Oh My

            “Oh my God.” There it goes again. We hear people say it all the time and we get our Christian selves riled up over it. How dare they? That’s breaking the third commandment:

            “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”

            We actually miss the boat if those three words are the focus. While we shouldn’t go around saying “oh my God”, the commandment is bigger than that.

            How do you use God’s name? How do you talk about Him? Is it with respect? Our culture is so flippant with everything that the concept of anything being sacred is alien.
            The Jews thought of God’s name as holy to the point they wouldn’t even fully write out “Jehovah”. And after every time an Israelite scribe would write the shortened form of God's name, he would wash himself.

            They would die before they said, “Oh my Jehovah.” In fact, Israelites wouldn’t even say God’s name out loud. That’s reverence.

            When you talk about God, are you giving Him the respect He deserves? I’m not going to get into the supposed gray areas (is “oh my gosh” okay? etc.), but the third commandment is much bigger than a three word phrase.

            God is holy, and so are the names used to describe/denote Him. Do our conversations reflect that? What about our hearts? Actions?

Getting More Bang for Your Buck: Post 2

            Here are three other tips to keep in mind when reading the Bible:

3) Interpret the New Testament in Light of the Old Testament

            I sometimes cringe when I hear well-meaning people tell new believers/seekers to “start with the Gospels” when going through the Bible. I understand the premise behind the suggestion… I used to say the same thing! The Gospels contain Jesus’ life, and Jesus is the whole point of Christianity, so what better place is there*?

            Genesis, namely.

            The problem is that without understanding what is in the Old Testament (OT), you can’t understand why Jesus is even necessary. A reader can’t understand WHY we need a savior, WHY the savior had to meet certain requirements, and WHY/HOW Jesus took mankind from under the law of God to the grace of God without the Old Testament.

            For example, here is an example of a NT passages that can’t be properly understood/appreciated without understanding the OT.

            Jesus liked to refer to Himself as the “Son of Man” (Luke 9:22, Mark 14:62, etc.). People often mistakenly assume He was referencing His humanity with the title. Actually, it’s the opposite. In Israelite culture it would’ve been understood as a claim to the divine figure in Daniel 7:13-14:

            "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

            He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

            If you didn’t know the reference, the correct meaning of Jesus’ favorite name for Himself would go out the window. The Son of Man referred to Jesus' divinity and messianic fulfillment.

            In short, the significance of a lot of Jesus’ life goes unnoticed without the OT. Also, in Paul’s letters he establishes doctrine and mindsets that can only be comprehended if a reader is familiar about the way things used to be before Jesus.

            A lot of the New Testament simply doesn’t make sense by itself. Now, you can always glean SOMETHING by just reading the New Testament, but we want maximum results, right? Well, for that you have to read the New Testament in light of its predecessor.

4) Use Your Imagination!

            Okay, so in my last post I said that the Bible shouldn’t be read like a fiction novel (“movie in a book”). While true, the Bible certainly comes to life when you use your mind to recreate images. Let’s go through one examples. Psalms 137:1-4:

          “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

            There on the poplars we hung our harps,

            Or there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

            How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?”

             Now, use your imagination! I personally can imagine the Israelites hanging beside a river and remembering all that they had before they were captured. They are silent or weeping, too despondent for mirth. I can see the musicians being too depressed to pick up their instruments. But then their bored captors laugh and mockingly demand a tune. Then I imagine the hatred burning through these proud Israelites as they glare back. They slowly comply and sing a defiant psalm.

             As you can tell, I’m a terrible fiction writer. But you get the point I’m trying to make. Use your mind to recreate the scene. All of sudden the Bible goes from “long ago and far away” to “wow, these were actual people with hopes and dreams like me!” I could give tons of examples – from Ezekiel having his crazy visions to Jesus’ agonizing flogging and crucifixion – but you get the gist of what I’m saying.

             The Bible comes alive.

Summary

             As a teenage Christian, I’m in this “Bible reading” business for the rest of my life. I have so much to learn, but God is using people in my life to show me how to unlock the riches in His Word. These are just four tips on an amazingly deep subject (hermeneutics and exegesis**).

