Ministry of Love

The intention of this blog is to share Biblical messages at least on a weekly basis. Any response is appreciated. I do not expect everyone to agree with my interpretation of Biblical passages. I will try to respond with love and thoughtfulness.

Friday, December 10, 2010

musings121010, DangerofEnteringBibleSilence, by John

I'm sure you have noticed the Bible is silent about many things, right? I've thought of these things a lot, and many avid Bible students spend much time considering them. I simply call these areas by what they are, silences. I discovered too many Christians label others as conservative or liberal. I don't like either term partly because I've noticed an when people find someone else is more conservative, they put him in the conservative camp. If they find someone more liberal, they consign him to the liberal camp. Too often both words are used as epithets! In my estimation there's no adequate definition for either conservative or liberal.

I think most people are aware of the Bible's silences, but we don't concern ourselves about them. For instance, one of the early authors wrote about the boyhood of Jesus and his making a dove out of clay. He said the boy Jesus threw it into the air, and it flew away. That's a fanciful story, and that's why it is not in the Bible. The Bible is silent about the boyhood of Jesus. We don't know that He attended a catechetical school, or any other for that matter. The Bible is silent about where He gained such knowledge as He displayed. That's no problem for me. I believe God can do anything. Jesus was about thirty when He began to minister according to Mark 3:23. The Jews considered a person an adult when he reached that age, and I believe at that time Jesus was completely God and fully man, all-wise, all-powerful and eternal in nature.

There are so many things God did not have written in His Word. The most familiar ones have been acknowledged for centuries. 1947, the first year I served as pastor, I was faced with, "Where did Cain get his wife?" I'm sure every long-time Christian has faced that one, and many of us were embarrassed because we didn't have a ready answer. Most of us have advanced in faith beyond being tempted to give concrete answers to things we don't know. There are some Biblical silences that can become quite divisive when we do attempt to fill them with our own noisy verbalizations. I was aware I entered that area when I started writing this. I don't enjoy conflict, so I was reluctant to begin.

I read a commentary by a brother who filled some empty spaces in the Biblical account with his own thoughts and neglected to say that was what he did. He just stated them as fact. Many people without much Biblical education do that. I know this brother knows the Bible well. Perhaps his statements were perfectly obvious to him, but they are not to me. When a spiritual leader, well versed in Scripture and the history of God's dealing with man, states something as a fact, and it is not Biblical, I consider it dangerous. Aren't shepherds supposed to lead the sheep to quiet water and fresh green grass? How many do you suppose will lead his sheep through an unmapped wilderness on the way? That thought bothers me! Why? Because I believe God loves diversity. I think all creation shows it. That's obvious to me, but it is not stated exactly that way in the Bible, is it? I can't think of chapter and verse where it states such a thing about diversity. One of the silences? Yep! That's one of those dangerous silent areas I plod through. I think Jesus came to earth to establish one church. There's no silence about that! He called it "My church." No other church is mentioned. He didn't say anything about Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist (my own), Pentecostal, or any other, just "My Church."

Oops! I omitted Catholic! I also omitted Church of God, Church of Christ, too, and scads of others. I don't mean to set them apart for any particular reason. Some people in any of these may think their denominations are THE ONLY Biblical churches. I remember when my brother joined the Catholic Church, I asked him his reason. He said he was joining the original church that had never split. My brother was 18 years 11 months older than I was, and he was my earthly idol and hero. He continued in that role until he died at age 38. I was 16 and didn't yet know the Lord. Even at that age I could see the problem with his statement and pointed it out to him. There wouldn't be any other denomination if the Catholic Church was THE original and had never split! I wasn't attempting to defeat him in argument. I simply stated what seemed to me an obvious fact.

I think it is okay as a Christian to have likes and dislikes. It is not okay to judge our brothers and sisters, and I personally won't knowingly judge others. I will continue to teach and preach what I believe, and part of what I believe is to stick close to what the Bible says. Everyone has the right to disagree with anyone. I've found I can trust Christians with whom I disagree because they look to the same Source for inspiration that I do, and I believe we should relate to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. If someone disagrees with me, it does not make him an enemy, but if it did, I would have to remember Jesus said, "Love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44).

I haven't given my reason for considering filling Biblical silence with human noise as dangerous, have I? Consider two short passages of Scripture. Proverbs 30:5,6 say, "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." Revelation 22: 18,19 say, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book" If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." Where the line is drawn in adding and taking away, I don't know, but I certainly don't want to be found crossing it! I'll do my best to stick with what God does say rather than to make conclusions about what He chooses to leave unsaid, and I do hope my brethren will do the same!

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