Be a Builder, Not a Destroyer
In a spiritual sense, Christians fall into one of two categories—builders and destroyers. Those who lift others up and those who tear others down. This is a point made in the short Book of Jude.
Jude
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
Are you better at building or demolishing?
In a spiritual sense, Christians fall into one of two categories—builders and destroyers. Those who lift others up and those who tear others down. This is a point made in the short Book of Jude. “Tradition has ascribed the letter to Jude, the brother of Jesus, mentioned in Mt. 13:55 and Mk. 6:3. This would have been a younger son of Mary, born to her and Joseph, together with James, Joseph and Simon.”[1]
Written to encourage believers to hold firmly to the truth of the gospel, Jude confronts the influence of false teachers who had infiltrated the community. In verse 3, Jude appeals to his readers to “contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all,” warning them against those who distort God’s grace and lead others into immorality. He provides examples from Israel’s history and references figures like Cain and Balaam to show how God deals with rebellion and deception.
Such false teachers, Jude says, are like “waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead and uprooted” (Jude 12). Just before the letter concludes, Jude writes these words in verses 20-23:
20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who waver; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Richard Bauckham writes, “Jude does not mean that each of his readers should build himself up—which would be contrary to the ordinary Christian use of the metaphor—but that all should contribute to the spiritual growth of the whole community.”[2] Bauckham adds, “The use of the metaphor forms a contrast with the activity of the false teachers in the preceding verse: whereas they disrupt the church and tear it apart, Jude’s readers are to construct it.”[3]
