John Chowning
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding upon themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” (Jude 12-13.)
They destroy Christian fellowship and brotherly love: They are spots (or hidden rocks-ASV) in your love feasts. In the first century, Christians ate together (Acts 2:46, 20:11). Regardless of whether these meals were potlucks where everyone brought a dish or were dinners furnished by wealthier Christians for their destitute brothers and sisters, they were called “love feasts”. They were intended to be a time of pleasant social interaction which would strengthen the bonds of fellowship and brotherhood. Like a hair in a sumptuous dish, change agents are spiritual pollutants—”spots”—which can and will destroy the brotherly kindness and love which prompt these occasions. Like a dangerous reef just below the water line in a river, these spiritual dreamers are a covert and sure peril to the love and unity of God’s people. Even though these occasions of eating together are intended to encourage unselfishness and greater, more fervent brotherly love, spiritual dreamers use them for self-serving purposes. They were so successful in their efforts that church historians state these meals were discontinued by the fourth century because the change agents had selfishly turned them into ungodly debaucheries. Spiritual dreamers pollute and shipwreck Christian fellowship and brotherly love.
They destroy faith by creating false hope: They are clouds without water. A thirsty land—parched by heat and arid conditions—longs for a gentle refreshing rain. Anticipation builds as rain clouds move from the horizon to overhead. These hopes, however, are dashed when the clouds move away without leaving a drop of moisture. Change agents speak great swelling words which are smooth and impressive. Because people are pointed to a faith in them instead of God, their words—when believed—ultimately cultivate a spiritual cancer of disappointment and disillusionment. Instead of offering an anchor to the soul which is steadfast and sure, they promise much and deliver nothing of substance or benefit. Spiritual dreamers subvert Biblical hope and then blow out of town.
They sabotage good works and spiritual maturity: They are late autumn trees without fruit. Fall is harvest time in an apple orchard. Imagine the barrenness an orchard would have in the autumn if every tree were dead from the roots up. Instead of fruit, all you could see would be branchy skeletons which need to be turned into firewood. Because of the toxin of their false teaching, change agents kill off the root of spiritual growth. They destroy the fruits of obedience and good works which are essential to Christianity. Good soil has been poisoned. Spiritual dreamers decimate spiritual growth.
They thrive on “making waves”: They are raging waves of the sea. One of the soothing appeals of an ocean’s beach is the sound of ever moving water. Regardless of whether the tide is ebbing in or out, a steady roll of waves breaks upon the shore. Each wave leaves behind its own personal deposit of seaweed, shells, and other aquatic odds and ends. Like the ocean, change agents always strive to have something astir. They crave the attention that unrest brings. Their ravening egos need constant sympathy and recognition. But all this only results in spiritual flotsam. Nothing holy or spiritually beneficial comes from these spiritual prima donnas. Spiritual dreamers foment unnecessary division.
They are doomed rebels: They are wandering stars headed for a spiritual black hole. A wandering star is an anomaly. Typically, the lights in the firmament of heaven—the sun, moon, and stars—are most predictable in fulfilling their assigned task of marking days, seasons, and years. A wandering (or shooting) star may briefly light up the night sky and impress the few stargazers who are watching, but its brief moment of fame is quickly over, and its eternal oblivion is irreversible. Change agents—like Cain, Balaam, and Korah (v. 11)—get to do their own thing for a while, but their notoriety is temporary, and their infamy is eternal. Once they depart from this life, they are forever in a spiritual black hole with no possibility of return. Spiritual dreamers are ungodly rebels without a noble cause.
—Christian Messenger. May 2, 2024. Vol. XLV, No. 18.