Using The Bible Like The Devil

“You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent” (Psalm 91:5–10 NAS95)

These verses are being used by some to call into question the faith of believers who have chosen to follow social distancing guidelines to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.  “What, do you not trust God enough to protect you?” they ask.  “Just read the Bible.  It says the pestilence shall not approach you.  The plague will not come near you.”  The implication is that if you just had enough faith, you would be immune to the virus.  You could forge ahead without any precautions because God would not let anything happen to you.  But is that a correct understanding of this text?  Here are some things to think about.

The Psalmist is speaking in aspirational terms, praising God for His protection of those who trust in Him.  Does it mean the writer believed that no faithful person had ever experienced fearful times?  That no believer had ever fallen in battle?  That no one who trusts in the Lord will ever experience anything evil?  That no faithful person had ever died of pestilence or plague in all of history?  I strongly doubt the Psalmist believed any of these things.  The Psalmist lived in a world like ours where bad things routinely happen to faithful people.  What the writer is doing is speaking in lofty terms to encourage trust in God no matter what happens.

The dagger to the heart of the idea that Psalm 91 teaches that the faithful one can throw caution to the wind in the face of danger comes from later in the Bible.  In Luke 4, Jesus is facing the temptations of the devil in the wilderness.  Satan challenges Jesus to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple and then he quotes from Psalm 91:11-12 to back up his challenge (Luke 4:9-11)!  Surely if there was ever a faithful one who could claim the promise of God’s protection from harm it would be Jesus!  But how does Jesus respond?  “Yes, I can do it because God has promised to protect me”?  That would certainly show Satan!  No, He doesn’t do that.  Jesus also quotes scripture to tell the devil: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4.12).  Apparently, one shouldn’t presume upon the care and protection of the Lord.  Apparently, wisdom and common sense should have a place at the table in the decisions of faithful people.  Putting your complete trust in the Lord doesn’t mean that you have to avoid common sense ways to protect yourself and others.

Take your time as you read and apply the Scriptures, especially if you are going to use them as a weapon against the decisions of other believers.  If you don’t, you may end up using the Bible like the devil.

God loves you!

Mike

It's Not A Competition!

“But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised” (Galatians 2:7–9).

The troublemakers in the Galatian congregations were doing their best to drive a wedge between local Christians and Paul.  Apparently they were discrediting his ministry by claiming his teaching and ministry was different than that of Peter, James, and John.  In Galatians 2:1-10, Paul emphasizes the common ground his gospel mission shares with the leadership of the Jerusalem church.  During one of his visits to Jerusalem, Paul sat down with “those who were of reputation.”  They discussed their respective efforts and found themselves squarely on the same page.  In the verses listed above, Paul highlights three commonalities.

First, God entrusted each of them with the same gospel.  Yes, the primary focus of their efforts differed (Paul to the Gentiles, Peter to the Jews), but the message they preached remained the same.

Second, God effectually worked within each ministry.  The sense here is that God was the energizing force in both gospel efforts.  He didn’t favor one other the other.  He was eager to empower them both.

Third, God encouraged them with a spirit of fellowship. Rather than letting themselves be pitted against one another, the Jerusalem leaders extended “the right hand of fellowship” to Paul and Barnabus.  They served on the same team.

True gospel ministry is never a competition.  Anyone who seeks to make it so (like the troublemakers in Galatia) is not serving the purposes of God.  May God help us all to be supportive of any and all efforts to share the gospel of God!

God loves you!

Mike

Unbelievable!

“I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.”  And they were glorifying God because of me” (Galatians 1:22–24).

Imagine being a Christian in the region of Judea during the murderous rampage of Saul of Tarsus.  The young Pharisee had made it his mission to destroy the fledgling movement which claimed loyalty to the recently crucified Jesus of Nazareth.  Not content with merely driving them out of Jerusalem, this young firebrand traveled to the far reaches of the land, imprisoning and even having some disciples put to death.  The name “Saul” struck fear in even the stoutest of hearts.  Perhaps your own family or church had been torn apart in the purge.  Who would be next?

