The Psalmist says that God’s word is a lamp to his feet and a light for his path (Ps. 119:105). He goes on to proclaim his loyalty to God’s law and his word no matter the circumstances, for his hope is in God’s word (v. 114).
The backbone of my faith has always been Scripture. I was taught at an early age to read it and to study my Bible. We carried it with us to church and, like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, followed the preacher’s logic to see if it lined up with Scripture. We kept the Bible by the bedside to read before going to bed. And if that wasn’t enough, I was sent to a small, private Christian school where daily prayer and Bible classes were mandatory to my education. The result was the emergence of a high view of Scripture, and a conscience effort to root my teaching and preaching in God’s word.
While I was taught to trust God’s word, I was also taught to be suspicious of anyone whose view of Scripture differed from mine. Since I was a conservative Christian, anyone to my left was held in suspicion. Since they didn’t take God’s word seriously (according to the standard I was shown), they were not to be trusted. They watered down God’s word and refused to preach the whole council of God. But in my twenty-five years of preaching, my experience has not quite lined up with what was taught me.
In the book of Zechariah, the people came to the prophet for advice. Following the fall of Jerusalem and the temple, Israel initiated a day of fasting to mourn the temple. For seventy years they commemorated this day, but now that the temple had been rebuilt they weren’t sure if they should continue this tradition. So they asked Zechariah for a word from God on this matter.
The response they received was not what they expected. God indicted them. First, God questioned their motives for their so-called “moment of silence” (Zech. 7:5-6). Secondly, he told them that their continued actions was not better than their forefathers taken into captivity (Zech. 7:7). Then he landed the final blow to Israel when he outlined what he really wanted from them, and it wasn’t a feast or a “moment of silence.”
Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other (Zech. 7:9b-10).
I wish I could tell you that the Israelites responded and repented. I wish I could tell you that they tore their clothes in sorrow for their self-righteousness. I wish I could tell you how revival swept the land. But they were no better than their forefathers. They stood, turned their backs to Zechariah and plugged their ears to his message (Zech. 7:11-12). The response of the prophet did not fit their definition of what God wanted from them, so they refused to listen.
Where the word of God is intended to be a light to guide our faith, more times than not, it’s a barrier to what we want to believe. When we’ve stood to condemn people for undermining Scripture to support their belief system, we’ve failed to consider if we’ve done the same thing. We believe we should forgive, but justify the refusal to forgive “that” sin. We believe we should be compassionate, until we don’t trust people’s motives. We believe we should help the poor, only as long as the poor help themselves. We believe we should show love, until it’s a person difficult to love. Somewhere Jesus voice is silenced: “Yes, forgive ‘that’ sin. Yes, continue to be compassionate. Yes, keep helping the poor. Yes, true love is being stretched to its full measure.” If the truth be known we are the ones undermining the very authority of the Scripture we hold so dear.
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) once said, “Most churches don’t hear God’s voice because we’ve already decided we aren’t going to do what he says.” I don’t think it’s just an indictment on those to my left, but to all who claim to follow the word of God.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)