Truth and Consequences

Truth and Consequences

by | Oct 15, 2017 | Obedience

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​Should you always tell the truth?  If you don’t know what the Bible says on this topic, you may be surprised!  But first, let me state clearly that the Bible makes it very clear we should not lie (read Proverbs 12:22 and John 8:44, for example, if you have any doubt about that). This blog post is not advocating lying or practicing a lifestyle of deception, in any way, shape or form.

But the fact that we should not lie does not mean that we always need to tell the truth we know – as in telling all the truth.  Many new Christians, and even those who have been in the Way for many years, have not thought this through. Some, in their desire to do what is right, unnecessarily harm themselves and others by a lack of understanding in this area when saying more than necessary can have unfortunate or even serious consequences.  The old World War II conundrum of Nazis at the door looking for people sheltering Jewish families comes immediately to mind, but there are many lesser instances of this kind of situation.

The point is, we clearly cannot always vocalize the truth, or all of it, without hurting or even endangering others.  I think many of us confuse biblical responsibility in this area with courtroom protocol. The legal injunction to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” is firmly fixed in most people’s minds regarding the subject of telling the truth and that colors our thinking in other areas.  Naturally, in any legal situation, if we give our word that we will tell the whole truth that is what we should do, but life is not a courtroom; the necessity of voicing everything we know is not usually an issue.

But there are times when it is simply better to refrain from speaking the truth if the truth does not need to be spoken or might have consequences in which someone is harmed.  This principle is clearly supported by at least one example in the Bible. 

In 1 Samuel we read that after Israel’s first king, Saul, sinned and disqualified himself from kingship, God told his servant Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint David, one of the sons of Jesse, as the new king.  Samuel was naturally worried about the repercussions of doing this:  “But Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me’” (1 Samuel 16:2). 

Now notice God’s reply to Samuel in the same verse – his instruction on how to handle this  situation: “The LORD said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.’”  Here it is God Himself telling Samuel that rather than speaking the whole truth about why he was going to Bethlehem, Samuel should simply speak something equally true, but not the part of the truth that might get him killed. 

There is a clear lesson in this story that we should always speak the truth when we do speak, but when people may be hurt or endangered by what we say, the truth, or all of it, does not always need to be spoken.  It is also a clear example of what Christ meant in saying that we should be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

On Not Running Ahead

On Not Running Ahead

by | Aug 13, 2017 | Obedience

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The idea of “running” the Christian “race” is a motif frequently found in the New Testament to describe the successful Christian life. 

​The apostle Paul uses the metaphor a number of times, for example describing his own running (“Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly…” – 1 Corinthians 9:26) and urging others to run with care (“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” – Galatians  5:7).  Likewise the Book of Hebrews urges believers:  “… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Countless articles have been written and sermons preached on this concept of “running the race marked out for us,” but one scripture that is rarely quoted in this context is found in the second epistle of John:

“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9, emphasis added).

This verse is not often quoted, as it is not as easy to understand as most scriptures that use the analogy of running.  What does John mean in saying that we must not “run ahead”?  Even some modern versions of the Bible seem to have had difficulty understanding the verse, as they translate the expression “whoever sins” rather than “whoever runs ahead.”  But it is clear that John wrote “runs ahead,” and we need to understand what he meant by this if we are to understand what the sin is.

While it is possible that John meant that everyone who sets himself forward as a leader – putting himself “ahead” of others – is doing wrong, this does not fit the context of the verse very well.  It is far more likely, considering the overall message of John’s letter, that the apostle was warning his readers against going ahead of or beyond the truth of the Gospel that had been delivered to them.   This meaning seems to be clear, in fact, in the second half of 2 John 1:9 which says: “… whoever continues in the teaching.…” This does not directly apply to those who advance their own positions, but it does apply to those who somehow distort the teaching of Christianity.

If this is John’s meaning, his admonition that we should not “run ahead” is clear, because his letters continually argue against those who were adding to the original gospel message.  False Christians who were forerunners of the Gnostic philosophers of that age considered themselves to be advanced in their thinking and to be in possession of “higher” knowledge.  John shows that these individuals lured many Christians away from the original truth that they had been given (1 John 2:24, 26). 

John counsels us not to “run ahead of” or add to the truth we have been given in any way. It is a message he repeats elsewhere in his writings: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll …” (Revelation 22:18).   Taking away from the teaching God gives us is an equally serious problem (Revelation 22:18), but John makes it clear that adding to what God instructs us is not only an error but also a sign that we “… do not have God” (2 John 1:9).

