Why Geeks Should Befriend Church Leaders (In Search Of Truth, Hebrews 13:7-14)

Hebrews 13:7-14
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.


v. 7

The Bible doesn't often give instruction on how we should treat the leaders of our local churches, so this verse should get our attention. We should be mindful of those who have taught us regarding what God has revealed. We are to consider, or "look attentively at" their way of life and what has resulted from it, and then imitate their faith in response.

It's important that we get to know our leaders. This may not happen naturally in larger churches or churches with a very formal/ritualized format. In these cases especially we should be reaching out to our leaders to share enough experiences with them to get a sense of who they are and how they approach day to day life. Some of that may be obvious and show up in their preaching/teaching style if they are the type to share personal anecdotes. But there is great value in seeing their lives for ourselves.

If we feel like our leaders are not approachable/available, or if we notice them taking on a different personality when away from the church environment, I think these are things that should be addressed. But if they are living lives that strive to be guided by scripture and the Holy Spirit, we should seek out opportunities to learn from and imitate their faith.

v.8-9

The author of Hebrews now transitions into an affirmation of what has already been revealed about Christ. Although Jesus experienced changes in his human body throughout life and again at his resurrection, the essential nature of who Jesus is has never changed and will never change. He is the reliably unchanging foundation of all we believe.

Readers are warned not to "be led away by diverse and strange teachings", which could have come in the form of either legalistic Judaism or pagan religious beliefs. Under the New Covenant of Christ we are strengthened by the undeserved favor ("grace") of Yahweh (Hebrews 4:16) rather than by powerless  dietary laws.

v.10-12

Both pagans and Jews had religious customs involving food, but the author of Hebrews next specifically zooms in on the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant.

Jesus is the new and perfect sacrifice for our sins that replaces the Old Covenant, which had only been an earthly copy and representation of what Christ would accomplish. (See Hebrews Chapter 9) As the sacrificed animal bodies were destroyed outside the camp of the Tabernacle, Jesus' suffered outside the temple and died at Golgatha to pay for our sins.

When Jesus' sacrifice was complete, the temple veil was torn in half from top to bottom.(Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45) This veil kept separate from the people the most holy part of the temple in which God's Spirit revealed himself. By tearing this veil in half, God was establishing that, because of what Christ had done, there was no longer any relational separation necessary . This meant that the entire sacrificial system was now obsolete, and those who continued in it were rejecting the work of Christ, invalidating their right to benefit from the forgiveness Christ makes possible.

v.13-14

In response to this, believers also should leave behind any attempts to justify ourselves through ritual or good deeds, and instead place ourselves "outside the camp" of the tabernacle alongside Jesus, even though this will mean sharing  a degree of the disappointment and disapproval that Christ experienced from people. Once again, our ability to persevere in doing this depends on letting go of our hope in a secure and happy life right now in exchange for placing our hope in the kingdom Christ is preparing.


SO WHAT'S IN THIS FOR GEEKS?

Most of us probably aren't tempted to adhere to the strict and obsolete dietary laws of the Old Covenant in an effort to seek God's approval or justify ourselves. But there is a strong, ongoing desire in me to be perceived as "right". And given the interactions I've seen many times between many other geeks, I know I'm not alone in this. We can tell ourselves we are upholding truth, and that can even be true. But so often mixed in with that is the shallow desire to be admired and respected. Sometimes its so deeply embedded in our character that we are unable to see it ourselves.

This is why we need this instruction from the book of Hebrews. We need to put our socializing hats on and befriend our local, godly church leaders so we can learn from them and imitate their way of life. Somewhere around 2008 I asked one of the elders of our church if he would begin meeting with me on a regular basis to help me understand the Bible more deeply. I have benefited to greatly from his formal education in scripture and his natural ability as a teacher, but I've benefited equally from getting to know him and seeing how he approaches the various elements of life from a biblical, godly perspective. Whether it's a structured, ongoing format or having dinner every other month, I want to highly recommend connecting with a local church leader. If they are doing their job right, they will value any opportunity to invest in your life. Understand that their  schedule will sometimes be prohibitive. But they'll likely be eager to put something on the calendar with you, and you'll likely benefit greatly from making that a habit.

A great benefit of this kind of relationship is that it helps us stay grounded in truth, rather than steering off course toward our self-justifying tendencies. As we position ourselves to learn from and imitate Bible prioritizing leaders, we'll learn more how to let go of desires to being right or well thought of. Instead we'll learn to find strength and renewed life from the tireless grace of Yahweh.