It surely is not our business to compare followers of Christ, but it is the proper business of the Holy Spirit. This past Sunday in our study of the parable of the sower we found there are different responses and results as the Word of God is sown.
In the account of the crucifixion the Holy Spirit chooses to compare Peter and Judas. It would be good for us at this time to acknowledge that the content of information we have today regarding Judas was not the content of information that the other disciples had of Judas at the time of the crucifixion. Judas was likely seen as a man of good character and gifts. If this were not true he would not have been chosen to serve as the treasurer of the group. When Jesus told them that one of their number would betray Him, none of them it seems suspected Judas, even as he got up and left the group. Yet all the while Judas was a thief and a betrayer! We have in this story an interesting picture of religion as it is yet today, and by that I mean to suggest the Christian religion in its broadest sense.
The outward expressions of the Christian faith (that is our churches) are inhabited by believers and unbelievers alike and in such a way that it is most often undiscoverable to us. This being the case there will often be a great conflict within the confines of the churches, as the values of the world will conflict with those which are true and just. Just so did Judas grouse about the way he thought that he saw resources squandered.
The reaction of believers to sin will also be very much unlike the reaction of unbelievers within the churches. I just read a short statement by C.H. Spurgeon regarding how entertainment had elbowed its way into the practice of the churches. If this was true in the late 1800’s how much more so is it now!
We are warned by the apostle Paul that the last days will be filled with treachery and deceit, we just never thought we would see it so prevalent within the churches.