We need not be openly mixing pagan philosophy with the teachings of Christianity – as the ancient Gnostics did – to “add to” the word of God. We can add to the truth God gives us more subtly by basing what we believe and do on human traditions  rather than on what the Bible actually teaches (Matthew 15:9), for example, or we can break the principle of not adding  to the word of God by accepting the pronouncements of astrology as a guide in our lives.

We can even “add to” the word of God by excusing things in our behavior through carefully selected “proof scriptures” that do not give the whole biblical picture and therefore create a meaning different  from what the Bible intends overall.  The principle that John stresses can apply to us in many ways, and it is one we might think about to ensure that it does not.  John’s words remind us that we are called to run, but we are also cautioned not to “run ahead.”

“Missing the Mark” May Be Missing the Point

“Missing the Mark” May Be Missing the Point

by | Oct 23, 2016 | Obedience, Relationships

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Have you ever heard the explanation that the meaning of the word “sin” in the Bible is to “miss the mark”? 

​To some extent the words translated “sin” in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament can convey this meaning.  In the Book of Judges we read of skilled Hebrew fighters  and that “Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss” (Judges 20:16).  The word “miss” in this scripture is the same Hebrew word chata often translated “sin.”

But this Hebrew word is by no means limited to the idea of missing the mark. The same word is often translated in many other ways.  For example, we find the various forms of this word are translated as: “bear the blame,” “bear the loss,” “bewildered,” “cleanse,” “forfeit,” “indicted,” “miss,” “offended,” “purged,”  “purified,” “reach,” and in other ways.
  
So it is certainly an over-simplification to say that the word sin means to “miss the mark” like an arrow that does not quite hit the bull’s eye of the target.   There is another problem with this view.  To understand sin as simply “missing the mark” makes it seem almost like not getting a perfect score on a test – to  miss the “perfect” mark and only get 85% or perhaps to “only just miss” and to score a 98 or 99% out of 100.   Such a view makes sin seem to be a matter of degree – only a problem to the extent we “miss the mark.” It encourages us to think that our failures are perhaps not as bad as those of others.  You may well have heard people say “Well, I may do this [smoke, swear, tell “white lies” or whatever], but it is not like I do that [steal, cheat, murder or whatever].”  Thinking that sin means essentially to “miss the mark” is to make sin relative and perhaps even reasonable if it is only “slightly less than perfect.” 

So is there a better way to understand the concept of sin?  If we gather all the instances in which sin is mentioned in the Old Testament (and in which the Hebrew word is clearly talking about sin and not something else), the underlying or common thread between them is perhaps closer to alienation.  Sin is that which offends or breaks our relationship with God or with others.
 
The New Testament shows us clearly that anything that breaks the law of God is sin (1 John 3:4) – regardless of “degree”  – and it is interesting  to notice that the first time sin (chata) is specifically mentioned in the Bible we find a parallel definition:  “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).  Here we see sin is simply not doing what is right.
 
The earliest example of sin – even if the word is not used there – is of course the Garden of Eden story where Adam and Eve are shown to have cut themselves off from God through their sinful behavior (Genesis 3:6-8).  This aspect of separation is nowhere made clearer than in the Book of Isaiah:  “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).
 
So it can be a mistake to think of sin as merely missing the mark.  Our unrepented sins cut us off from God no matter how small they may be, and sin always affects our relationships with others in some way.  To see sin as simply to “miss the mark” may be to miss the point – “missing the mark” misses the fact that sin separates and ultimately breaks relationships.  Sin is never relative, abstract or impersonal – it is always absolute, concrete and personal.  That is why we should not think of sin as simply missing something.  It is breaking something that we need to take to God to forgive and fix.  

Guarding Our Way

Guarding Our Way

by | May 15, 2016 | Knowledge & Wisdom, Obedience

Something to think about: “The highway of the upright avoids evil,
he who guards his way guards his life“ (Proverbs 16:17).

Many biblical verses promising God’s protection are favorites with Christians everywhere.  We can find them placed on everything from clothing to jewelry and from letter-opener swords to digital screen savers. 

But, wonderful as those verses are  – and central to our faith in God’s frequent protection for his people, according to his will – Proverbs 16:17 reminds us that there is another aspect to the matter of our protection: our own behavior.

In saying “the highway of the upright avoids evil,” we are reminded by the proverb that where we go in life, morally and spiritually, often determines what evil we may come in contact with.  In saying “he who guards his way guards his life,” we are reminded that our protection may begin and end with God, but in between we are responsible for where we go in life and many of the dangers we may experience.  

