Skip to main content

More than Opinion


             I like the colour green!  In fact, I think green is the best colour in the world and anyone who likes any other colour (like Blue) is silly!   Green is the best. It is the obvious choice and if you don't agree with me, then you are wrong!
  
          Do those statements seem a little out of line or maybe a little over the top?  Maybe you read them and thought, "What?  I can like blue if I want to!" (And it is true.... you can like blue if you want to ..... you would just be liking an inferior colour because green is the best!)

           Oddly, I have been in several “religious discussions” that sound a lot like my like my "green rant" above.  Someone comes along spouting some opinion or idea that has no basis in fact.  Their argument is based solely on their own opinion.  However, if you disagree with them, then you are labelled “unfaithful” or simply “wrong”.  Too many times, "What I like” and “What I think is best" is made the law, whether it should be or not.

            This is not a new problem though.  Even back in the Old Testament, it was said that the “Priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money” (Micah 3:11).  In the New Testament, Timothy is warned that, “The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).  The great danger is always that we will try to equate “What I think” with “What God thinks”.  As philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau astutely observed, "God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor." 

            So, what is the answer?  Well, Timothy was told to, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).  In another place he is also reminded that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

            While we may sometimes disagree about what it means, if we all start from scripture, rather than our own likes or dislikes, at least we will be starting on common ground.

            Bottom line:  If you want to know the God of the word, you are going to have to know the word of God.

            “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).
           

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Terrible Trade

            I used to have a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.               However, when I was 12 years old I did not like Wayne Gretzky, so I traded the card to my brother.   A few years ago, I remembered that incident, so I went looking for the card. Sure enough, there is was in a box in my mom’s basement.   Now here is the thing:   even in bad shape, Gretzky rookie cards sell for around $250.   Needless to say, that was not a good trade on my part.   I simply did not recognize what I had and so I traded away something valuable for something with almost no value at all.             With that in mind, notice how the letter to the Galatians starts: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Good Funeral

As I write this article, it is Monday morning and I am getting ready to go to a funeral. As I think about the day ahead, I am not anticipating a sad day. There will be sadness in it, some tears will be shed for sure, but this will be a day of celebration. For as long as I have known them, and for many years before that, George and his wife Doris have been faithful followers of Christ. Their faith was not just something that they talked about or something that they had in name only. Rather, it was something that influenced how they lived, what they valued and how they saw their entire lives. George was not a very vocal man, but he was influential. His home was always open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay. In fact, that is how I first met them. When I was an intern, preaching in the town of Wawota , I stayed with George and Doris. When our Bible camp needed a place to go for a hayride, George and Doris were the first ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Don’t Be a Tourist

                  From the moment that God told Abraham to leave his home and follow him (Genesis 12:1-3), God’s people have understood that they are on a journey.                 That being true, the essential question becomes, “How are you making that journey?”   T here are two options: You can be a tourist or you can be a pilgrim.                   Tourists leave their real life behind for a little while so that they can visit another place.   Generally, they travel in groups and do not mix much with the local people.   They hit the highlights of various regions, but they do not really experience what it is like to live in that part of t...
Post a Comment
Read more