"Why Judas, why?"

Two of the malevolent characters in the New Testament that fascinate me are Pilate and Judas.  I wonder at how you could be so close to the Messiah and miss the point.  Pilate is a tragic character, caught in his own intrigues and looking for the easy way out.  But Judas’ case is much darker.  Frankly, I have never found any explanation for Judas’ behavior really satisfactory.  They all seem to make Judas too ‘other’, as if what happened with him is an aberration and could never happen to us.

Unsatisfying Explanations

Here are some of the suggested motivations for Judas’ betrayal and briefly why I feel they are insufficient explanations.

·      It has been suggested that Judas disliked Jesus’ turning leadership of the disciple band over to the Galileans.  Judas was the only disciple from Judah, and there was a disdain among Judeans for their less sophisticated kin.  But it seems that withdrawal from the company would be a more likely response in view that Jesus Himself was from Galilee.

·      Judas had become convinced that Jesus was a false Messiah or at least a false teacher.  However, in his regret for his treason Judas admits that he has betrayed an innocent man.  

·      Judas realized that Jesus’ Messianic kingdom would not, in Judas’s opinion, be what the scriptures called for or Israel needed.  But even after the resurrection the disciples were unsure of the nature of the Kingdom and were asking when Jesus would restore the Kingdom to Israel.  It seems unlikely that Judas alone would have realized the different nature of the Kingdom and found it not to his liking.

·      Judas believed that Jesus was the Messiah and was trying to force His hand to establish His earthly Kingdom.  By turning Jesus over to the priest he would compel Jesus to call for a general revote and usher in the Kingdom.   It seems that betrayal is a pretty odd way to advance a political agenda.  Judas was a man who served his self-interest and such a move would certainly leave him on the outside of any inner circle in a new Kingdom.

·      An evil spirit controlled Judas.  During the ministry years Judas was apparently as involved as any of the disciples in the miracles of exorcism, evidence that the Spirit of God was working through him.  While we are told explicitly that Satan entered Judas that was only after he of his freewill had agreed to the betrayal.  

·      Judas was motivated by greed pure and simple.  The allure of the 30 shekels was just too much for a person who loved money.  The Gospel of John tells us that Judas was a thief and stole from the common treasury.   His greed explains why he was upset over the anointing of Jesus.  But betraying Jesus, even for roughly three months wages, would be killing the goose that lays the golden egg.  Additionally, a person highly motivated by money would not likely have the emotional reaction of throwing the money into the temple.  Greed may have been the spark but there seems something deeper and darker involved.  

These explanations by and large are very remote from our experience and life.  They make Judas a caricature that is wholly unreal for our lives.  Judas’ story would, if it were like the rest of scripture, have application for us.  So here I present my theory of Judas’ motivation.  You may, of course, reject it out of hand, but perhaps there would be warnings and life lessons that we may appropriate. 

Family Connection

While not absolutely necessary for the theory allow me to conjecture some family relations.  The dinner in John 12:1-8 is held at the home of one Simon the Leper (Mark 14:3).  Lazarus is at the table and Martha is serving.  It is a safe assumption that Simon is the father of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  This Simon must have been healed or would still be an outcast, and if he were their father this would explain Martha and Mary’s confidence in Jesus’ ability to heal their sick brother Lazarus before he died.  Judas is identified as the “son of Simon Iscariot”.  If Simon Iscariot and Simon the host of this dinner are one and the same then Judas was the brother of Lazarus, Martha and Mary.   While not essential to understand Judas’s motivation the familial relationship gives some clarity.   

The Dinner Disruption

At this festive dinner is the company treasurer Judas, the healed Simon, the resurrected Lazarus the serving Martha and Mary.  We can almost imagine Judas’ thoughts about his kid sister.  ‘In comes Mary showboating with an extravagant gift.  A gift Judas would have known about for years.  Making a spectacle of herself and wasting part of the family wealth, Mary goes over the top again’.  Matthew and Mark are more general in their description of who condemned her, John is direct; it was Judas.  Mark describes the castigation with the word embrimaomai, translated rebuke, scold, or murmur.  It literally means, “to snort at”- a condescending, arrogant, expression of anger and contempt.  The kind of expression we could only offer to family.