Now imagine that you begin to hear the whispered rumors: Saul has become a disciple!  Given what you know, you find this extremely difficult to believe.  In fact, you wonder if perhaps this is a ruse to lure more Christians into his trap.  Given his track record, that’s not such a stretch, is it?  But then, people you trust tell you of how they heard him proclaiming Christ in the synagogue.  Even Barnabus was vouching for him.  Could it really be possible?  Has the persecutor become a preacher?

If you ever doubt God’s ability to change your life, think back to what He did in Saul’s life.  It’s easy to think that you have done too many evil things, that you have made too many mistakes, that you have burned too many bridges to ever be used by God.  Saul’s story says otherwise.  If God can change Saul’s life, then there is no reason to think that you are beyond hope.  If you are willing, God can give you a new start and direction.  Who knows?  Maybe others will hear your story and have a hard time believing it.  Maybe your story will give hope to others and prompt them to give glory to God as well.

God loves you!

Mike

Name Droppers

            In a recent article, Mike Glenn addresses the decline in church attendance in our country.  Various reasons are debated for this decrease and Glenn offers his own take on the issue.  He likens it to the social practice of “name dropping”, where someone claims to “know” someone yet, in reality, they would hardly qualify as a casual acquaintance.  Read on as he describes what he means:

            “According to recent studies, as much of 40% of students will walk away from the Christian faith as they become adults. Millions of people have stopped coming to church at all and deny any kind of religious affiliation.

“I get it. There are, of course, several reasons that feed into this new reality. One of them is honesty. Several years ago, being a member of a local church was a social expectation. No one really cared if you attended or not, or if you adhered to the church’s statements of faith. You just had to be a member. That means denominational executives were able to claim thousands of members who were never active in any reasonable manner in any church. Their names were the rolls. That’s it.

“So, when the numbers started dropping, I wasn’t surprised. I thought we were finally getting our numbers straightened out. The numbers seemed to be a little more accurate – at least from my experience. Let’s just say there have never been as many Christians in local churches as was claimed. We have a lot of name droppers.”*

            I think he is on to something.  Perhaps as Christianity is increasingly pushed to the margins in our society, there is less of an appeal to merely claim religious affiliation.  The “name droppers” start to drop off when the social benefits of membership start to wane. When the perks of being part of the country club are out-weighed by the cost, people start looking for a different club.  Perhaps Glenn is right.  Maybe tough times have a way of differentiating the “name confessors” from the “name droppers.” 

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.christianitytoday.com/scot-mcknight/2020/february/name-dropping.html

The Personal Touch

I saw this news item this past week: “Today Amazon is opening its first grocery store to pilot the use of the retailer’s cashierless “Just Walk Out” technology that has previously powered 25 Amazon Go convenience stores in a handful of major U.S. metros. Based in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle, the new Amazon Go Grocery store allows customers to shop for everyday grocery items like fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery items, household essentials, dairy, easy-to-make dinner options, beer, wine and spirits, and more. The store is 7,700 square feet in the front of the house and 10,400 square feet overall, making it the largest use of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology to date.

“As with Amazon Go convenience stores, shoppers first use the Amazon Go app to scan in as they enter the store, then shop as usual. Cameras and sensors track the items removed from the shelves which are then added to the shopper’s virtual cart. When the customer exits the store, their cart is checked out automatically using their payment card on file. The end result is a grocery store with no lines or waiting. Meanwhile, store staff are freed up to take care of other aspects of the business like restocking shelves and customer service.”*

            Technology can be a blessing and a curse. I suppose in this case the blessings come in the form of corporate savings due to lower employee costs.  But I wonder if the loss of the “human touch” could also become a curse for our culture.  Digital technology and artificial intelligence are making it increasingly easy to avoid human interaction.  While the introverts among us may view that as a plus, I think we need to be vigilant that we don’t sacrifice too much on the altar of efficiency.

            The body of Christ is designed to be a relational organism.  I’m not advocating a return to the days of catacombs and parchment, but just reminding us that the personal touch is vital to our mission.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/25/amazon-opens-its-first-cashierless-grocery-store/