Absolutes are always dangerous.
This one is true…… or very close to true.
Every American really likes at least a part of Christianity.
Everybody likes having the day off on Sunday. It may be the only one of the ten commandments that we will never consider abolishing. Everybody likes Christmas……at least the party and the gifts. Can you imagine a politician trying to abolish weekends and Christmas in the name of “separation of church and state”? It would make reforming social security look like child’s play.
On the other hand, there is a lot of the Bible that a lot of people don’t like. In our abortion clinics, Americans ignore “do not kill” about 3000 times a day. I can’t pick up my phone without seeing a friend share a Facebook post that is untrue……”do not lie”. We have a very real problem with “love your neighbor”…………especially if he or she doesn’t vote like we do.
Just about every one of us, even atheists, pick through the Bible and pull out ideas that we like. The rest we discard. How else can you explain pro-abortion Christians? We tend to accept the parts of the Bible that agree with what we want. In a way we create our own custom religion and use bits and pieces of the Bible to endorse the things that we already believe……things that we would have believed even if there were no Bible.
There is a James Taylor lyric:
“we got holy scriptures here that prove us to be right
In believing out loud what we wish to be true”
I’m not sure of where he stands with God……but I think he hit the nail on the head.
It’s easy to pat ourselves on the back for promoting the parts of the Bible that tell us that God supports us when we do what we were going to do anyway. Today, I’d like to roll back the rock and take a peek at the parts of the Bible that are often rejected.
Today I’d like to challenge you……..to have an honest look at the parts of the Bible that you might reject:
Recreational sex…….. The Bible clearly says that sex is to be confined to a husband and wife.
Homosexuality…….the Bible does not say that a man cannot love another man……..but it unmistakably prohibits same sex intercourse.
Abortion……..there is no question that abortion kills a child……the Bible prohibits taking an innocent life.
Charity………we are told that it is our responsibility to care for widows and the downtrodden, the guy on the corner with the little cardboard sign……….to visit those in jail.
Love……..love your fellow man………possibly the hardest command of them all. I’m not talking about loving your child or grandchild, who adores you. I’m talking about loving the unlovable. I’m talking about a Democrat loving Trump……a Republican loving Pelosi. How about loving a member of antifa? How about loving a Portland style anarchist?
Trust me……..if God can love these people, so can you.
So, my challenge for you is this. Study the Bible. When you find something that you don’t like……..and you will, don’t try to twist the Bible around until it supports what you already believe. Don’t try to make the Bible conform to your appetites. Instead, see if you can adjust your beliefs, your appetites, to bring them into alignment with the “owners manual”. This will not be easy.
When I hit an impasse, I go back to rule #1…… Love God……..and rule #2……… Love your neighbor. This always seems to clarify things for me.
“Take all that you can of this book upon reason, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier man.”
Abraham Lincoln, commenting on the Bible
“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.
Moses, NIV
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus, NIV