Once upon a time Jesus was in a synagogue on the Sabbath; and there was a man with a paralysed hand. (Matthew 12:9–14).
Some people wanted to accuse Him of doing wrong and asked Him whether it is against their Law to heal (work) on the Sabbath.
Jesus asked them if any of them had a sheep which fell into a deep hole on the Sabbath whether they would rescue it. Then to prove His point, He healed the man with the paralysed hand.
So what is Jesus saying here?
Is He encouraging people to break one of the Ten Commandments?
Of course not.
Jesus is saying: Beware of those who would use God’s Word for their own ends. They would either take it literally or miss-quote it to suit their own argument and to their benefit.
God has given you a brain. Use it.
It is there to help you discern what is right and what is wrong. The Commandments are there to guide you through life. Not to be used by you and interpreted in such a way so that you can twist their meaning for your own selfish needs.
IF ...
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Amen. There are people who twist things and conform the Word of God to what they believe is true in their mind. I know some "Christians" that say sex before marriage is okay, but we know from God's Word that is explicitly not. This is what I feel most people are doing nowadays. They want to live the way they want, and put God in the closet and when they need Him take Him out.
ReplyDeleteThat's not the way to walk the Christian life.
God Bless.
It is so true how people twist the Word - however the more we abide in the ENTIRE Word of God the less I think we can do that - because then we recongize that our desired meaning doesn't fit into the bigger picture. I think far to many read select portions and don't give equal time to each part of the Word.
ReplyDeleteIt brings to mind the verse
2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
I think rightly dividing the Word is putting it all together like a puzzle. For example, if you rarely read the minor prophets - are you leaving out a big piece of the puzzle that explains verses elsewhere.
Plus when we don't read the entire Word we can't test what someone else's twisted version is truth or not. You can make a couple of verses mean a lot of things unless you read the ENTIRE Word.
Thanks for sharing!!
Rachel
What a word in season this post is for me personally today!
ReplyDeleteI was speaking to a man today who told me that he is teaching music 'in the name of Christ' but when I asked him how he goes about sharing the Gospel with all these young people who attend classes, he told me that Jesus never preached the Gospel and imtimated to me that it is not necessary to preach the Gospel to win souls! Kind of does away with Christ's own words: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel". Anyway, he proceeded to say that Jesus drew crowds to himself and their band is drawing crowds too and this is how he knows he is on the right track!!!! Yes - Jesus drew crowds to himself and He taught them things about Himself, the Kingdom of God, sin, etc... He used the crowd pulling to gloryfy God and not himself and His talents! If what my colleague explained is not distorting the Word of God - I don't know what is?
Even if Jesus did draw crowds - it wasn't to talk about music. Yes - music may be a means God can work through but His Word has to come into the equation too! After all God's Word does ever so clearly state that "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." When Jesus drew crowds, He did so to bring glory to God and not to bring glory and the praise of man to himself and all I could hear was what this music instructor has achieved and how popular 'his' band is becoming... Jesus did not brag - He was humble. I just think this guy has lost it along the way and it is scary because he is a pastor of a church.
W McCallum
P.S. I agree with Rachel. We can't take part of the Word of God, e.g. like the example I was given today, i.e. "I know I'm on the right track because our band is drawing crowds and Jesus drew crowds too." Such is no evidence that someone is doing the work of God.
ReplyDeleteW McCallum
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting.
Dan, A lot of people see God as a convenient helper to call upon in emergencies. In the meantime they are happy to miss-interpret Him to suit themselves.
Rachel, You're right in that being selective in what we read/learn will not give us the whole picture of what God is saying. It seems to me that learning the Word of God is a lifetime's achievement.
Wendy, What angered me most about your post is the last sentence. The fact that this man is a pastor shows how far we have gone down the road of diluting the Word of God.
I believe Christians have a particular responsibility towards God in that we are to spread His Word as best as we can.
When we meet Him He will not only ask: How did you represent Me to those who did not know Me? He will also ask: Did you miss-quote me to suit your own ends?
What will this pastor reply?
God bless you all and thank you for your visits and comments.
I feel angry that we as Christians have drifted this far too. Angry because we, the church, needs to wake up and not be conformed to the world's standards. Angry because even men who hold God's Word and know the Truth have become almost apologetic about it and would prefer to tippy toe around salvation issues. Angry mixed with disappointment.
ReplyDeleteW McCallum
P.S. Sorry to rant on... away to pray about it as my rantings are not going to solve anything!
ReplyDeleteW McCallum
Please rant away!
ReplyDeleteThis is what this Blog is for.
But seriously, you are right. The Church and its leaders have a lot to answer for in diluting the message in order not to offend people.
God bless you.