There’s a sad story in Jeremiah 36. This story should make Christians shudder. King Jehoiakim asked for the scroll (God’s Word) to be read to him. But as he listened, he didn’t like what he heard so he ripped it up, piece by piece, and threw it in the fire. Thomas Jefferson did something similar. He cut out the pieces of the Bible he didn’t like and pasted together his own Bible… one that he liked. Sadly, this is still happening in the church today.
There are many churches refusing to teach parts of the Bible they don’t like or things that might offend someone or things that might lose congregants. These pastors want to be liked and they don’t want people to leave their church, so they simply ignore the parts of the Bible that do not fit with their ideas. This is NOT the gospel. And this is VERY dangerous. I hope that you do not attend a church like this. Just because it’s the biggest and fastest growing church in your city does not necessarily mean they are preaching the whole council or God’s Word. It’s important that we go to a church that is all about the gospel because these are the churches where the Holy Spirit is active and peoples’ lives are being transformed.
I wonder what James was witnessing in the church when he said, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10). Obviously, this was a problem in the first century as well as today. Here’s the thing… this is a powerful word and SHOULD convict each of us. Why? Because I’m guessing that each of us can see ourselves in James words. We may be more like King Jehoiakim and Thomas Jeffereson than we think. We might not rip pages out of our Bible and throw them in the fire or paste together our own Bible, but our actions may be just as serious.
There are certain mandates in Scripture that are easy to follow, but others are not so easy, right? Therefore, we are really good at obeying the easy ones and really good at ignoring the others. Before I continue, I want you to know that God is convicting me this morning as I write this. Let’s continue… For example, we can easily love, show mercy and compassion, and be patient with those who reciprocate our kindness. We can forgive someone who is remorseful at what they’ve done. We can be gentle with those who are easy to love.
But in the face of difficult people, we often think that I have the right to hold onto anger, spew nasty words, or gossip about someone. We think… Why would I pray for that person when all they’ve done is hurt me? I cannot forgive so and so because the pain is just too deep and they don’t deserve my forgiveness. We get impatient with the doctor who dismisses our problem, we get angry when someone cuts in front of us on the road, or we let division continue rather than seek for unity. I hope you realize that these kinds of actions are not biblical. Paul tells us to “clothe ourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you” (Colossians 3:12-13).
Now, let me clarify something. We can’t always do it right and it may take a long time to follow biblical mandates, but we should strive to do as God says, rather than how I feel or what is easiest. Let this encourage you today.