TENANTS OF THE CHURCH
In the Church but not of the Church When one of my students raised an issue with “TENANTS” of the church, of course, I knew he meant TENETS, but I played along in my mind and soon realized that in fact the church has TENANTS! TENETS are the established fundamental beliefs of the church, and TENANTS live in houses they do not own. A quick look at the New Testament shows 10 kinds of CHURCH TENANTS, or people who live in the church or appear like Christians but whose final destinations are doubtful: 1. THE JUDASES: These people respond to the call to walk with Jesus, and indeed walk with him to the end, but never submit to His corrections and sell Him out when the price is right. (John 12:4-7, Mt 26:8-16) 2. THE ANANIASES AND SAPPHIRAS: They pledge total support for the church as they see proper, but soon develop cold feet and unilaterally resign to partial commitment (Acts 5:1, 9) ...