Faith Crossroads
Once again this week I heard a ‘Christian’ say that they believe a certain part of the Bible is no longer relevant. Maybe you have felt this before, I know I have. There are times when the Bible feels out of touch from where we are in our lives.
The Bible says to not cheat on our spouse, but God did not know how little my spouse meets my needs.
The Bible says not to get divorced, but I know God really wants me to be happy.
The Bible says to pay taxes, but everyone fudges the numbers a little.
The Bible says to submit to the government, but I am just keeping up with the flow of traffic.
The Bible says to love your enemy, but God did not mean to love the man who raped me.
The Bible says to submit to m husband, but God did not know what a tyrant he would turn out to be.
The Bible says to love my wife, but God did not give me a wife who listens to me.
The Bible says to honor my parents, but my parents are hypocrites.
The Bible says ____________, but God did not__________.
Do you get the picture? Somewhere along life’s journey we became convinced that God is more concerned with how we feel and think than He is about His Holiness and His Word. Well of course the God of the universe just wants me to be happy. Of course the God of the universe who created everything, from the tiniest cell to the grandest mountain, does not understand the huge issues I am facing.
I hope you can sense the sarcasm in those last two sentences. C’mon people, where is your faith? Is it really that weak? Do you really not trust God at all?
I want you to think about the most important human in your life. Pets do not count for this exercise. Imagine that of everything this person told you, you knew that 30-50% of it was not true. How could you trust them at all? You cannot partially trust someone. You either trust them or you do not. They either have integrity or they do not.
You cannot partially trust the Bible. It is an all or none deal. If you cannot trust some of it, you should not trust any of it. You either believe in its potency, or you deny it. There is not room to be lukewarm.
The reality is that when we start slicing and dicing the Bible when it confronts our lives, we will not stop. As our lives move forward and new issues in life are presented to us, we will follow our desires and change the Bible once again.
The truth is, if you are honest with yourself, that you do not believe the Bible. The Bible is a good book, but that is about it. Your faith is not resting on God, but on your own opinions. You have created your own god, and it is a fun god to worship.
I want to be crystal clear here. I am not referring to believing everything certain Christian leaders are teaching. That would be foolish. They are men, and unfortunately, even pastors stray. However, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and so is His Word.
Be honest, do you believe? Do you have faith? This is an all or none deal. Are you in or out? Yes, we fail and trip up, but we know we fail because we acknowledge the standard. This article is not about meeting the standard, it is about acknowledging one exists. Do you?
So do you still believe the blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will be raised?
Curious about your thoughts on this topic.
Yes, Lord you are the same yesterday, today and forever!!! As Christians I think we need to change our mindsets. When someone tells us that they are sick, instead of saying, “oh my I am so sorry, that is sad” I think we need to say, “Ok, Let’s pray. This is a GOD thing.” Think about it if we all started living how the disciples lived……….WOW it could be good and crazy!
A simple answer is yes. However, I think many Christians look at God as a genie in lamp which I think is erroneous. This is a very deep topic and some of my answers have to do with the end times which I hope to write about soon.
That being said, your thoughts on Christians response to a sick person is totally accurate. My only caveat would be that there are consequences for our own actions. In other words, if I eat nothing but ice cream for five years, and then I get heart disease and diabetes, isn’t it a little hypocritical to then ask God to heal me? Christians often miss this. They abuse the temple God gave them, and then want to ask for God to do a miracle. That does not sit well with me.