Jesus responds by not only defending the act, but defending the girl as well.  Rather than something contemptible what she has done will be eternally remembered in the preaching of the Gospel (one of two times Jesus uses this word in Matthew).    Judas who was contemptuously snorting at his kid sister and rebuking her finds that he is the subject of the Master’s rebuke.    Jesus’ rebuke, targeted primarily at Judas was sharp and would have stung.  Matthew and Mark quote Jesus as saying, “Why do you bother her?”  The word bother translated literally is “beat”.  In front of the house full of guests Jesus says in effect, “Judas, stop beating on your sister; what she did was wonderful.”  Cue the crickets for an awkward, domestic moment. 

“I’ll show you!”

Matthew and Mark make a point of putting Judas seeking out the high priest to betray Jesus in the immediate context of this rebuke.  In fact, Matthew says “Then” literally “at that time”.  You can almost see Judas humiliated, furious, and guilty storming out of the house and taking the mile and a half walk from Bethany to Jerusalem to make the evil deal.  “You shame me in front of my family?  I’ll show you.”  This was no cold calculation of money or political intrigue; this was the white-hot passion of wounded pride and fury.  The walk did not cool Judas off.   He, with the help the demonic, became resolved to humiliate this Galilean.  R. T. France of Oxford, citing Albright and Mann stated that no disciple would initiate a kiss toward his Rabbi, and when a disciple did kiss his Rabbi he would kiss his foot or his hand.  In the garden Judas comes up to Jesus and kisses him.  It was an act of repudiation of Jesus’ authority.  If this was a kiss on the cheek, as we have generally assumed, Judas was asserting that he was Jesus’ superior.  If Judas left the dinner saying, “I’ll show you,” he could not have fathomed a more bitter, insulting and rebellious way of doing so.  He had completely rejected his Savior. 

What To do with a Rebuke?

Here is the point of the Judas betrayal; here is the warning for our lives.  When we are faced with the conviction of the Holy Spirit or when rebuked by scripture or a fellow disciple our response is critical.  If we respond with bitterness, pride, anger, or if we take offense we will travel down that path to darker places and sins more grievous and more entwining.  Repentance is easiest earliest.  How might this story have been different if Judas had responded, “Lord, I am sorry; Mary, please forgive me?”  But the sin of greed and theft with his wounded pride moved Judas to un-repentance and to growing bitterness.  The warning to “not let the sun go down on our wrath/anger” is more than advice for happy relationships.  It is the cautioning of the deadly growing power of wounded pride and the emotional cancer of holding on to and even nurturing offenses. 

Someone once said, “God can over come all our obstacles except for our hardened hearts.”  We need not worry that we would reject the Savior because of a little money, or a political expectation, or that we suddenly decide He is a false Messiah.  But we all face the danger of bitterness, offenses, pride, or unrepentant sin growing within us a hard, angry heart.   Better to go to the Master, own up to our sin and experience His loving mercy, than the other option, a rope with no hope attached. 

Big Church Attention for the Smaller Church

A little over two years ago I had a conversation with a ministry colleague about stewardship development.  His church needed to do a stewardship campaign to take the next step in their ministry.  The problem is that stewardship campaigns are designed for larger churches.  Most don’t work well in a small church.

A large campaign where half the congregation would be expected to volunteer and a fee equal to a quarter of the annual budget wouldn’t have worked for my friend.  So, I began to develop a stewardship campaign that would provide stewardship consulting for the smaller congregation.  It would provide Big Church Attention for the Smaller Church.

From the number of volunteers and meetings, to the fee structure this campaign approach is designed specifically for the church with less than 100 members.  

God does not need our money, but as His people we NEED to give.  Sacrificial giving is not primarily about funding ministry, but about developing the character of God’s people.  When God’s people are not obedient in the matter of giving, they are deprived of Spiritual Blessings, the Joy of Obedience, and the Deeper Life of Faith.

In the Church, especially in a small church, we sometimes are hesitant to address the issue of giving.  We are afraid people will feel that we have ulterior motives, that we are getting too personal, that we have been too demanding, or for some other reason

will be offended.  This reflects our materialistic culture that has, in some cases, crept into the church.  In the typical American Church, 20% of the congregation gives 80% of the offerings, 30% of the congregation gives 20% of the offerings and 50% of the congregation gives nothing.  Those who give little or nothing are missing out on blessings that God would give them.  Their giving may also reflect a spiritual problem.  The objective of stewardship is to develop disciples.  These disciples are obedient to the Lord and are life-long stewards of the life and resources God gives them.