             We speak to God through prayer, and we hear Him through the Bible (among many other ways). This series was on reading because I am nowhere near ready to write anything on prayer. Haha, I have a lot of work to do in that area as well.

*Now, I’m fine with a compromise. Reading Genesis AND one of the Gospels works, too.

**Hermeneutics is the principles (guidelines) for interpreting scripture, while exegesis is actually interpreting scripture. Sometimes I just use the word "exegesis" for both, which isn’t the best thing to do.

Getting Some Bang for Your Buck: Post 1

Here are some “quick” tips to getting something out of reading the Bible:

1. Read Books of the Bible According to Their Genres

            This is the most violated principle of Bible reading. Proverbs, for instance, is poetry that is meant to convey GENERAL truths. “General” meaning “most of the time”. It’s not meant to be taken as rock-solid 100% truth. Take Proverbs 22:6, for instance:

            “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)

            This has comforted parents greatly through the centuries… that is, until you see some godly pastor’s kid jumping off the deep end (permanently). What happened? God PROMISED in Proverbs that, with godly parenting, a kid will come back to the faith! God is a liar!

            Unless, of course, you understand the genre of that particular passage of scripture. This tip helps you properly exegete (interpret) the Bible.

            Another problem people run into has to deal with parables. Christians love to take every minute detail of a parable and try to match it to some truth. For instance, in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus talks about the beggar Lazarus and a rich man.

            The purpose of this parable is to tell Jesus’ audience that if Israel wouldn’t listen to the prophets and Moses, they wouldn’t listen to Jesus now. They also wouldn’t listen to Jesus after He rose from the tomb. And that is exactly what happened.

            Now some like to take every incidental detail of a parable and like to establish doctrine. For instance, in this parable Jesus describes the inhabitants of Heaven and Hell as being able to converse with each other. These Christians then turn around and claim that Jesus was saying we will be able to do that when we die.

            Now, I’m not ruling that possibility out, but “being able to have conversations with people from the other side” was NOT the purpose of the parable. It was a detail added to the story to set up the main point, which was “if Israel didn’t listen to Moses or the prophets, they wouldn’t listen to Jesus”.

            We shouldn’t try to take every detail of a parable and try to proclaim it as a literal truth. Don’t miss the forest (the point of the parable) for the trees (the details used to get to that point).

            I could go on and on with why we miss out on the great truths. Here are some more mistakes we (me included) often make: reading the Old Testament prophets just to look for prophecies about Jesus/end times, reading the words in red and think Jesus was being quoted word-for-word*, thinking God wrote the Bible directly instead of inspiring men to write it in their own personal style**, etc.

2. Read the Bible with Three Things in Mind

            There are three tiers of truths we can gather when reading a passage of scripture: 1) what truth does God want me to apply to my life? 2) How was God working in that particular situation of scripture? 3) How was God using that particular situation to accomplish His greater kingdom purpose?

            I know I often stop at that first one. I look for some way to apply a passage of scripture. When I find it, I stop and say, “Okay, that was a good study.” But there is so much more to the Bible.

            Take the story of Joseph’s temptation in Genesis, for instance. If you stopped at the first question, you would get some amazing truths. You would come away with the cost of obedience, the blessings of obedience, etc. You could answer the first question very easily.

            But if you stopped there, you’d miss the bigger truths. God was working to show His glory in an amazing way, using a prisoner to prevent Egypt from starving. How God was setting Joseph up to bring his family to Egypt to grow the nation of Hebrews. The second question reveals some amazing truths.

            What about the third question? God was using Joseph (a prideful snob, really), a nobody, to do great things. The Lord has done that many times over, using the weak and useless to accomplish His will. God then used Israel as a model nation for the world, showing mankind what happens when we obey or disobey Him.

            You can get all of that (and much more) by asking those three questions. There are more questions you can ask to get different angles, but you get the picture. What is God telling you? How was God working? And how was God accomplishing His greater goal?

Summary

            I have a few more tips, but these two are helpful ways of getting more out of Bible studies. We often think “the Bible is weird” because we read it like a fiction novel. We read it for entertainment purposes. When we don’t get that “movie in a book” feeling, we stop. But we have to read the Bible in ways it was meant to be read.

