Marks of Authentic Christianity
Our time is brief today, so allow me to jump right into our text in Hebrews 13. Up through chapter 12 the emphasis in our study of Hebrews has been largely doctrinal, focusing upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. Scattered throughout have been severe warnings for those who neglect or turn their backs on Him. As we come to the last chapter we find a major shift—a shift from doctrine to duty, from principle to practice. In the first six verses, which are our text for today, the author shares with us three marks of authentic Christianity—love, purity, and contentment. Please listen to Hebrews 13:1-6:
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
We see a lot of “Christianity” around us that is no more appetizing than warm spit. It’s little more than a religious shell covering empty lives. Three of the most common areas of failure for many of us are listed right here—failures in regard to love, purity, and contentment. Can you imagine what impact we might have on the world if the Church followed the Biblical model just in these three areas? The first great mark of authentic Christianity is love.
Love (1‑3)
That should surprise no one, for from beginning to end the message of the NT is one of God’s great love for us and His corresponding commandment that we love one another. Love is needed, first of all, in the family of believers, the Body of Christ.
Love for the Christian family. (1) Our chapter opens with the words, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. ” This is not a rebuke, but an encouragement. The believers had been showing loving concern for one another; let them continue. Why? Because love for one another reveals to the world that we really belong to Christ. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). But love for one another reveals to us that we really do hbelong to Christ. I John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.” In other words, love for one another is a contributing factor in our assurance of salvation.
Interestingly, the word for “love” here is not the exclusively Christian word for love, agape. Rather it is the Greek word philadelphia, meaning tender affection and concern for human needs. Such a frame of mind is, of course, not equivalent to the proverbial warm fuzzies; it can be a very costly thing, as the Apostle John emphasizes:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (I John 3:16‑18).
From love of our brothers and sisters the Apostle moves on to an assignment that is much more difficult for most of us—love of strangers.
Love for strangers. (2) “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Living in a society such as we do, where children have to be taught to “never talk to strangers,” where one hardly ever dares pick up a hitchhiker, and where one’s house must always be locked, we automatically recoil a bit at the suggestion that we have an obligation to invite strangers into our homes. May I suggest that the instructions here are not quite as dangerous as they first appear?
The strangers the author is talking about were probably Christian strangers. Owing to the hatred of the Jews and occasional persecution by the pagans, Christians who were travelling on business or in the service of the Church, or who had been driven from their homes, found it very difficult to find lodging and food. Inns throughout the Roman Empire were places of doubtful repute and provided very uncongenial company for Christians. So, believers were encouraged to provide hospitality for those who named the name of Christ, even if they did not know them well.
Of course, even that involved a certain amount of risk. It’s always difficult to reach beyond the tight circle of friends you’ve developed and show concern for those who are new or different. But the author offers a certain incentive in that doing so might mean you are entertaining an angel. Since the Greek word, “angel,” can simply mean “messenger,” it is not entirely clear whether the reference is to supernatural visitors or simply human messengers from God, but neither option is to be taken lightly. However, an even greater incentive for showing hospitality is given by Jesus in Matt. 25:40 when He said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” You might entertain an angel; but you definitely will minister to Jesus.
The early Church recognized the possibility that free board and room might tempt some unscrupulous characters to masquerade as Christians. So they set down some guidelines for detecting impostors. The Didache, a second century Christian treatise, says,
“Let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord, but he must not stay more than one day, or two if it is absolutely necessary; if he stays three days, he is a false prophet. And when an apostle leaves you, let him take nothing but a loaf, until he reaches further lodging for the night; if he asks for money, he is a false prophet.”
It seems that the Didache has lost something of the trust factor that the author of Hebrews seeks to instill in his readers, but it does at least wrestle with some of the practical problems a Christian may face when it comes to hospitality. The thrust of our passage seems to be that it is better to err on the side of generosity.
There are some in our Body of believers who have set a great example by rarely missing an opportunity to offer hospitality to guest speakers, singing groups, youth groups passing through, or just visitors at church. You say, doesn’t it cost a lot in time, effort and finances? Yes, but in the long run it pays huge dividends.
Now the third group that deserves our Christian love is prisoners.
Love for prisoners. (3) I have an incredible amount of admiration for those men and women who carry on a regular ministry in our prisons. From Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship on a national scale to local prison ministries in El Dorado and elsewhere, I take my hat off to people who remember the prisoners, even though their ministry is often unrewarding. There is an incredibly high level of con artistry among inmates. Some of the most moving, stirring, heart‑rending testimonies of salvation and Lordship you could ever hear or even read about are in the repertoire of the inhabitants of our penal institutions. They will tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get what they want from you. Yet God loves even con artists, and some have been gloriously saved through the loving ministry of those who remember the prisoners.
