Sup guys
no...this is not another painful pun about socks w/ holes in it (apologies to those who had to sit through that last sunday). i was listening to a sermon by cj mahaney earlier this week and something he said in passing early in the message caught my attention. It was not the main focus of his sermon so i missed it in the past but the point kinda hammered home this time around.
He talks about thomas jefferson's efforts to make hte bible believable and inoffensive. In the Jefferson Bible, officially titled Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, Jefferson sought to cut out any supernatural events, any references to jesus' divinity, as well as any bits that he considered misinterpretations by the four gospel writers. Using a razor, jefferson cut literal holes in his bible, selected bits and pieces that didn't offend him from the four gospels, and rearranged them in rough chronological order to create a single narrative. The jefferson bible ended with the burial of christ - no resurrection, no pentacost, no redeemed Peter/Paul - Jesus died, period. The End.
while most of us wouldn't be so arrogant as to physically remove/edit bits of the bible, I was reminded that this is in effect what we do everytime we deliberately ignore or conveniently forget laws of God. Isn't it? The bits that we find uncomfortable or offensive are the exact bits we tend to defocus on. Instead we hone in on the bits that talks about forgiveness and grace, the parts that talks about our adoption as children of God, all the highlighted portions of our bibles that give us warm and fuzzy feelings. We crave inner healing and affirmation but avoid conviction like a plague. If not in my own devotions, very definitely in my personal walk, i often find myself deemphasizing the parts of scripture that talks about hating worldly desires, practicing holiness, dying to myself, and taking up my daily cross. Encouragement for the week, let us not treat God's word with contempt in our selective understanding of holy scripture, and pursue with wholehearted honesty the holiness He has mapped out for us.
Happy Wednesday!
edward
"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teachers others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:18-20
Inmates from the Philippines performing Jai Ho (slumdog millionaire)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTMUZ39UHgo&feature=related
No comments:
Post a Comment