*Unlike today’s culture with quotation marks, Jesus’ culture was concerned about preserving the message of a speaker, not His words. That’s why, in the same story, Jesus sometimes uses slightly different words depending on which gospel you read. The writers were concerned about what He was meaning, not what He was saying. That doesn’t mean they were wrong per say, but we have to read His words with this in mind.

**For instance, Paul basically curses in Philippians 3:8. He writes “skubalo”, which, in the Greek, means a stronger version of “dung”. Different translations have different words depending on how strongly they want to translate that word. Some say “dung”, others say “waste”, etc. They are technically correct, but the force is definitely lessened. A more accurate translation might be the s-word, believe it or not.

Reading Scripture with All Your Mind: Why Should I Read?

            Currently I am listening to a lecture by Walt Russell called “Reading Scripture with All Your Mind”. Now before you fall asleep, let me tell you some why this is such an important topic.

            Teens often say reading the Bible is boring. Though I beg to differ, I see their point. They read about crazy stories and weird theology… why? What is possibly in it for them?

            I confess I was the same way. That is, until I decided to stop playing “church kid” and actually enter into a loving, obedient relationship with my Creator. You see, when you love someone, you want to find out all about that person. You read what they read (unless they read boring theological and philosophical works… like me). You listen to their music. You listen to them (hopefully). You watch them. You… get the point.

            With God it is no different. When you are committing to an eternal relationship with Him, you want to grow closer to Him. He is your everything. You want to listen to Him. You want to know what He knows. You want Him to guide your steps.

            All of those things are possible through Bible reading and prayer (I’ll be focusing on the former). We see how He thinks and a glimpse of His vast knowledge. We see what makes Him happy and sad. We see how deeply He loves us.

           Why do we read the Bible? We read the Bible because we want our relationship with God to grow.

Okay, That’s Great… But…

            Okay, so you understand that Bible reading draws us closer to God. But still… what’s in it for me? Well, if the above reason doesn’t stir a desire in us to read the Bible, the following benefits won’t either. I’ll give them to you anyways.

1) One result of meditating on God’s word is found in the very first Psalms (verses 2-3):

            “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

            He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

            Though written in poetry, there are solid truths to be found within this beautiful Psalm. The first is that a man will be grounded and nourished. When winds of tribulations come, he won’t be moved because he is rooted. He won’t grow tired of life because he is always energized.

            Also, he will recognize opportunities given to Him by God. When God calls on him to bring fruit (i.e. be productive), he understands and obeys.

2) Another reason is found in Psalm 119:105:

            “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

            A person needs to know where he is going in life. Without this knowledge, he is basically useless because he can’t tell the difference between danger and opportunity. Is his next step leading him toward a pit or water? Well, don’t ask him because he has no clue.

            The Word of God is that lamp that illuminates our life.

3) James 1:23-25:

   “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 

   For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

   But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

           The basic questions of life are answered in the Bible. Who am I? Why am I here? The Bible answers those things. It is the mirror that shows us ourselves in ways nothing else can. It is honest; it doesn’t distort images. You can find rest in the Word of God.

 4) I could go on for eternity on the benefits of reading the Word. There are so many. People have written books upon books on what happens when you delve into this Book.

Summary

            The reason why we read the Bible is to grow in our relationship with Him. But God didn’t us an obituary or a phone book to go through; He gave us a book that benefits us in all facets of our lives.

            Now in my next few posts I’ll be going through HOW we should read the Word. I’m not an expert (duh), but there are a few tips I’ve learned that I would love to share.

Abandon Christianity? Reason 19: The Bible is Full of Contradictions

(Warning: REALLY long post)

