Life Off-Track (Part 2) - There IS a Right Track

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.   2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

The operation, or function of the scripture, is to be profitable, or serviceable, helpful.  The apostle John told the church not to be gullible, accepting everyone who calls himself a teacher.  "Try the spirits, whether they are of God..." ^{1John 4:1}.  The Scripture has a four-fold function: 

1.    teaching what is right,

2.    showing what is wrong,

3.    showing how to correct what is wrong, and

4.    helping us know how to stay on the right track in life.

We will invest this week in those four operations of the Scripture.

The first of these is TEACHING – which is Scripture helping us to understand, or being able to know the track or pathway God would have us walk; both in the way we have our relationship with Him, and with all His created order…our neighbors!

When I was a child we lived on Long Island.  My Dad had to work in Ohio one year; when we took him to the airport it should have been an hour’s ride home.  But somewhere on the way Mom made a wrong turn and we wound up in Connecticut.  I still remember that sinking feeling that we were in for a long ride!

Today’s “maps” are electronic.  GPS will never get you lost, right? 

Ahem; not necessarily so!  I have punched-in the right address, followed the disembodied voice commands impeccably, and still wound up at the wrong place.

Whether it is a paper map or Google™ on your iPhone™ - there are mistakes just waiting to happen.  But in most cases the fault isn’t with the map; it is the reader of the map who misses something.

Scripture’s first function is to proclaim truth – without error.  Jesus (the living Word of God) claimed truth as His nature:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”  John 14:6a (NLT)

We can misread Scripture as easily as we can a map or those “simple instructions” on how to put together a child’s toy on Christmas Eve.  That is why God gave us an Interpreter – the Holy Spirit – who speaks the truth of God’s Word to our hearts.

This right track is clearly a singular track of obedience to God and respect for all creation.  Notice how this is taught without ambiguity:

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Proverbs 1:7 (NLT)

If you want to understand the basic right track for your life, it is taught clearly in God’s Word.

For You Today

Knowing how to get somewhere is as important as choosing the destination. 

So pick up the Holy GPS and listen for the Navigator’s directions.  He won’t lead you astray!

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[1] Title image:  By Louise Docker from Sydney, Australia, via Wikimedia Commons

Choosing; and Living with the Choices

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Monday, February 9, 2015

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.   2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)

I did it again!  I got baited into one of those ‘go nowhere’ conversations with a troll about same-gender relationships. 

I consider it important to stay informed about the controversial tug-of-war in the United Methodist Church concerning same-gender relationships.  Without coming down on either side for the moment, this issue has been dividing the United Methodist Church for decades.  I got drawn into the discussion online because I read several clergy sites to monitor the discussion surrounding new developments. 

I actually despise controversy, but I’m studying the battle lines which have been drawn in order to preach/teach on it in our church ^{(coming soon!)}; sometimes the vitriolic acidity of the conversation helps my blood boil!

The conversation went something like:

She:  We need to follow the Gospels, and not someone like Paul.

Me:  Pardon me?

She:  Paul hated women.

Me:  Paul wrote a huge portion of the New Testament.  Paul wrote to Timothy that ALL Scripture is inspired by God.  I think I would re-think that part about throwing out directions to a pastor about pastoral responsibilities, written by God’s inspiration.

She:  Paul didn’t write the Gospels.  That’s all we should be following.

Me:  Uhhhh……What?

I don’t know what school taught this pastor to “pick and choose” verses of Scripture, rather than apply the whole counsel of God to her ministry.  But she obviously brought her prejudice to the Scripture, rather than allowing the Scripture to correct her prejudice.  She opted for what she knew and felt rather than what God said.

And that is the point.  We all have many choices facing us every day.  Some are of the “what do I have for breakfast” variety; some much more weighty – decisions about spiritual life and death, family, sex, community and vocation.

It has been said that all of life is an illustration of Scripture’s wisdom, and all of Scripture illustrates and should inform life.  That’s not a circular argument; it’s perspective.  And that perspective is gained when we accept the truth of God’s statement through the apostle Paul, that ALL Scripture is inspired.

And IF we accept that, then the only sane pathway through life’s decisions is to make them in light of Scripture and eternity.

In other words, if you believe the Bible, you will behave according to the Bible’s standards.  It’s called integrity…being whole…saying what we really mean, meaning what we really say.  And being at peace inside, and with others, whatever comes –  because the outcome is truth.

Poet James Russell Lowell wrote about being satisfied with truth, no matter what everyone else will believe and do:

Truth forever on the scaffold,

Wrong forever on the throne,

Yet that scaffold sways the future, and,

behind the dim unknown,

Standeth God within the shadow,

keeping watch above his own.

For You Today

You will have choices today.  Whatever choices you make, you will also live-with; so choose wisely.  God is standing by, keeping watch above his own.

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[1] Title image:  See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons