Body of Lies
Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe
Plot: A CIA operative, Roger Ferris, uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence.
In the opening scene – In Manchester, England, terrorists confirm their plans to attack Great Britain: “We will avenge the American wars on the Muslim world. We will come at them. Everywhere…” Terrorists continue working on their diabolical plans in their apartment when a heavily armed British intelligence team prepares for a raid outside. The terrorists stop and seem to hear the warning sounds of an oncoming attack. After uttering a quick prayer to Allah, they immediately hit a detonator -- killing themselves and the British elite in a violent explosion that rocks the entire block.
Intro:
There are forces at work undermining the Christian faith. It certainly can be viewed that these forces come from outside of our faith, government controls, other religions, non-believers. Paul however suggests that the forces can also seemingly come from within our Christian faith. Tonight we will look at three distortions of Christianity and explore how they can affect our Christian walk and how to avoid falling to them.
READ: Galatians 4:11-20
Video Illustration: Transformers
• Time: 1:19
• Start Time: 0:49:08
• End Time: 0:50:27
Start Cue: Boy riding bike by fence
End Cue: Boy on pavement with mouth open
Sam (Shia Lebouf) is on a bike being chased by his yellow Camaro. He stops under a bridge and is relieved when a black police car shows up (with “To Punish and Enslave” written on the side). He runs to the windshield of the police car and begins to explain his desperate situation. But instead of help, the car begins to knock him backwards -- almost running him over -- eventually transforming itself into a large evil robot.
Paul’s fear is that the Christians in Galatia had succumbed to other influences, in that they pretended to be Christians, but in fact they were hostile. They falsely represented Christianity with the brand of faith.
Paul suggests that at some point, the Galatians welcomed and tolerated him, even though he came to them with some kind of sickness. He then suggests that sometime after this, they turned on him, due to forces from within the group. Through the letter we can identify three distortions of Christianity:
1. Judaized Christianity: Christian Jews who recognized Jesus as the promised Saviour and therefore any gentile (non Jew) desiring to be a Christian must first be a Jew.
2. Legalized Christianity: Christians are those who by a long list of “don’ts.” God favour is earned by good behaviour.
3. Lawless Christianity: Christians live above the law. They need no guidelines. God’s Word is not as important as our personal sense of God’s guidance.
Tonight we will look at these three distortions and how to be aware of the dangers. These distortions come from genuine concerns, but we will see how an unbalanced view of them skews the Christian faith. Paul’s concerns is to see that we are aware of this, and that we avoid this at all cost, so not to weaken our Christian witness. At the heart of the matter is how we view people in our community.
1. Judaized Christianity: Christian Jews who recognized Jesus as the promised Saviour and therefore any gentile (non Jew) desiring to be a Christian must first be a Jew.
Some Christians have a high regard for the Scriptures and God’s choice of Jews as his people. They did not want to see God’s commands overlooked or broken.
Legitimate Claim? YES
However, as a result they tended to add human traditions and standards to God’s law. Thus they subtracted from the Scriptures God’s clear concern for all nations.
Genesis 17:5
“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”
Isaiah 55:3-5
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendour.”
Romans 1:16
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
It had been God’s plan to use Israel as an example to ALL nations that God was interested in all people. This was completed in the person of Jesus Christ. Now he is the example that we follow.
Psalm 67:2
“... so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.”
Romans 1:5
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to faith and obedience for his name’s sake.
In the Church today, we do the same thing. We judge people by the appearance or behaviour, and determine whether we accept them or.
Do you appreciate God’s choice of a unique people through whom he offered forgiveness and eternal life to all peoples?
ILLUSTRATION: Mortification
2. Legalized Christianity: Christians are those who by a long list of “don’ts.” God favour is earned by good behaviour.
Their genuine concern is to see that real change be brought about by God and that this should lead to changes in our behaviour.
Unfortunately this tends to make God’s love something to earn rather than to be accepted freely. It reduces Christianity to a set of impossible rules and it transforms the Good News of Jesus into bad news.
Galatians 3:1-5
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard?
As important as change in action is, can you see that God may desire different changes in you than in others?
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
If you struggle with God’s will ... with sin ... DON’T! Don’t allow others (or yourself) to dictate how this transformation should occur. Let God reveal this to you.
3. Lawless Christianity: Christians live above the law. They need no guidelines. God’s Word is not as important as our personal sense of God’s guidance.
This is where it is recognized that forgiveness from God cannot be based on our ability to live up to his perfect standards. It must be received by faith as a gift made possible by Christ’s death on the cross. The problem here is that it can be forgotten that Christians are still human and fail consistently when trying to live only by what they “feel” God wants.
Do you recognize the ongoing need for God’s expressed commands as you live out your gratitude for his great salvation?
Romans 7:7
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
So what then should our Christian faith look like?
True Christianity
Christians are those who believe inwardly and outwardly that Jesus’ death has allowed God to offer them forgiveness and eternal life as a gift. They have accepted that gift through faith and are seeking to live a life of obedient gratitude for what God has done for them.
Christianity is both private and public, with heart-belief and mouth-confession. Our relationship to God and the power he provides result in obedience. Having received the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, we are now daily challenged to live that life with his help.
Avoids the above dangers.
NOT – adding human traditions, and standards to God’s law; Judging people as they come in the door, or as we meet them in the street
NOT – making God’s love something that can be earned – rather than accepting it freely; Reducing Christianity to a set of rules impossible to follow.
NOT – to live above the law; Recognize that we are human, and that we fail consistently.
How would those closest to you describe your Christianity? Do they think you live so that God will accept you or do they know that you live because God has accepted you in Christ?