Part I

            Number 19 on freethoughpedia.com’s list? The Bible, Christianity’s basic text, is riddled with contradictions.
            I will freely admit that there are numerous instances where, on the surface, critics have a plausible case. These situations can make readers do a double-take. As usual, however, there are explanations. When it comes to doctrine, factors such as context, subject, and audience are key. When it comes to numbers (such as in the books of Samuel and Kings), the answer often lies in chronology (hypothetical example: one number was recorded early in a king’s reign, and the contradictory number was recorded later in the same king’s reign. The simple answer to the “contradiction” is that the number, whatever it represents, changed as the years went by).
            This issue is different than other “problems” with Christianity in that Christians have to explain every little potential contradiction instead of having a blanket answer for an issue. This can get tedious, for there are few jack-of-all-situations answers that you can apply across the board. Christians have to cover each contradiction individually and conclude, “See, no contradictions after all.” This can be a pain, but 1 Peter 3:15 states:
            “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (NKJV).
            I’ll quickly go through the words I italicized. Always means that Christians have to defend the Bible no matter the time or how unattractive the subject is. Defense doesn’t mean “plug your ears and tell the person to shut up”, but to logically give an answer to arguments (to the best of your ability). Everyone includes smart-alecks who really don’t care for an answer. Reason means arguments, and the more well-thought out the better. Meekness and fear excludes Bible-bashing, an unfortunate but favorite tactic used by prideful Christians (which means me sometimes).
            Now let’s get to the specific contradictions given in the article.

Part II: Contradiction I

            James 1:13 states, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (KJV).
            Okay, so what do we know? Based on context (surrounding verses), James is talking about trials and tribulations. When someone is enduring trials and is tempted to sin, she shouldn’t blame God for being enticed to sin in her situation. God isn’t dangling sin in front of her and saying, “Give in.” No, that’s the flesh (our nature that desires to sin). Don’t blame God for the flesh working inside of you. Now for the alleged contradiction:
            Genesis 22:1 states: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him…” (KJV). The story goes on to tell of how God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham goes to obey God, and God makes it all work out in the end by saving Isaac and providing Abraham a ram to sacrifice instead.
            How can the contradiction be explained? One way is to simply point out that the word “tempt” means two different meanings here. When I tempt someone (James 1:13), I want them to fail. But tempt can also mean “test” (Genesis 22:1). God was tempting/testing Abraham’s obedience, not enticing him to sin.
            Put simply, God cannot tempt you to sin. He will never hold sin in front of your face, daring you to mess up. However, that doesn’t mean He won’t tempt your faith and obedience. The only way to see if something is real is to put it through tests. This can also be called “tempting”, but sin/failure is not the goal, but growth. God can tempt, but only the flesh tempts you to sin. God encourages obedience.
            Put even more simply, there is sinful tempting (where the goal is to get the victim to sin), and non-sinful tempting (where the goal is to get the “victim” to grow).

Contradiction II

            Jeremiah 3:12 states: “…for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.”
            For the sake of understanding the contradiction forthcoming, I will include verse 13: “Only acknowledge thine iniquity (sin), that thou hast transgressed (disobeyed) against the LORD thy God…” (KJV).
            The context is God talking to Israel (earlier in verse 12). By this time Israel and Judah were two separate nations, and they both rebelled against God. God, being merciful and just, was angry with Israel, but told them His anger would subside if they acknowledged their sin. Remember two things: 1) God is talking to Israel. 2) There was a condition that Israel had to meet before His anger would subside. Now for the contradiction.
            Jeremiah 17:4 states: “…for ye have kindled a fire in my anger, which shall burn forever.”
            The context is God talking to Judah (17:1). Also, if you read the context, there is a finality to His words. There is no condition of forgiveness in this section of scripture. Judah is cooked; God’s punishment will stand forever. Judah is at the point of no return, at least at the moment Jeremiah is speaking.
            The two examples, on the surface, are contradictions. But they aren’t because of two reasons: 1) the audience changes from Israel to Judah, 2) in one instance, there is hope for Israel if they repent. In the other, there is no hope for Judah, and God lets that be known.
            Before I move on to the next “contradiction”, let me say something on God’s judgement. Jeremiah 17:4 is completely accurate for those who don’t repent. God’s anger will burn forever, and there is an eternal punishment. But if we repent as God asks in Jeremiah 3:13, His anger won’t burn forever. There will be mercy.

