Why didn’t Jude just tell his first readers to leave and find a different church? The leaders they were under were clearly some kind of spiritual horror show: arrogant, verbally abusive, exploitative, immoral, selfish, without fruit or benefit to the church, and fully deserving of all God’s wrath.
As we will see in future articles, Jude does give his readers something of a survival strategy to help them thrive even under such a toxic leadership culture.
But why try to take on this challenge? Wouldn’t it be better to separate from this church and join a different one? Or if that wasn’t possible, better surely to stay at home and worship as a family.
It is curious that, not only in Jude but also elsewhere in the New Testament, the first readers are expected to stay in churches that most of us would have left long ago. For example, when the Lord Jesus dictated seven letters to seven different churches (Revelation 2-3), it is clear that some of these churches were in deep trouble. He was close to closing one of them (Revelation 2v5), another He bluntly described as “dead” (Revelation 3v1), and a third was so repulsive to Him that He was on the point of spewing it out of His mouth (Revelation 3v16).
But at no point in these letters does Jesus instruct His sheep to come away from such “problem churches” to look for another, still less to worship at home on their own. Rather, He holds out the challenge to each one to continue and even to thrive in such unhelpful fellowships. (Note the repeated phrase in each of the seven letters - “the one who conquers”).
Jude also seems to write on the assumption that his readers will continue in their church life. Does this mean that leaving a church is always wrong? Some have said so. “Never leave," we are told - “It’s always divisive. It’s never what the Lord wants." And honestly, maybe we do leave too easily, expecting church to be always a positive and happy experience, unwilling to work through difficult relationships.
On the other hand, the New Testament doesn’t instruct people to stay in churches come what may either. And there are a number of clear instructions to separate from false teachers and ungodly leaders. (For example, “Keep away from them” Romans 16v17).
But in a context where the entire leadership of the church is corrupt, and better alternatives are available, surely the only way of obedience is “Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18v4 on Babylon the prostitute, arguably here representing the false church just as Jerusalem the Bride represents the true church).
If the message you hear in your church undermines "the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude verse 3), if you cannot submit to the leadership (Hebrews 13v17) without going against the Lord Himself, or if your support for the leadership (financial and otherwise) is enabling leaders who behave in manifestly ungodly ways, then surely it is time to move on.
If you do need to move on from your church and find another one, reading Jude suggests that you need to ask about the church leaders. This is a bigger deal than the children’s programme, the parking, or the welcome you get on your first visit. And the key question regarding the leaders is not their reputation, their success, their platform, or their budget, but rather their character.
By “reverse-engineering” some of Jude’s comments on the disastrous leaders he knew, we can generate a series of questions to ask: are the leaders you aim to sit under evidently godly, at least as far as you can tell from their outward lives and reputation? Do they teach and model the biblical conjunction of God’s grace with holy living? (Both from Jude verse 4). Is their life so structured as to eliminate opportunities for sexual immorality and abuse (Jude verse 7)? Is their teaching humble and limited to what has been made plain in Scripture or do they love speculations and bold statements about obscure points (Jude verse 10)? Are they clearly concerned with the spiritual well-being of the sheep? Are they growing fruit that pleases God in their own lives (both from Jude verse 12)? Do they adopt clear and stable positions on the fundamental issues of the faith or are they more like “wandering stars” (Jude verse 13)? In their speech, do they speak of God with reverence and of others with appreciation (Jude verse 16)? Is it unthinkable that you would ever hear a self-promoting anecdote from them (Verse 16)?
If you find such a church leadership, then you truly have found men who deserve your respect, your support, and your trust.
When their teaching is healthy, but their behaviour isn't
What does it mean to 'contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 3)?Here is …