For evangelicals in the Church of England, and especially those in full-time ministry, “contending for the faith” has become a wearying subtext to church life and ministry. When we read Jude 3-4, we can see that it applies to the various crises we are facing in our denomination.
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 3-4 NIV).
While we must respond with continued faithfulness, we cannot do so in our own strength – that is by trying to use our own tactics and resources to engineer an outcome which seems right in our understanding. We will only be drained and worn down if we do that, not least through the compassionate discipline of a heavenly Father who is teaching us to depend on His saving grace, not our strategic gameplay. Jesus didn’t simply tell us never to give up (that was Bear Grylls), He taught us always to pray and not to give up (Luke 18:1).
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