What Are You Contending For?

In the Bible study that I teach, we have recently started the small book of Jude.  The theme of Jude is fairly simple: contending for the truth.  It doesn’t take long for the reader to understand that there is a serious conflict underway, and Jude takes some time to give illustrations and examples of what this conflict has looked like in the past.  In the present, Jude tells us that there are certain people who have crept in unnoticed who would want to distort the truth of God and lead others away.

Jude’s plea and admonishment to believers is simple: contend for the truth that has been given to you.  This word ‘contend’ is the word we get ‘agonize’ from.  It is an athletic term that is used to describe the training process an athlete goes through in order to achieve their goals.  It is a singular focus that calls for self denial.  It is an obsession for the sake of Gospel clarity.

I am sure that you have seen a profile on the preparation process that an athlete goes through in order to prepare for an Olympic event.  For years, the athlete treats each waking moment as if that minute will be the determining factor for whether they find themselves on the podium or not.  Every meal, every sleep pattern, every exercise is undertaken with a focus on improving and excelling.  The athlete agonizes over every detail.

As we walked our way through this passage, it became apparent that the clearest danger that faces the church is any distortion of the Gospel.  Jude took the warnings of coming false teachers in II Peter 2 and declares that they have arrived and the danger is real.  Instead of gold medal hanging in the balance, it is eternity that is at stake.  There are no higher stakes.  If someone believes in a false Gospel, their eternity hangs in the balance.  If someone preaches a false Gospel, the eternal consequences of each hearer are threatened.  That is why the Gospel is the one thing that is worth our agonizing and our contention.

I firmly believe that one of the delights of Satan is when believers are more passionate about contending for something that isn’t the Gospel.  There are many good causes that are worthy of fighting for, but none of them should outweigh our contention for the Gospel.  When we find a cause on which the eternal destination of the souls of humanity hangs, then we fight for it.  We agonize over it.  We contend for it.