Trying to Trick Your Substitute

Suggested Reading: Galatians 1:6-18

Years ago, I attended two very different substitute teacher trainings. While both trainings were very different, one thing they both contained was a warning not to simply trust the students when they say, "But our teacher always lets us do this…" Instead, we were encouraged to abide by the teacher's notes whenever possible and, when in doubt, take the teacher's lack of notation as an indication of what to do. "Those kids are always gonna try to pull one over on you and make up their own rules!" We were warned. "Don't let them!"

Unfortunately, we find ourselves in similar situations far too often when it comes to what we believe about Jesus and the Bible. When giving an explanation for why Paul taught what he did, Paul explained, "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12, NIV). Paul wanted the Galatians to know that he did not simply pass on something he had heard from some other person but that Jesus himself had revealed these things to him.

Unless Jesus is personally appearing to us, the closest thing we have to such direct revelation is the Bible itself.  When we are dealing with such important things as eternal truths, we do not have the luxury of simply taking the students' word for it.  Through the centuries people have attempted to credit the Bible with saying all kinds of things that it doesn't actually say, things like, "God helps those who help themselves," or  "Money is the root of all evil" or (shocker!) that there were three wise men, and a whole host of barbaric things too numerous to mention.  Quite often, people attribute things to the Bible that not only aren't in the Bible but are contrary to the teaching of the Bible. "God helps those who help themselves," is a great example of this.  Romans 5:6 tells us, "While we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly" (NIV) and gives us numerous examples of God's concern for the helpless.

"Why does this matter?" one might ask.  Because the Word of God is something that deserves so much respect, we need to be careful not to credit it with human ideas. Because sometimes, what the Bible does not say is just as important as what it does say. And because it keeps us accountable for knowing the difference between our opinion and the Word of God. Paul even made such a distinction in 1 Corinthians when writing about marriage. He wrote, "To the rest, I say this (I, not the Lord): if any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her" (1 Corinthians 7:12, NIV). If Paul, writing what would become scripture, was diligent enough to make a distinction between his own opinion and the instructions of God, then we can do no less.

The next time we hear someone say, or we are tempted to say, "Well, the Bible says…" we need to check our sources. Even unintentionally, it is never a good idea to mislead people about the Word of God.

Dishonoring the Prophet You Know

Suggested Reading: Mark 6:1-6

Not long after Jesus began his ministry, when he he had already been preaching and doing miracles for a while, he visited his hometown and began teaching and ministering there as well. But unlike the other towns where he had ministered, where people had flocked to him and pressed in to be around him, they scoffed, "He's just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.  Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family" (Mark 6:3-4, NLT). The passage goes on to tell us that Jesus didn't perform many miracles there because they refused to believe.

Jesus experienced the truth of that old proverb, "Familiarity breeds contempt." You see, the people in Jesus' hometown had watched Jesus grow up. They had seen him playing with the other boys in the village and gone through the annual religious festivals with him. Many of them had probably been in the group traveling back from Jerusalem when Jesus, as a twelve year old boy, had stayed behind in Jerusalem and frightened his parents to death. They knew Jesus. So well, in fact, that they thought they could dismiss him. They could rationalize away his miracles with thoughts like, Well, he grew up just like I did so there can't be anything that special about him. And because, in their familiarity, they dismissed the messenger, they ended up dismissing the message and missing out on miracles Jesus wanted to do among them.

Unfortunately, we do the same thing far too often with people God sends to us with a word of truth for our lives. God sends a friend to tell us we need to choose a different attitude and, rather than evaluating the truth of the statement, we think of all the times our friend has been less than perfect and dismiss the message. Or, maybe, God sends your spouse, or your pastor is a family member, and you don't like what they have to say so you listen to them like a family member you disagree with rather than hearing the word from God that was spoken through them. Maybe, your parents or your children (never!) share a word with you and you judge the message based on your relationship with them instead of heeding the wisdom of their words. If people could dismiss the Son of God because they were familiar with him, why would we be immune to doing the same thing with some of the imperfect messengers God sends our way?

Is there a message God has been trying to communicate to you through someone you know well, maybe someone who knows you well enough to see details of your life that you sometimes miss? Try evaluating the message instead of dismissing the messenger because you are familiar with them or because you don't always get along with them. After all, is it more likely God would send you a stranger or someone who cares about you and is already in you life?

Hannah Montana Preachers

Suggested Reading: Ezekiel 33:23-33

One of the drawbacks of having a young daughter is that you watch far more Disney programming than you would like. Every now and then, though, you do find something valuable. In the Hannah Montana movie from a few years ago, the action gets started with the pop star in a fight with Tyra Banks over a pair of shoes. Naturally there are photographs that end up on the front pages of all the papers. While the young girl's father is mortified at his daughter's behavior, her agent thinks the publicity is great. Her father wants her to behave like a lady and be a role model. Her agent just wants her to be famous.

Hannah Montana's agent probably would have been thrilled with the way people responded to Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 33:30-32 the Lord tells the prophet, “Now, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One person speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear what the message is that comes from the Lord! ’ So My people come to you in crowds, sit in front of you, and hear your words, but they don’t obey them. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest profit. Yes, to them you are like a singer of love songs who has a beautiful voice and plays skillfully on an instrument. They hear your words, but they don’t obey them."

Ezekiel had what a lot of people, maybe even a lot of preachers, want today. Ezekiel was famous. People talked about him, scheduled times to go and listen to him, and talked about how wonderful he was. But for most of them,  the prophet was just a form of entertainment. God was more concerned with the people's obedience to Ezekiel than their adoration of him.

Unfortunately, many people today treat times of worship and preaching as entertainment rather than as something that is supposed to change us. Church services and times of worship were never supposed to be entertainment, switching from one venue to the next because the music was better or the speaker more charismatic; nor were preachers supposed to be celebrities. Times of worship are supposed to change us, to cause us to evaluate our attitudes and behaviors and equip us to live more Christ-like lives. Preachers are supposed to be people who speak the unpopular truths that we need to hear so that we can make those changes.

Why do you go to church or even listen to Christian music? Is it just to be entertained or to find the tools to live more like Christ? If you are a minister, do you make decisions based on what will bring you more listeners or do you speak the unpopular truths that need to be heard? Times of worship are far too valuable to be reduced to entertainment.