There are a great many stewardship-coaching ministries available today.  However, most focus on larger churches and projects.  One organization reported its number of clients and their total campaigns averaged about $1,000,000 per campaign.  That is wonderful, and no doubt they do great work, but that is totally irrelevant for the average American congregation.  With about one half of American congregations having 75 or fewer attendees on Sunday, $1,000,000 stewardship campaigns are not an option. 

Stewardship campaigns can be a great option for smaller churches for mission emphasis, deferred maintenance, debt elimination, funding advertising campaigns, or even building additions.

Smaller churches can benefit from quality, professional, stewardship consulting as they move toward fulfilling God’s purpose.  The stewardship campaign I developed, specifically designed for smaller churches is called MX3 in reference to Malachi the 10^th verse of the 3^rd chapter.  Consider the features and benefits of a stewardship campaign that is specifically designed for smaller churches.

ü  Flexibility in developing the campaign.  Each campaign is built to meet the specific needs of each congregation.

ü  Optional Vision Development.  There is an optional training built around developing the church’s long-range vision.  This affordable option is not required and may not be needed for your specific situation.

ü  A Shorter Campaign.  By design our campaign is completed in one year rather than the typical three years of most campaigns. 

ü  Team size appropriate for your congregation.  The steering committee for this campaign is the right size for a small congregation.

ü  Detailed manuals.  The process of the campaign is laid out in manuals with calendars to make sure that everyone knows what to do and when to do it, so that each step is easy to take.

ü  Greater results.  On average churches using a stewardship consultant raise 2 to 5 times as much money as a church doing an in-house campaign.   

ü  Less stress.  Having a stewardship consultant relieves the pastor of having one more program to run.

ü  Convenient payment plans.  There is no need to pay for the campaign up front.  A payment plan makes the campaign very affordable.

ü  Lower cost:  MX3 campaigns are a fraction of the cost of most consulting fees and provide an excellent return on the investment.  

 If you minister at a church that does not qualify as a mega-church and would like to have the advantage of high-quality, stewardship consulting please contact me and let me share with you how we might be able to help you and your church move forward on fulfilling God’s calling for your ministry.

What can you do if
 half your church not giving?

Charlie Crowe

352-548-4837

Charlie@Colemanssi.com

How a Daily Devotional can be Bad for Your Soul.

The Problem with Devotionals

I strongly believe that every follower of Christ needs to have a habit of daily Bible study and prayer.  To be a follower of Christ and not be engaged in daily renewing of the mind is an invitation to spiritual malnourishment.    On a daily basis we are bombarded with the three opponents of our soul, the world, the flesh and the demonic.  The three of them work in cooperation to separate us from our Heavenly Father.  The renewal of our mind, the sharpening of our conscience is a must for life in a fallen and sinful world. 

Here is the problem; a lot of these devotionals are garbage. Over the years I have tried using a number of daily devotionals and I have yet to make it more than a week with most.   Many devotional guides are hardly worth reading; in fact, they may do more harm than good.  We might ask, “Isn’t it better to have any devotional rather than no devotional at all?”  I don’t think so.   A steady diet of many daily devotionals would be the equivalent of eating nothing but Krispy Kreme donuts.  Don’t get me wrong, I can love me some Krispy Kreme but a dozen piping hot fresh out of the icing shower doesn’t make a balanced diet.   Instead of nourishing us with solid spiritual food, we get a valueless substitute, but are deceived into thinking we are getting something worthwhile.

I have three basic problems with most daily devotionals.  And it has to do with their general structure.  They consist of a Bible verse at the top of the page.  A vague, highly generalized prayer at the bottom of the page.  And in between the Bible verse and the prayer there is something between vague inanities and un-noteworthy pabulum. 

First is the problem of “one versing” it.  Even the best devotionals rarely use more than a verse or two.  It is extremely difficult to understand a verse of scripture apart from the context.  The temptation is to pick and choose favorite verses that allow us to ride a hobbyhorse.  Taken out of context scripture is often twisted away from its inspired meaning.  Often times there are profound and wonderful teachings of scripture that we miss completely because the devotional writer failed to get the context that may have begun two chapters earlier. 

Second, we need to look at the “A prayer that fits everyone” problem.  Some devotionals have no prayer others have prayers that are so trite as to be utterly bland.  As I read over a number of prayers in one devotional I couldn’t help but shake my head and think, “Why was this ever printed?”  I don’t believe that the only way to pray is with complete spontaneity.  The model prayer gives us the ideal that forms of prayer can be helpful.  Prayer ought to cut us to the core of our heart and challenge us by the glory of God.  Consider the contrast between these two prayers:  From a daily devotional: “I thank you for all the fish that paved the way for our success.”  From the ancient prayers of the church, “Imprint upon our hearts such a dread of thy judgment, and such a grateful sense of Thy goodness to us, as to make us both afraid and ashamed to offend Thee.”

