Lies and Unity

II Peter
2.1-2 

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and there destruction has not been sleeping.”

This is the reason Peter has been addressing so intensely the truth of God and the prophecies – because there are those, and have always been those, who are liars for their own glory.  It is a warning to pay attention and to know and believe the truth so that when the lie comes out veiled as truth there is no turning away from real truth.  

More disturbing is the fact that these liars are and will be people who have been saved, or as we so fondly say, “Accepted Jesus into their hearts.”  These are men who are supposed to be our fathers and brothers, women who should be our mothers and our sisters.  And yet, by their words and their actions they are denying the Christ who gave himself up for them.  They are the betrayers.  

It feels so heavy to talk about it, and it seems harsh, but Peter is very clear these people’s destruction has been with them from day one.  The moment they determined to choose their ways over God’s and lead others astray, their doom began, or as Peter puts it, “has not been sleeping.”  

For me this is a warning.  It is so easy to become entangled with the ways of the world and to believe that I am the most important thing and that what makes me happy is what matters most.  It is all too easy to get Jesus out of sight and to put my own flesh in the window that leads to my happiness.  Sadly, that never brings happiness, and truthfully, that is part of the destruction and doom itself – a lack of personal fulfillment.

So go out and make the wrong right.  Go back to those who have harmed you or who you have hurt and make it right – don’t let any wrong take you off track of God and his desire for your life and the unity of his beloved body.