Yet I do not think that the author of Hebrews is here talking about ministry at the prison in El Dorado or the Sedgwick County jail, at least not primarily. Rather he is challenging his readers to remember their fellow‑believers who have been thrown into prison because of their faith. Perhaps a closer parallel for us today would be to remember our fellow‑Christians who are imprisoned in Communist or fascist countries. It’s so easy to forget them, since our own freedoms are so well preserved. We are to consciously imagine ourselves as though we were with them, according to verse 3, for it could someday happen to us.
Our author moves now from the subject of love in the family of God to love in our personal families, as he approaches the subject of purity in marriage.
Purity (4)
Verse 4 reads, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure.” God established marriage at the time of creation and He has honored it ever since. In much of the world today, of course, marriage is anything but honored. Many have dispensed with marriage as an institution, while others exchange spouses as though they were playing musical chairs. I read in the paper just on Friday that two thirds of all marriages today are expected to end in divorce.
You may be surprised at the fact that my two subpoints under Purity are so similar:
A call for marital fidelity, and
A warning against marital infidelity. The fact is that these two are decidedly not talking about the same thing. There are many Christians who have not been guilty of marital infidelity (that is, they have not committed adultery), but neither have they practiced marital fidelity. That is, they have not held marriage in honor. Another way of saying the same thing is that many who would never think of committing adultery nevertheless fail miserably when it comes to a loving, sensitive, selfless commitment to their spouse. I submit to you that God does not measure the strength of a person’s commitment to marriage simply by his or her abstention from intercourse with third parties.
Nevertheless, adultery and fornication are important issues for Christians to confront. The world today is obsessed with sex. The movies, the bestsellers, the videos, and TV are constantly portraying sexual activity apart from marriage as acceptable and normal. Billy Graham was not far wrong when he described the work of many contemporary artists as “drippings from an open sewer.” The publisher of one popular magazine wrote,
“Sex is a function of the body, a drive which man shares with animals, like eating, drinking and sleeping. It’s a physical demand that must be satisfied. If you don’t satisfy it, you will have all sorts of neuroses and repressive psychoses. Sex is here to stay; let’s forget the prudery that makes us hide from it. Throw away those inhibitions, find a girl who’s like‑minded and let yourself go.”[i]
But verse 4 says that’s a lie and tells us clearly that God will judge those who are sexually immoral. Teenagers, young singles, young couples, you who are facing mid‑life crises, even those nearing or in your retirement years, do you see what God’s word says here? “God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” You say, I’m not sure I believe that. Everyone’s doing it and I haven’t seen anyone struck dead lately. No, perhaps you haven’t, but you have read about a veritable plague of venereal disease and teenage pregnancy, thousands of people dying from AIDS, and millions of children growing up in single‑parent families because sexual immorality has broken up their homes. Our psychiatric hospitals are full and the single greatest reason in unresolved guilt. The text says, “God will judge.” It doesn’t say how He will judge.
Yes, adultery and fornication are issues which should be of great concern to us. But I think that many of us need even more to hear about the importance of holding marriage in high esteem. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts of God, and we can honor it through how we speak of it, through our commitment to it, through our attitudes toward our spouses, through the example we set for our children, and in a thousand other ways. It’s rarely easy; in fact, marriage is just plain hard work much of the time. I heard a definition of marriage that goes something like this: “Marriage is a long, sometimes awkward dance in which two people who are selfish and in need of forgiveness learn slowly, by the grace of God, to build something beautiful and lasting, raise children and establish a home.” Don’t underestimate it; honor it.
Now in verse 5 the Apostle moves from marital fidelity to material idolatry, as he broaches the subject of Contentment.
Contentment (5,6)
Verse 5 exhorts us, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
A call for freedom from material idolatry. It doesn’t take a genius to see that greed is one of the most common sins of our day. Ivan Boesky, an infamous American stock trader, made a speech to the Business School at the University of California just a few months before being convicted of insider trading on Wall Street and being fined $100,000,000. This was his advice: “Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.” It is recorded that the students laughed and cheered at his words. But the Bible says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
The word translated “lives” in verse 5 (“conversation” in KJV) means literally “your lifestyle,” or “your way of thought and action.” That’s important, because some people look at themselves as poor and therefore conclude that greed cannot be one of their vices. But greed is not exposed by our station in life; it is exposed by our attitudes. Some of the greatest lovers of money in the world are poor people who are consumed by the desire to have what they don’t have. On the other hand, some rich people are patently innocent of the love of money. The fact is that all of us must take inventory of our attitude when we come to a verse like this, for any one of us might be guilty unawares.
