Jude did not write, 'Contend for a better argument.' He did not write, 'Contend for a reformed calendar.' He wrote, 'Contend for the faith.' The faith — the whole thing, complete, once delivered, needing nothing added and tolerating nothing removed.
Installment Six of The Faith Once Delivered is the most personal installment — and the most necessary one. Because the people I am asking to examine themselves deserve to see me examine myself first. The zeal that mistakes intensity for discernment. The righteous indignation that becomes its own form of idolatry. The information diet designed to feed and confirm what we already believe.
The people filling Easter baskets on Sunday morning are not pagans.
They are sincere believers who have met the risen Yeshua — sometimes in the middle of those very celebrations. Their faith is genuine. Their love for God is real. And their sincerity is not in question.
You have probably seen the meme. "Easter is really the feast of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility." It circulates every spring, dressed in scholarly confidence, shared by sincere believers who want to protect the faith.
Around A.D. 160, a bishop in Sardis preached the oldest surviving sermon on the resurrection feast. No eggs. No bunnies. No seasonal sentimentality. Just this:
"I am your freedom. I am the Passover of your salvation. I am the lamb slaughtered for you. I am your ransom. I am your life. I am your light. I am your resurrection. I am your king."
