As most of you know, I officiate high school volleyball and basketball. When I first began doing that over 15 years ago, I really wasn’t very good, but I was fortunate to have a lot of more experienced officials who have mentored me and helped me to become a better official over the years. So now as one of the more experienced officials, I feel an obligation to give back by doing what I can to help train newer officials.
That is usually a really rewarding experience, especially when these less experienced officials are eager to learn and to improve their skills and they actually make an effort to apply what they are being taught. But unfortunately there are always a few officials who are not nearly as good as they think they are and who therefore seem to think that they really don’t need any help. I often refer to these officials as “yah but” officials because every time you make a suggestion, they reply something like this: “Yah, I knew that, but…” and then they proceed to give some excuse for why they aren’t doing what they claim to know they are supposed to do. And those officials never get any better because they never change what they are doing as a result of what they are learning.
This morning, as we continue our study of the book of Romans, Paul is going to address what I call “Yah but Christians” – those who claim to know God and His truth, but who always seem to have trouble living according to what they claim they know. So go ahead and turn with me to Romans chapter 2 and follow along as I read beginning in verse 17:
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
(Romans 2:17-24 ESV)
Although I believe Paul began speaking primarily to the Jews in the church all the way back in verse 1 of chapter 2, this is the first time he addresses them by name. So, before we go any further, I think it’s important to point out that Paul is not being anti-Semitic here at all. He is a Jew himself and I think it’s pretty obvious here that he is being quite direct with his fellow Jews because of his genuine love for them. Paul is not trying to single out the Jews as being uniquely deficient but rather he wants to make it clear that possessing God’s law and a higher moral standard than the Gentiles did not exclude the Jews from needing to personally respond to the gospel by faith in Jesus alone. And here is the message that Paul has for his fellow Jews – and for us:
Talking without walking leads to mocking and blocking
The focal point of this passage is found in verses 21-22:
…you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
In those two verses, Paul accuses the Jews of living a life in which their walk didn’t match their talk, or to use another often used phrase, they didn’t practice what they preached. And then he asks a series of three questions which are intended to help them see that they do in fact live that way. Obviously not every Jew steals or commits adultery or robs pagan temples of their idols, But the point Paul makes is that those sins are prevalent in their culture and that all of them are guilty of not practicing what they preached in some area of their lives,
So therefore, all of them need to make the gospel theirs personally, as we discussed last week.
That main idea is bookended on one end by verses 17-20, which show the reasons the Jews had come to live like that and on the other end by verses 23-24 that describe the result of that kind of life.
Because the Jews to whom Paul is writing here have so much in common with those who I am calling “Yah but Christians”, let’s take this passage and make it really relevant for all of us by seeing how it applies in our culture today. In order to do that, we’ll address two important questions:
1. How does someone become a “Yah but Christian?
2. Why is that such a bad thing?
HOW DOES SOMEONE BECOME A “YAH BUT CHRISTIAN”?
1. By seeking security in the wrong places:
Rather than finding security in the grace of God that is offered by the gospel, these people settle for three things that can never provide lasting security:
• My heritage
Notice that Paul addresses this section to the one who calls himself a Jew as opposed to the one who genuinely is a Jew. That distinction might seem like splitting hairs, but it is actually quite important. If Paul were writing this to the church in the United States in the 21st century, I think he would have written something like this: “But if you call yourself a Christian…”
The term “Jew” originally denoted an inhabitant of Judah, an area settled by the descendants of Judah, one of the 12 sons of Isaac. But after the Babylonian captivity, the term “Jew” came to describe the entire commonwealth of Israel – all 12 tribes. So by the time Paul wrote his letter to the churches in Rome, the word had come to describe all of the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. It was a term that was used, as we have seen in Romans, to distinguish the Jews from the Gentiles.
Those who were calling themselves Jews were claiming that they had special privilege because of their heritage. They thought that because they had been born a Jew, they were automatically a descendent of Abraham and therefore part of God’s chosen people. They were like the Jews who opposed Jesus and who declared in John 8:39 “Abraham is our father.” And they assumed that because they had been born a Jew they were somehow exempt from God’s judgment.
This situation was really not much different at all from what we see in our culture today. We have a lot of people that call themselves Christians. That number has consistently been around 75-80% of Americans according to a number of polls, although it has been declining somewhat in recent years. But when these same pollsters begin to ask some additional questions, it becomes apparent very quickly that the numbers of those who are actually the kind of justified “doers of the law” that we talked about last week, are much, much lower.
That indicates that we have a whole lot of people who call themselves Christians, but whose lives reveals that they are Christians in name only. Like the first century Jews that Paul is addressing in his letter, they are depending on their heritage or in some religious act for their security. Perhaps they were born into a Christian family or “prayed the prayer” or were baptized or attend church on a regular basis and maybe even give generously to their church. But as Paul has made clear here in chapter 2, none of those things make us justified before God. Most of us are probably familiar with Billy Sunday’s words, which are right on point here.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
• My knowledge
Paul addresses this potential source of security in verses 17-18. There we find that the Jews to whom Paul is writing here knew a lot about God and His law. They relied on the law. They knew God’s will. They approved that which was moral and excellent. All of that knowledge was a result of the fact that they had been instructed from the law.