Contradiction III

            (I like this one in a twisted sort of way. Very clever) In John 5:31, Jesus says, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.”
            In context, Jesus was talking about obeying the Father and not Himself (5:30). Also, He is basically saying that it isn’t His job to say, “Look everyone, I am here!” That was the job of John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples (5:33). Basically, Jesus wasn’t here to toot His own horn, but to obey His Father. Now for the contradiction.
            In John 8:18, Jesus says, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”
            In context, Jesus wasn’t talking about obedience (obeying the Father), nor fame, but truth. In every respectable culture, when someone makes a claim, there has to be witnesses. Jesus witnesses Himself, but that isn’t enough. He is saying that the Father also is bearing witness to His life and ministry.
            The difference is that Jesus is talking about importance and fame in John 5:31. He is of secondary importance to the Father. Also, His disciples, not Himself, are spreading His name. John 8:18 is talking about truth, and how God the Father is witnessing everything that Jesus is doing on earth.
            In John 5:31, “bearing witness” is talking about importance. 1) The Father, 2) the Son. Jesus was letting everyone else know that. In John 8:18, “bearing witness” is purely legal. Jesus isn’t closing Himself in and seen by no one. His Father is with Him every step of the way.

Contradiction IV

            I won’t bother with the verses in this one. Some say that God has never been seen. Others say God has been seen (as in Jesus and instances in Old Testament). This is a contradiction, right? Right?
            There are varying opinions on this matter. I hold that the Father has never been seen by His creation directly and in full glory. We wouldn’t be able to take it. However, the Son has been seen (Jesus, duh).
            I believe that the Father, if He has been seen, has held back His full form. He’s never been seen as He is. However, the Son can and has been seen.
            Some say that the Father has never been seen. Every time God has been seen, it’s been Jesus, not the Father. The Father, if He chooses to, speaks thru things. Such as burning bushes and angels and whatnot. But in His actual form, He’s never been seen.
            God’s been seen, but at the same time He (the Father) hasn’t been. Pretty nifty and completely true. The glory of the Father would kill us, which is why He doesn’t show us all of it.

Part III

            (Summary) The Bible has a lot to it, and some of its teachings seem to contradict each other. However, it is usually superficial due to word choice. As we’ve showed, “bearing witness” can mean several things, and so can “tempt”. The audience and context can determine these things and must be taken into account. Whenever a “contradiction” comes up, take a little time to study it. Problems will fall away.

Strange Scriptures: Shut Up! (Just Kidding :)

            (Chapter 1 of Strange Scriptures) Have you ever wondered what the word “Selah” means 

in Psalms? I have. I’ll be reading something, and I’ll randomly see “Selah” at the end of a verse. 

The annoying thing is that I’ve heard the meaning for it a gazillion times, but I always forget! 

Hopefully this time will be different.

            It’s a relatively simple explanation. Originally, the Psalms were meant to be sung. That’s 

why you’ll read “Sing unto the Lord” or some variation of it a thousand times in the psaltery (the 

Psalms were not meant to be read along like prose). All “Selah” means is a break, or a pause, in 

the singing. Instead of hearing voices, the listeners would hear a musical interlude until the 

singer started up again.

            This is sort of like in my church where, after a verse or a chorus, the band will just play 

music while everyone contemplates the lyrics and what they are singing.

P.S. The Hebrew word for “Selah” means “to be silent” (shut up :).

Strange Scriptures: What a Tangled Web We Weave

           Many know about the account of Joseph and his brothers. In one of their earlier “episodes”, 

Joseph’s father gives Joseph a “coat of many colors” (Genesis 37:3). His brothers get extremely jealous, 

and things go downhill from there. Eventually, Joseph gets thrown into a pit, where he dies.

            Just kidding. He goes on to become the 22nd President of the United States.

            In the third chapter of her book Strange Scriptures, Barbara Walters goes over this incident. She 

writes that the brothers weren’t being petty and childish when they got jealous over the coat. It wasn’t a 

case of “Why did Jo get more ice cream than we did?”

            No, Joseph’s coat was extremely special. According to Barbara, it was called a kamise, and 

only two people in a clan or tribe had it. The sheikh, or ruler, and his heir. The former was Jacob, and 

when Jacob gave Joseph the coat, the latter was Joseph. The coat symbolized the ruler-to-be after the 

present leader died.

            Understandably, Joseph’s older brothers were upset. In that culture, the inheritance did not go to 

the youngest (or second youngest, in this case) son, but to the oldest son. Yeah, I would've gotten 

angry, too.

