude reveals why he’s writing:
“…appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
In other (less eloquent) words, “I want to encourage you to hold tight to your faith, because there are false teachers sneaking in the backdoors of churches and sometimes even standing behind pulpits. They may claim to be Christians, but they really value feelings and emotions over the Word of God. They aren’t actually following the Messiah. They forsake holiness on the altar of appeasement and they mistake grace for a hall pass to do whatever they want. God is not surprised by any of this, but y’all should be aware.” (Again, I’m not Mr. Humility Jude, so this is a very loose & Southern paraphrase).
Jude goes on to warn these Christ followers. He says (again with the imperfect paraphrasing), “Hey—remember how God delivered his people out of Egypt?” At this point, I’m sure the readers are thinking, “Yeah, that was awesome! Go God!” But Jude keeps writing, “…[The Lord] afterward destroyed those who did not believe (v. 5).
*crickets*
Jude’s cheeriness continues as he discusses how the fallen angels are “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness” and points to the consequences of the sexual immorality in the areas of Sodom and Gomorrah— how they “serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (v.6-7). Those parts in quotations are not paraphrased in the least bit, just in case you were wondering. (Funny how I’ve never seen these verses embroidered on a throw pillow.) I think that if Jude was a modern-day preacher, he’d be labeled as “doom and gloom.”
If you don’t know what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah, flip your Bible over to Genesis 19. It’s not gonna be a story you read to your children before bed (Honestly, maybe Noah’s ark shouldn’t be bedtime reading material either, but I’ll get off my soapbox). Sodom and the surrounding cities are cesspools of unrepentant sin with blatant disregard for the ways of God, so the Lord rains sulfur and fire down on them. While Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his family are fleeing, his wife looks back and becomes a literal pillar of salt. Mmkay.
Not that I would question the Sovereignty and goodness of God ever (I’ve got jokes), but sometimes I find myself (incorrectly) thinking, “Wow. God can be kind of harsh.” Good thing Jude’s talking about the Old Testament God and not the New Testament God who is all sunshine and rainbows, right? (I hope you’re shaking your head at my sarcasm right about now.)
What I often fail to remember, though, is that God’s justice is good. God cannot do or be anything that is not good, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our definitions of “good” may be different, but the Lord is the only Being in the whole universe that is entirely good, entirely loving, and entirely just, so I think I’ll let Him tell me what is and isn’t okay.
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Now that we’re done with our little field trip to the land flowing with malice and perversion (and fire), let’s get back to Jude. He goes on to say, “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” (v.8).
Sound like anyone in 2020? Asking for a friend.
When Jude says “these people also,” he’s referring back to false teachers. The wolves in sheep’s clothing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard a few people say to “follow your dreams” and “do what feels right” and “you do you.” Just a wild guess, but I don’t think our boy Jude would agree.
He goes on to warn against these false teachers: “Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion” (v. 11). Remember Cain? Yeah, killed his brother. Not a dude you want to be associated with. You can read Balaam’s story in Numbers 22-24, but for now what you need to know is that he “loved gain from wrongdoing” (2 Peter 22:15). As for Korah, he went up against Moses and Aaron, and I think we can make an educated guess how that turns out (Numbers 16).
All of these people were unhappy with their status, so they pushed back against God’s commands and tried to make their own selfish dreams come true, no matter the cost. Listen, I’m not here to judge because I am a selfish sinner too, but it seems like they should have submitted to God’s authority. He seems to know what He’s doing.
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Full disclosure— I didn’t intend to go through this letter in such detail, but here we are. I had one-too-many cups of coffee and my baby is finally napping, so let’s do the dang thing. Anyone else straight-up excited about diving into the rest of Jude? (Not sure if this is the coffee or Holy Spirit or both, but I am FUELED).
Let’s take a look at verse 12:
“These [false prophets] are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” (v. 12-13)
The English Lit. major in me is h e r e for all of these metaphors. Jude is bringing it. The desperate Jesus-follower in me is heartbroken for the reality of what he’s saying.
Hidden reefs: Bad news for boats. Can sink a ship. The passengers would’ve never seen it coming.
(At your love feasts as they feast with you without fear): Take part in communion, church services, but do not fear the Lord. One might call them “cultural Christians.”
Shepherds feeding themselves: Hey, shepherds? What about those sheep?
Waterless clouds swept along by winds: Fooled into thinking it might rain. The wind blows and the cloud is like, “Oh yeah, that sounds good. Let’s go that way instead.”
Fruitless trees: Again, fooled into thinking that you might get some fruit from the tree that looks promising. But in reality, that tree is d-e-a-d. Actually, it doesn’t even have roots. You ain’t getting any food from that thing.
Wild waves: Wreaking chaos. Dangerous. Actually unhappy and unsatisfied while sitting in their own crushing shame.
Wandering stars: Not the kind of stars you want for guidance.
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You’d think that Jude had finished making his point by now about the whole watch-out-for-false-teachers thing, but he continues to hammer it home.
He then draws attention to the future—about how the Lord will come back for judgment. It doesn’t sound like it’ll end well for those who don’t belong to the Almighty. (Remember the lady who was turned into a pillar of salt? I’m gonna guess that their fates might be worse than that.) Jude goes on to call these fake Christians a few names like, “grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage” (v. 16).
Again, these aren’t verses you’ll find displayed in calligraphy inside a Hobby Lobby frame, but they are important and true. (Not knocking displaying Bible verses in your home-I have them and I make them, so don’t clutch your pearls. I just think it’s important we value ALL Scripture instead of just the words that sound pretty or feel good. My hand is raised in confession over here.)
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If you’re still here, then congrats. You get a gold star. I know we’ve chased a few rabbits along the way, but we are almost done with Jude. And don’t quit just yet, because we are getting to my favorite parts.
In verses 17-22, Jude urges his fellow believers to respond to these wayward souls with faithfulness, a vibrant prayer life, and uncompromising convictions. He encourages the readers to show mercy to “those who doubt,” but to “show mercy with fear” to those caught up in immorality. Jude is adamant about not compromising our obedience to God’s commandments, saying to hate “even the garment stained by the flesh” (v. 22). Love the sinner, hate the sin. That’ll preach.
And then Jude wraps up the letter in a beautiful doxology/reminder:
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (v. 24-25).
One last imperfectly Southern paraphrase for you (with a few of my own interjections):
“Don’t worry, y’all. God has you in his hands… and if you are truly one of His, He is not letting go or giving up on you. Not only that, but when it’s all said and done—you will be presented as BLAMELESS WITH GREAT JOY. This exclusively happens through the one and only Christ our Savior (also, my brother!!). This God who sent His only Son to take our place? He deserves all the things and should be adored—He holds the greatest & most honorable spot and rules over all creation, always. Let us remember these truths as we await His return.”
This world may be crazy and filled with lots of confusion, but God remains on His throne.
Hallelujah. What a Savior.