But the problem is that all that knowledge never made it from their head to their heart. So therefore what they did didn’t match up with what they knew. It seems that the Jews had the idea that because they had God’s law and knew it, that law would somehow magically protect them, even if they didn’t do what was contained therein.
I occasionally work with other officials who are just like that. They know the rule book inside and out. They get the highest score on the rules test – and they make sure that everyone else knows that. But when they get on the court they refuse to do the hard work that is required in order to take that knowledge and apply it when the match or the game starts. In their case their knowledge never makes it from their head to their whistle.
Unfortunately we have a lot of people like that in the church. A large number of those who call themselves Christians have been deceived into thinking that their maturity as a follower of Jesus is based on how much they know. These people can quote, chapter and verse. They are capable of winning every theological argument. They always have an answer for every question that comes up. But what they fail to grasp is that the goal of understanding God’s Word is not to impress others or to win arguments – the purpose of developing knowledge is to bring glory to God through our obedience.
In verse 17, Paul writes that these people “boast in God”. Now that sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? But in context, what Paul seems to be saying is that these people are boasting that they know God better than the pagan Gentiles to whom they are comparing themselves. So even their boasting in God is not done for the purpose of honoring or giving glory to God, but rather to make themselves look better. We certainly see that kind of attitude operating in our culture today don’t we?
• My words
In verses 19-20, Paul changes course a bit. Now he is focusing on what these Jews do with all this knowledge that they have accumulated.
Most of us are probably familiar with the proverb that was first coined by George Bernard Shaw:
Those who can, do; those who can’t teach.
I actually like Woody Allen’s version a bit better:
Those who can’t do, teach, And those who can’t teach, teach gym.
As the husband, son and son-in-law of some excellent teachers, I can testify firsthand that this proverb is certainly not universally true. But it sure seemed to be true for these Jews. Actually in their case it would be more accurate to modify that proverb like this:
Those who will, do; those who won’t teach.
These Jews actually were arrogant enough to think that even though they weren’t applying God’s Word in their own lives they were qualified to teach His law to the Gentiles, who they considered to be blind, in darkness, foolish and immature.
These are a couple of really sobering verses for me as a pastor. They are an appropriate reminder of why I pray two things as I prepare my message every week:
o I pray first of all that God would reveal anything in the passage that I need to apply to my own life and that He would help me be obedient to what He shows me.
o Then I pray that once I’ve made appropriate application of God’s Word in my own life that He would guide me to preach the message that He desires for us to all hear as a body and help all of us apply it.
I know that sometimes some of you might feel like I’m preaching “at you”, but I can assure you that I never approach a message with the idea that some other person or group of people really need to hear this message. But I’m sure that sometimes God does want to speak to you through my message so that it certainly might feel like the sermon is aimed directly at you. If that’s the case, I hope you’ll realize that it is God, and not me, trying to get your attention.
But it is not only preachers that can fall prey to this tendency to try to talk the talk without walking the walk. Even if you are not a pastor or don’t lead a Bible study or aren’t in another official teaching position, you still engage in teaching others with your words, or at least you certainly should be doing that. Jesus has given all of His followers the responsibility of being witnesses for Him and sharing the gospel with others with our words. So in a sense, all of us at least occasionally take on the role of a teacher.
And when God puts us in those situations, it is imperative that we have already read and studied God’s Word for the purpose of first applying it to our own lives and obeying it before we seek to teach it to others.
The gospel is actually more like a boomerang than an arrow. If you aim it at someone else with idea that you want to hit them where they need to change it often turns around and comes right back at you.
2. By making God’s Word a basis for boasting instead of a base of blessing
We see clearly here that the Jews had a lot of pride. They were using the fact that they had God’s Law to try and elevate themselves to a place of superiority over the Gentiles. They completely missed out on the fact that going all the way back to Genesis 12 when God blessed Abram, God chose Israel o that they could be a blessing to all the other nations of the world, not so they could condemn them.
That is also true for the body of Christ, the church. It is real easy for us to become proud of what we have in Jesus and look down on others who do not have that. But how can we be proud of being saved solely by the grace of God? How can we be proud of being chosen by God only on the basis of His mercy? How can we be proud of the fact that we have a relationship with God only because of the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ and not because of anything we have done?
Apparently, this problem was not isolated to the churches in Rome. In writing to the church in Corinth Paul had to deal with a dispute in the church about eating meat offered to idols. And some in the church, most likely Jewish believers, were using what they considered to be their superior knowledge to condemn those who were acting in a way that was contrary to that which they considered to be right. But Paul, seeing right through the surface to the underlying heart problem wrote these words:
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
(1 Corinthians 8:1 ESV)
Rather than using what they knew to bless others, those Paul addressed here were using that “knowledge” as a way to make the case that they were somehow superior to the others who didn’t possess that same knowledge. So Paul got right to the root heart issue, the fact that their desire was to puff up self, not love others.
