Blame James?
In his letter to the Galatian churches (modern Turkey) Paul recounts how certain men came from James to the church in Antioch and led Peter and Barnabas astray (head leaders of the new Christian movement). But was James the one to blame?
James was (sort of) the chairman of the elders at Jerusalem. He wrote the letter that tells us that faith without works is dead. Under his leadership some men got riled up about non-Jews and their obedience to Jewish rules. Yet, these “certain men from James” misrepresented the Christian faith in spite of James, not because of him.
Under-Cutting Good
And this is often the case with strong leaders. Their followers, enamored with their leader’s teaching, end up under-cutting the leader’s good intention. They think their faith is based on Christ, but really they are not looking to the Bible, but what their teacher says, or what they think their teacher would say.
The Current Epidemic
And this is epidemic in the church today, especially among those who say their care most about the truth of Bible.
I have benefited greatly from the teaching of John MacArthur. I listened to his radio program in college when I traveled 30 minutes to work. His book, The Gospel According to Jesus, was very helpful to me. But whenever I run into people who like MacArthur, I usually want to run the other way. I have experienced many of them to be narrow, petty, and mean towards people who disagree with them.
But it’s not MacArthur’s fault. This has been happening for centuries: “Each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:13). Now men, thinking they follow Jesus, are functionally saying, “I follow MacArthur, I follow Piper, I follow Driscoll, I follow Bell, I follow Stanley, I follow Keller, etc..”
Pay the Price | Be Aware
This is one of the prices of leadership: even the people that love us most can do our teaching the most harm. But leaders must be aware of this dynamic and, like Paul to the Corinthians, squash the factions that come from our influence.
Because in this world, even when we do good, evil is right there with us.
Good insight into the men sent from James that I had never thought of. The same issues are still with us today. There is nothing new under the sun.
How about I follow John Calvin or I follow Jacobus Arminius, I’ve always thought of that scripture when faced w/ a Zealous Christian follower of either of these men….Like the republicans & democrats of Christianity…Our leaders our trained in Seminary, and it’s either a school of Calvin or a school of Arminius. I’ve had well meaning Christians on both sides of the fence, point at me and say something like the following, “You must decide! Do you know the 5 pts?!” These zealots do not bend and to answer their question, yes I know the answers…all to well. Reminds me of the Saducees/pharisees of our day (the real hardcore ones, so educated, trained and un-bending). I think of such scripture as Beware of the yeast of the pharisees and too much knowledge puffs up.