Deworming... Not Just for the Dogs

I was speaking with Pastor Rob the other day about the fact that in Haiti it’s common practice to de-worm children. Living in our wonderful country, this is literally unheard of unless one owns a dog. If you have a pet, medication is common to give to animals for their protection from parasites such as worms. Rarely do we speak of deworming our children. How blessed we are to live here!

I was reading the other day in the book of Jude. In the NLT, verse three and four read this way;
“Dear friends, I have been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God‘s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

It appears that sometimes parasites worm their way into the church! These are people, whom Jude says, are ungodly and deny that Jesus Christ is Lord. Have you noticed that in our culture It is becoming increasingly unpopular to label sexual sin as such? In the message of Revelation, the apostle John also warns 2 of the 7 churches explicitly about the insidious danger of allowing for sexual sin. He tells them to repent and not stand for any of this nonsense! Christians are called to live morally upright lives. A morality that is spoken of over and over in His Word.

Both Jude and John have extremely harsh words regarding these false teachers, and their existence is a reminder that every generation has faced this type of onslaught! We, (the church) are to stand vigilant against both the false teachings and teachers, lest we allow such teachers to have a foothold.

The NIV says these teachers have “secretly slipped in”. I like the word “wormed” because it point out the ugly nature of such people.

What’s the best defense?

The answer is an ancient one… know the truth. Read Gods word. We fall prey when a teacher who espouses a more kind way or a superior knowledge encourages us that being more accepting is the more “Christian “ way. Hiding Gods word in our hearts and minds helps us to know what he expects, and what parameters he has put in place. By the way, those parameters are for our good. Always.

You and I as Christians face all kinds of culture war. The god of this world continues to beat the drum of trying to Lure people away from a healthy walk with the Savior. The evil one, in case you’ve forgotten, hates followers of Jesus.

Stay in the word. Continue in Christian fellowship. Love your neighbor. And watch out for false teachings… they are out there. They can worm their way in.

I’ll end this blog with Jude’s benediction:
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”