God has blessed us with His Word, not so that we can use it to exalt ourselves, but rather so that we can use it in a way that it brings blessing to others. Jesus never called on His followers to beat others over the head with the Bible so that they can feel better about themselves. But He has called us to “speak the truth in love” which means using His Word in a way that blesses and not burdens others.
WHY IS BEING A “YAH BUT CHRISTIAN” SO BAD?
Paul answers that question in verses 23-24, where he gives us two reasons:
1. It mocks God
When our walk is not consistent with our talk, it first of all dishonors God. While, as we have seen frequently, it is certainly true that when we live in obedience to God we experience blessing, that should never be our primary motivation for obeying Him. As Paul points out in verse 23, the primary reason we should desire to live in obedience to God is that it brings honor to Him and when we don’t it mocks and dishonors Him.
It’s important for us to remember that whenever we violate God’s law, our sin is against God first of all. When David wrote Psalm 51 after repenting of his sin with Bathsheba, he included these words:
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
(Psalm 51:4 ESV)
Obviously our sin often harms other people as well, but it always dishonors God.
So when we boast in the law by calling attention to ourselves and how much we know and then we fail to do what God’s Word says, we are mocking God in a way that is far more damaging than any disrespect that comes from outside the body of Christ.
2. It blocks others from coming to God
In verse 24, Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:5:
Now therefore what have I here,” declares the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the LORD, “and continually all the day my name is despised.
(Isaiah 52:5 ESV)
Here the prophet Isaiah is describing how in the past because of their disobedience the nation of Israel had been taken into captivity, first, by Egypt, then the 10 northern tribes by Assyria and finally the 2 southern tribes by Babylon. In each case, that had occurred because the people had chosen to disobey God. And in each case the result was that God’s name was blasphemed or despised.
When the nations around them looked at Israel’s predicament, they consistently drew the wrong conclusions about Israel’s God, assuming Him to be either unloving or powerless or both. From their perspective they couldn’t see that God was disciplining His people because He loved them and so they were blocked from seeing God as He really is and coming to Him.
Unfortunately we see this principle in operation more than ever in our culture today. When those who claim to be Christians live in a way that contradicts what they say they believe they become the single biggest hindrance to the advance of the gospel.
Talking without walking leads to mocking and blocking
Since, as we have seen clearly this morning, that is a true statement, then it seems appropriate for us to close by discussing briefly…
HOW TO HELP MAKE SURE MY WALK MATCHES MY TALK
I’m going to leave you with just two applications this morning – one that focuses on your relationship with God and one that focuses on your relationship with others.
1. Read and study the Bible for the purpose of personal application
We all know that we need to be in God’s Word on a consistent basis. But how I approach that time is probably just as important as how often I do it. I need to be meeting with God in His Word and in prayer not just to check off an item on my daily “to do” list, but rather to engage with God on a heart level. I need to come before Him in order to expose every area of my life to the light of His Word. I need to confess my sins, my struggles and seek His strength.
And as I read and study and meditate on the Bible I should always approach His Word with a mindset that continually asks how this applies to me. I need to ask God how He wants for me to live in light of what I’m learning. I need to memorize passages that help me to live obediently in areas where I’m struggling to do that and ask God to help me moment-by-moment live in a manner that is consistent with His Word.
That kind of mindset will guard against the tendency to evaluate my relationship with God based on how much I know rather than on Who I know and how well I am living according to His desires for my life.
2. Cultivate honesty and humility toward others
I need to quit trying to impress others with how much I know or how godly I am. I need to be willing to be honest and transparent with others and be willing to admit that I don’t have all the answers, but that I serve a God who does.
We need to do this both within and outside of the church. Within the body, I can ask others to pray for me in those areas of my life where I am struggling to live in obedience to God. I can ask my Christian brothers and sisters to help me, too. God has placed all of us in a church family like this because He doesn’t intend for us to try and live a life of obedience on our own. But that requires a degree of transparency and openness that frankly most of us are often unwilling to exercise. But if we are going to make sure we don’t become those “Yah but Christians” we must.
And as I deal with those outside the body, I must be especially humble. I must guard against putting on a façade that portrays that I have it all together. In fact, as most of you probably know, the word hypocrite comes from a Greek word that described an actor who was pretending to be someone else. The problem with doing that as a follower of Christ is that eventually others will see through that mask and I will end up doing great damage to the gospel of Jesus. I need to be open and honest with unbelievers and let them know that being a Christian doesn’t mean I’m perfect. It just means I have a God who has forgiven me through the gospel of Jesus.
The world has far too many “yah but Christians” who don’t walk in a way that’s consistent with their talk. And unfortunately they do more to mock God and block others from coming to Him than the unbelieving world around us. So let’s make sure we do what we can to keep from entering their ranks.
