by Elder Peter Lim

During our New Year’s Eve service, I shared about greeting one another with “Godly New Year” instead of “Happy New Year” because merely being happy for any old reason isn’t enough for a Christian to be fulfilled. Disneyland is famous for its slogan, “The Happiest Place on Earth” but imagine that you were wealthy enough to be there every day in 2011 and didn’t mind paying $8 for a hamburger and the lines for the rides were next to nothing. Would that be enough? While we are at it, let’s imagine that it truly is the happiest place on Earth with no conflicts with other people and everyone is having fun and enjoying themselves all day long. Would that be enough? I would say that it’s a waste of a life. Why? Because as Christians, we are in a spiritual war that is being waged all around us. It is our enemy’s goal that we waste our life with meaningless activities so that we would fail to take advantage of our true mission in life: to make disciples of Christ.

Lest you think that my example of living at Disneyland 24/7 was a silly example, replace it with the pursuit of fine dining, golf, physical fitness, wealth, prestige, travel to exotic vacations, or anything else that people (not you, but other people of course) spend most of their time and money on. Does it still sound like a silly example? Is it getting a little too personal for your comfort? Good! It’s good to examine ourselves to see if we need to change our ways. If your budget and time aren’t being spent for God’s ministry on Earth, where is it going? Is it going to selfish fulfillment?

The book of Jude has a lot to say about this issue. Jude had originally wanted to write his letter to celebrate our common salvation but he felt compelled to warn of the danger of ungodly selfish people who would creep in unnoticed into the church and lead people astray and bring division into the church. Verses 14 and 15 describe what they are like: “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’” In verse 15 alone, “ungodly” is mentioned 4 times. That gives us an idea of the heavy emphasis placed on the fact that they are very unlike God. So how is it that they crept in unnoticed? (vs. 4) It can only be because they were pretending to be Christians. Perhaps they were even self-deceived into thinking that they were saved. (Matt. 7:22) Regardless, they looked like the real thing. They were nearly indistinguishable. Pretty much all of their defining characteristics are subjective and can be explained away by minimalizing their significance. Even some true Christians must have been confused and they must’ve had conflicts with more discerning observers over the issue of whether these ungodly people ought to be disciplined out of the church or not. It’s not difficult to see that some well-meaning Christians would misplace their loyalties to these ungodly people, having been deceived by the doubts and accusations cast upon the proper leaders of the church. Even worse, perhaps it may have been the case that at least some of the leaders themselves may have been led astray by the ungodly. The ungodly people are described as turning grace into licentiousness, denying the lordship of Christ, rejecting authority, reviling angelic majesties (even the devil) with their own authority instead of appealing to God, killing the mood and unity at love feasts with their selfishness, grumbling, finding fault, following their own lusts, speaking arrogantly, and flattering people for their own advantage (vss. 4, 8-10, 12, 16). These ungodly men cause divisions, are worldly-minded, and devoid of the Spirit (vs. 19). Properly dealing with these men who cause divisions is described in Titus 3:10.

In an imperfect church filled with imperfect people (as all churches are), it is often difficult to distinguish the divisive complainers from people who are weak or young and need to grow. Jude even warns us that some of these people need to be “snatched from the fire” and to have mercy on the doubting. Clearly we are to treat different people differently. However, we are not to show partiality based on differences of such things as ethnicity (Acts 10:34), social strata (Gal. 2:6), loyalties (1 Tim. 5:21), or gender (Gal. 3:28). We are to expose wickedness and deal with sinning believers (Eph. 5:11, Matt. 18). In other words, the criteria that we are to use to base our judgment on involve sinful attitudes of the heart, which are very difficult to bring into question. In order for the leaders of the church to gain a clearer peek into the true condition of the hearts of people, godliness manifested externally by good works is critical. This is one reason why godliness is a defining characteristic of genuine Christians. This leads to healthy churches where the ungodly become obvious and can be pruned out. This isn’t legalism. This is the biblical way in which a church stays healthy.

The U. S. Constitution declares our unalienable right to pursue happiness. Perhaps this is why we wish each other happiness in the new year. Christians have a far greater pursuit: godliness. Therefore, it is absolutely correct for us to greet each other in this new year with “Godly New Year!” We should all strive to be more like Him this year.