R. T. Kendall provides a verse-by-verse commentary on one of the seminal teachings by Jesus.(Matthew 5-7) He challenges us to actually live the way Jesus told us to. One example: he recapitulates the essence of his earlier book on total forgiveness in the passage where Jesus commanded it. Jesus followed teaching of the Lord’s Prayer with the warning that if we do not forgive those who have wronged or hurt us, we will not be forgiven. (Matthew 6:14-15) Kendall takes the position that this does not mean loss of salvation for the believer, but a life wracked by bitterness and its fruit. If we do not let them totally off the hook and sincerely bless them, we will not, cannot receive God’s blessing in this life. Praying for God to bless that reckless driver who tailgates and cuts in and out of traffic, endangering everyone nearby, is just the tip of the iceberg. What about those who wounded us as children, or wounded our children, or stole our money, or ruined our reputation? Jesus offered no exceptions.
Other passages are equally challenging. In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus warns against judging others with a similar consequence - that in this life we will be judged by the same standard. Jesus uses the hyperbole of specks of dust contrasted with beams of wood in our eyes to emphasize just how distorted and self-centered our judgment is. But He concludes this section with instructions on how to see clearly enough to help a brother remove a speck. How do we get there, and how do we know we have reached a point where we are allowed to help others with motes in their eyes? You have to read for yourself to understand the nuances of when our judging others leads to us being judged, and when we are able to help another.
Treasures on earth and in heaven? (Matthew 6:19-21) Jesus did not say one word about tithing. He focused on our heart’s ultimate values. It is so easy to give money. What really matters to us? Do we truly believe that we can store up treasure for heaven by what we do now? Do we act on these beliefs? Is our heart focused on heavenly outcomes? Do our deeds line up with our profession? Is tithing a way to draw a line on how much of our life we let God claim, and implicitly get earthly treasure for ourselves?
False prophets (Matthew 7:15-20): Jesus gives a sure-fire test to identify them - their fruit. Social media have introduced a megaphone for literally anyone with a computer to claim God told them something. But even before Facebook and Twitter existed, churches and lives were ravaged by some claiming a gift of prophecy, a word from the Lord, when they were either entirely self-serving, or deceived by or in league with the devil. But Kendall does not disparage all prophecy on this account. Despite abuses, he encourages us to apply Christ’s litmus test - examining their fruit - to sift out the false prophets. This does not mean that we become a fruit inspector to pass judgment on every person we talk to. (See above discussion on Matthew 7:1-5). But if someone claims to have a word from the Lord, the shoe is on the other foot.
It took me a year to read through the 91 chapters. But for anyone taking Jesus’ teachings seriously, this is an illuminating tome. Not hard to read, but hard to put into practice. One of Kendall’s strengths is explaining subtle distinctions that Jesus made in example situations that we can relate to. What will the world look like after we obey Jesus? Read this and weep over the way we currently live. Then apply it.
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