Theres this person whos joined one of my ministries that took it upon herself to challenge me on the groups policy statement. Part of it reads as follows: •THIS MINISTRY WILL NOT TOLERATE THE TEACHING AND SPREADING OF FALSE DOCTRINES. So what does she do? She roughly commented that money is the root of all evil. Actually, the Bible verse 1 Timothy 6: 7-10 states, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Money itself is not inherently evil. Money in the hands of the right person could be used to do all sorts of good. It is the love of money that is the problem. A love of money causes a person to be greedy, power seeking, and negligent of Godly areas of his or her life. She made another comment also. God helps those who help themselves. Many people incorrectly reference this popular saying as a verse in the Bible. But the Bible verse doesnt exist. This saying comes to us by way of Benjamin Franklin. I could see that she wasnt going to abide by the guidelines of the ministry so I removed her to preserve the integrity of the Gospel. Some would then ask: Well, Sylvester, arent you Judging? And they will use this phrase, Judge not lest you be judged. Below is an excerpt from an article by Brannon S. Howse which best sums up how I view this misapplied verse. [In his book, True for You, But Not for Me, Paul Copan describes the fallacy in this all too common thinking: ▬It has been said that the most frequently quoted Bible verse is no longer John 3:16 but Matthew 7:1: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. We cannot glibly quote this, though, without understanding what Jesus meant. When Jesus condemned judging, he wasnt at all implying we should never make judgments about anyone. After all, a few verses later, Jesus himself calls certain people pigs and dogs (Matt 7:6) and wolves in sheeps clothing (7:15). … What Jesus condemns is a critical and judgmental spirit, an unholy sense of superiority. Jesus commanded us to examine ourselves first for the problems we so easily see in others. Only then can we help remove the speck in anothers eye-which, incidentally, assumes that a problem exists and must be confronted.[1]▬ Those that tell you not to judge, quoting Matthew 7:1 grossly out of context, are often some of the most mean-spirited, judgmental souls you could ever meet. Its not, of course, that they dont want anyone to judge anything because they want very much to judge and condemn your commitment to lovingly speak and practice your Christian worldview. You see how these tolerance rules work? We must tolerate them, but they dont have to tolerate us. The logic is consistent, anyway.] On a side note: How does one exalt themselves to the position to where when they are a guest in someone elses home, business, ministry, etc, that they can simply takeover? Even the world (lost; sinners) have rules regarding proper etiquette...how much more so are those whom are said to be Christians suppose to behave themselves in the sight of God and their brothers and sisters? Respect what belongs to others or leave it alone. I serve The Living God, whom shall I fear?
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:36:04 +0000
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