            At first glance, it may seem that Jacob was being unfair by choosing Joseph. But if you 

remember his earlier life, he only wanted one wife (Rachel) in the first place. Through Laban’s trickery, 

he married Leah first, and then Rachel (Genesis chapter 29). Leah ended up having several sons before 

Rachel, and they (duh) were older than Rachel’s first son, Joseph (Genesis chapters 29-30).

            Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so naturally he wanted her first son (Joseph) to be his heir. 

There is a case for both sides, and this whole mess started with Laban. Ouch, I would not like having a 

father-in-law like that.

            Whenever you hear the bare-bones “Joseph got a coat and his brothers got jealous” historical 

account, remember that it was much deeper than that. Joseph’s brothers (probably Reuben) should’ve 

been heirs to Jacob, but if Jacob had his way, those brothers wouldn’t have existed. 

            That last sentence was weird, and the whole situation was a mess.

Strange Sciptures: Rude

            For the next few posts, I’ll be going off a little book called Strange Scriptures That Perplex the 

Western Mind by Barbara M. Bowen. This book goes over verses in the Bible that might puzzle people 

unaccustomed to Middle Eastern ways. The Middle East has not changed very much since Bible times 

(besides McDonald’s). Because of this, when she writes about passages of scripture I can be assured 

that she is not only accurate today, but that her explanations are also accurate for “Bible” times, as well. 

Her exegesis (explaining passages of scripture) is very valuable.

            The first verse I will go over (in chapter one of the book) is a small matter, but it is important to 

understand culturally and spiritually. In Luke 10:1-20, Luke writes about how Jesus sent 70 men, in 

pairs, to places where Jesus Himself would come. In verse 4, he writes that Jesus said, “Carry neither 

purse (money), nor scrip (bag), nor shoes, and salute no man by the way.” That means that Jesus’ 

disciples were not to greet those they met on their way to their destination.

            When a European or American reads that, he or she might be tempted to think that Jesus wanted 

His disciples to be rude. This is a natural reaction, given the way we “salute” or greet people today. We 

might nod our head and say “hi”, never stopping during the process. Why wouldn’t Jesus allow His 

disciples to be similarly courteous?

            The problem is the Middle Eastern greeting isn’t like the Western greeting. We might shake 

hands and say, “How are you doing?” But it doesn’t last long, a minute or so at the most. Then we are 

on our way. No, the Middle Eastern greeting is elaborate and repetitious. They kiss their friend (or 

whoever) on both cheeks, then they have a little hand ritual, then they have a list of complimentary 

speeches and questions. The whole process can take hours. That is what Jesus meant by a “salute”.

            No, Jesus’ disciples had a job to do. They were to be focused. The Messiah was here; they were 

to spread the news. The Kingdom of God was (and is) near. This was an eternally important message 

that they needed to spread. They could not be hampered by extremely long greetings, so they were not 

to greet anyone on their way.

            Now that we understand what Jesus meant culturally, how can we apply this lesson spiritually? 

When we are saved, Jesus gives us responsibilities. Two of these are to spread the Gospel and to love 

one another. These are weighty things, and we are called to fulfill them. But there are often cultural 

obstacles. In Jesus’ time, greetings could sidetrack evangelism. Though that is not a problem in our 

culture, America has its own obstacles for Christians desiring to be obedient to God.

            For instance, a lot of Americans believe that, while faith is important, religious folks should 

keep their beliefs to themselves. If Christians try to tell them about Jesus, they are insulted. They say, 

“Keep your Jesus to yourself.” This is an obstacle that is just as real as the “forever greetings” of Jesus’ 

time.

            Another obstacle we have in America’s culture is the pseudo-Christian belief that if you know 

about Jesus, you’re good to go. Just go to church once in a while. Jesus covers you, baby. Do your 

thing; we’ll see each other in Heaven one day. The obstacle is “knowing can save you”. That is why 

we have a culture of people who call themselves Christians, but don’t live like Christ. It is a deadly 

obstacle. People know who Jesus is (sorta), and they know what He did (sorta). They believe this 

knowledge can save them.

            Jesus wasn’t being rude; He was just giving us an example of what it looks like to put the life of 

a Christian in action. We are not to falter in the face of cultural obstacles. No, my friends, when Jesus 

saves you, you are to live for Him. Cultures will pass away, but God never will.