Another biblical proverb – Proverbs 22:3 – expounds that thought: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”  Our protection is not just a matter of our faith in God’s care wherever we may choose to go; it is also often a matter of how well we follow the “road map” of life we are given in God’s word. 
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Proverbs 16:17 reminds us that although we can’t always choose what we will meet on the road of life, the road we choose will often determine what we do encounter.

Loyalty or Obedience: The “Joab Factor”

by | Feb 8, 2015 | Obedience, Warriors of the Way

Can you have loyalty without obedience, or obedience without loyalty?

Imagine a situation where a dedicated high-ranking military officer is loyal to his commander in chief, but disobeys his orders,  or he obeys orders, but is nevertheless disloyal. It may be hard to imagine, but it can happen – and such was the career of King David’s leading general, Joab (2 Samuel 8:16, 20:23; 1 Chronicles 11:6, 18:15, 27:34).

Joab served David well, following every order much of the time and showing loyalty to David much of the time – as when his son Absalom rebelled (2 Samuel 18:1-33). But Joab also repeatedly disobeyed David in killing his rivals, Abner  (2 Samuel 2:13-32, 3:27) and Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8-13, 1 Kings 2:5), and was also disloyal in following David’s rebellious younger son Adonijah (1 Kings 1:1-27).

The strange truth is that Joab was both loyal and obedient, just not always at the same time. I call this the “Joab Factor,” but it doesn’t just apply to that ancient soldier – it can apply to all of us. We too can be loyal but not obedient or the other way around. For example, at the most basic level, we can be loyal in faithfully going to church, but not obedient in keeping God’s commandments. Or on the other hand we can be outwardly keeping His commandments, but not really being loyal in putting God first in our lives.  There are many more subtle ways in which we can exhibit the Joab Factor, but we must look to our own lives to determine where that might be.

The main thing is to understand that it really is possible to be loyal but not obedient, or obedient and not loyal – and to keep in mind what God shows us: that from His perspective, if we are only one or the other – loyal or obedient – like Joab, we really aren’t either.

We may not think about it this way, but God exhibits both these traits toward us if we exhibit them both toward Him. He not only commands us to be lovingly loyal to Him and to faithfully keep His covenant, but He also honors these principles Himself:  “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).  Those Old Testament words seem to foreshadow the final instructions of the resurrected Christ to his disciples: “ … obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

God loves us and  keeps His covenant with us, and we are to love Him and keep our covenant with Him. If Joab had followed that same principle in his service to David, he would have been not only a skilled general, but also a perfect servant.
An Eternal Foreclosure Recovery Plan

An Eternal Foreclosure Recovery Plan

by | Oct 9, 2014 | Forgiveness, Obedience

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A great many unfortunate people have been affected by foreclosure on their homes in recent years as a result of the worldwide economic down- turn.  Millions of people have been forced out of their houses in this situation – from tiny homes to great mansions – and moving beyond foreclosure is not easy. The process of recovery can be grueling and take years.

The first recorded home foreclosure may have occurred far earlier than you suspect. That first foreclosure  was not due to failure to pay a high interest loan, however – or any kind of loan, in fact. The third chapter of Genesis describes the foreclosure in detail and shows that the first homeowners/tenants were evicted not for failure to pay, but as the price they paid for disregarding God’s clear tenancy instructions (Genesis 3:22-24). 

Heartbreaking as modern home foreclosure may be, it is nowhere near as tragic as that first foreclosure in which the human family not only lost its “perfect home,” but also its relationship with the One who was the perfect builder and loan officer combined.  Many homeowner and renter contracts are extremely complex, but according to the Garden of Eden story the first couple had a very straightforward contract which they understood fully:  “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die’” (Genesis 3:2-3).  The last few words quoted there show that foreclosure on their home was only the first – and not the worst – part of the penalty the first homeowners faced.

Fortunately for the human family, God realized that this chain of events would occur – that spiritual foreclosure was likely to happen – and as a result He set in motion a plan for recovery.  We all know the basis of the plan: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  But that is really just the first part of the plan.  Jesus himself spoke of the second step for foreclosure recovery in a new home: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places … If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3 HCSB). But we have to develop a new relationship with God in order to move past the old, voided, home  contract and take advantage of the new one. Put simply, God wants totally remade tenants, remade homeowners for the new home He offers to those who want an eternally secure home with no foreclosure possible.

Physical home foreclosure can be a matter of great anguish, but whether we experience it physically or not, it can illustrate an important lesson about human life. We should be lastingly thankful for the ultimate foreclosure recovery plan that God has instituted for all who return to Him to claim it.