As if verses out of context and inane prayers are not enough the “Devotional thoughts” complete the trifecta of shallowness.  In one devotional, the writer pulled from Peter’s sermon to Cornelius, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism”.  This magnificent passage about the gospel of Christ being available to all humanity was used to introduce a story of how a talkative person annoyed the author and how we should all be nice to each other.  Hold my barf bag, Felicia!  A lady I know complained that most women’s devotionals are little more that syrupy, saccharine, mushes of sugar or whine fest about how bad life is.  I don’t know; I have not read any women devotionals.  I did read a macho, survivalist-type devotional.  I didn’t get past the comparison of Jesus going into the wilderness and having a good rifle for a hunting trip. 

Not all daily devotionals are bad; My Utmost for His Highest is a classic and has been a blessing for generations.   What I am suggesting is the return to the priority of Scripture.  Rather than a smattering lets have a big serving.  Rather than getting the pointless ramblings of well-intentioned people let’s turn to the precise and insightful words inspired by the Holy Spirit.  If a devotional book places a higher priority on the thoughts of the writer than the Word of God you don’t need it.  It takes more work to pour over and study scripture, just like it takes more work to eat a fine steak than a jar of Geber’s Baby Food.   But you and I both know it is worth it. 

Prayer is the closest we come to time travel

Stepping out of the space-time continuum.

When we pray we are stepping out of the space-time continuum in a manner of speaking.  We, in the time we call now, speak to God about things, past, present and future from our perspective, and all the while He is there.  We live in time and are prone to think linearly even when we try not to.  Events and moments, cause and effect, action and reaction all follow one another.  But when we pray we enter into a reality in which that chain can be unlinked.  I say this to serve as a motivation for prayer and to see the beauty of prayer in perhaps a new way.  The best illustration for this is from J. P. Moreland’s book Kingdom Triangle.  (The following lengthy quote is from this book, I do not own the copyright to this book and do not receive any compensation for endorsing it and will not be paid in any way should you buy this book.  Nevertheless, you need to buy this book.)  This story wonderfully illustrates the ‘outside of time’ nature of prayer.

Helen Roseveare is a physician from Northern Ireland who has served as a medical missionary in Zaire, Africa, and the surrounding region for some time.  Here, in her own words, is an eyewitness account about a hot water bottle.

One night, in Central Africa, I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all that we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying, two-year-old daughter.

We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We had no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.

A student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in distress, to tell me that in filling the water, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. “…And it is our last hot water bottle!” she exclaimed. As in the west, it is no good crying over spilled milk so, in central Africa it might be considered no good crying over a burst water bottle. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drug stores down the forest pathways. “All right.” I said, “Put the baby near the fire as you safely can; sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts.  Your job is to keep the baby warm.”

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could easily die if it got chilled. I also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt consciousness of our African children. “Please, God,” she prayed, “Send us a water bottle. It’ll do no good tomorrow, God, the baby will be dead; so, please send it this afternoon.” While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, “and while you are about it would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?”

As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Can I honestly say, “Amen”? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that he can do everything; the Bible says so, but there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa almost 4 years at that time, and had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would have her put in a hot water bottle; I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses’ training school, the message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large 22-pound parcel! I felt tears prick in my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone; so, I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string.  Carefully I undid each knot. We followed the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was building. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as we give them out. Then, there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a little bored. Next came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas- that would make a nice batch of bunns for the weekend. As I put my hand in again, I felt the..…could it really be? I grasped it, and pulled it out. Yes, “a brand-new rubber, hot water bottle!” I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, “If God has sent the bottle, he must’ve sent the dolly too!“ Rummaging down to the bottom of the box she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone; she had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, “Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to the little girl, so that she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?”

The parcel had been on the way for five months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, who’s leader had heard and obeyed God‘s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child-five months earlier in answer to the believing prayer of a ten year old to bring it, “That afternoon!”

“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and all they are yet speaking, I will hear” Isaiah 65:24

When we are asked to pray we too often think of it in terms of last, now and next.  I am not sure that is a distinction that we ought have.  Perhaps the time-space continuum is only one of the dimensions that we live with and which is meaningless in the sacred moments of prayer.