Of Scriptures, Jefferson, and Traumatized Paramecium

I have some late-breaking news for you today.

We are blessed.

Why am I telling you this? Because it would appear, if my calculations are correct, that the span of a Christian’s memory is similar to that of a traumatized paramecium.

Very brief.

We have a thought…poof! It’s gone.

There are many ways in which I could go about proving this shamefully unoriginal thought, but I have one particular thing in mind. Get ready for some more bold unoriginal-ness.

The Bible.

When was the last time you pondered the extraordinary blessing of the scriptures? If you’re like me, not very often; more close to never. Why might this be? What has caused this loss of awe over God’s Word? For that is indeed what it is!

Have you ever envied the great giants of faith such as Abraham, Moses, and Samuel for having been able to hear the spoken word of the Living God? Well, there’s no need. We have God’s word given to us in a way that those men would never have been able to even fathom.

And yet…we take it for granted.

It has become the norm for the modern day church to preach heavily on the passages of scripture that give you the warm, pleasant, fuzzy feeling on the inside while tiptoeing around the difficult passages. The ones that may cause offence to the hearers. As James said in his epistle (one of those tough passages of scripture), “My brethren, these things ought not to be so!”

In a society where we want nothing more than comfort and convenience, can we really be surprised that this mentality has begun to creep into the church?

It reminds me uncomfortably of the Jefferson Bible. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, the Jefferson Bible is a book compiled by none other than Thomas Jefferson, and it consists of only what he wanted in the Holy Scriptures. Can you imagine? Yet when I picture Thomas Jefferson with a Bible in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other, cutting here and tweaking there, the similarities between that and what is going on in our country today is shocking, disturbing at the very least.

Let me get on my soapbox for a minute.

Let’s take a very true and very over-used phrase: Jesus saves.

Now, is that true? Absolutely, and praise God that it is! And do we need to be reminded of this fact often? Oh my, yes (remember the traumatized paramecium). But what happens when that is one of the few preached doctrines in the church? Well, you have many church goers with the warm fuzzies, but how about defenders of the faith? You have children who are able to crank out an answer when asked what they learned in Sunday school, but how about being able to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15)?

What has happened to our priorities? When did the fear of the Lord and reverence for His Word give place to fear of offending?

Will you take the challenge with me to read God’s Word in its entirety? Will you read, “For God so loved the world” along side, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens”? It’s easier said than done, but I want to take this challenge.

Will you?

posted by Lydia