It is, of course, the love of money, not money itself, about which we are warned. This conforms perfectly with the instruction in I Tim. 6:10, where we read, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith.” That passage goes on to offer very different instructions to the one who wants to get rich, as opposed to one who is rich. How do we know if we are lovers of money? Well, let me suggest some rules of thumb. When you get into conversations with other believers, how much of your time is spent discussing your business, your investments, or your possessions? Think about it. I recall a conversation I had with one of our members about a good friend of his whom I did not know well. I asked, “How do feel so‑and‑so is doing spiritually?” He responded, “I don’t have the foggiest idea. All he ever wants to talk about is the stock market.” That may be the sign of a “lover of money.”
Another measuring stick is to look at one’s giving pattern. What percentage of our income do we give to the Lord’s work and to those in need? And has the percentage increased as our personal prosperity has risen? Or what about our spending patterns? Do we have to have the latest gadgets, the newest and fanciest cars, bigger and nicer homes? Are we driven by the compulsion to accumulate things? If so, we may be lovers of money, or at least lovers of the things that money can buy.
What is the solution to this common malady of our times?
The solution to material idolatry. It may surprise you, but the solution is not asceticism and it’s not poverty‑by‑choice. It’s very simply a new understanding of God. We must understand and acknowledge at least four truths about Him.
Acknowledge God’s faithfulness. Look at verse 5: “Be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” I want you to notice that this quotation from Deuteronomy 31:6 is not a passage that speaks particularly of God’s willingness to meet our material needs. That’s a bit surprising, for this would have been a perfect place for the author to quote something like, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.” But he doesn’t. Instead he simply says that God is there and He will not leave. That’s enough. What can anyone or any circumstance do to us when we have a God who is totally trustworthy?
Acknowledge God’s omniscience. This point is not made right here in Hebrews 13, but it is in another passage which speaks of contentment. In Luke 12:30 Jesus speaks of the lilies of the field which God takes care of with infinite wisdom, and then He says, “Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.” He has perfect knowledge of all our needs long before we ask Him to meet them.
Acknowledge God’s power. Back in Hebrews 13 and verse 6, our author offers another quotation, this one from Psalm 118:6,7: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” God is not only all‑knowing but He is also all‑powerful. He not only knows your need; He is also able to meet it. Therefore there is no cause for fear, which is a common feeling when we face life with what the world deems limited resources. Our resources are in fact unlimited: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Acknowledge God’s sovereignty. We must accept the fact that God does not have the same plan for all of His children. What He lovingly gives to one, He just as lovingly withholds from another. Hannah said in her prayer as found in I Samuel 2:7, “The Lord sends poverty and wealth.” If He were to make us rich, we might be of outstanding service to Him. On the other hand, our becoming rich might be our spiritual undoing. The Lord knows what we need and will provide us with nothing less.
Conclusion: I would like to conclude today by suggesting that we turn the practical instructions from this passage into personal commitments. A number of years ago Averell Harriman was about to depart for France as the ambassador from the United States when someone said to him, “How is your French?” He said, “Oh, my French is excellent; all except the verbs!” Ray Stedman suggests that perhaps that is true of many Christians. We have such wonderful nouns, “Lord,” “friend,” “brother.” And such inspiring adjectives, “noble,” “sacred,” and “divine.” But sometimes our verbs are very weak—we show little action. I want to encourage each of us to consider some actions, some commitments, based upon God’s Word. Here are three suggestions:
1. I commit to show love to the people God brings into my life, even if they aren’t all lovable.
2. I commit to respect and honor my marriage, even if my spouse isn’t all I would like him/her to be.
3. I commit to accept my income and possessions as God‑given and sufficient, even if they aren’t all I would like or all my neighbors have.
We have spoken today of marks of authentic Christianity. There’s nothing like it! But don’t think you can become a Christian by practicing love, purity, and contentment. There’s only one way to become a Christian and that’s by being born again by faith in Christ.
Tags:
Love
Hospitality
Marriage
Fidelity
Contentment
[i] Quoted in John MacArthur, Hebrews, 431.