A SEARCHLIGHT OR A MIRROR

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

               As followers of Jesus, we revere the Bible as God’s Word. We see it as our guide for life and for holiness. The Bible makes us aware of our sinful state and offers to us the amazing gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. The Bible plays a central role in the life of every believer.

               Having established the authority of the Bible, it raises the question, is the Bible a searchlight or a mirror? For many people, the Bible is viewed as a searchlight. It is used to “shine the light of truth” into other people’s lives. The Bible is often shined on other people to expose their sin and their misdeeds. It becomes a weapon to be used to condemn the world and justify the saints. We have to ask, is that really the best way to use the Bible?

               I want to suggest that the Bible is not a searchlight but a mirror. God intends for us to see ourselves in the pages of His Word. As we study the Bible we begin to see our own sinfulness. We see all the ways that we fall short of God’s glory. It also helps us to see that, through faith in Christ, we are redeemed and children of God. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul invites us to take a long look in the mirror. The focus is not on exposing other people’s faults, but taking an honest look at ourselves.

               The Bible is meant to teach us about God, about ourselves, and about God’s design for His world. It is filled with wisdom and instructions about how to live a godly life in an ungodly world. In many ways, it is a training manual for godly living. But it is more than that.

               The Bible is meant to awaken us to our sinfulness. We all have spiritual and emotional blind spots in our lives. The Bible makes us aware of these and calls us to change the direction of our lives. Paul highlights this aspect of God’s Word in Romans 7.

Romans 7:7 (NIV)
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

               Paul’s point was that he was ignorant of his failure until the Word of God opened his eyes to see it. The same is true for us. We are all ignorant of our sinfulness. We take certain aspects of our character and life as just being normal. That is until we see the reality in the Bible.

               Once our eyes have been opened, the Bible then takes us one step further. The Bible is meant to correct the shortcomings of our life. The Bible’s primary purpose is not to condemn, but to redeem. What would you think of a doctor who accurately diagnosed cancer in your body and then failed to offer you treatment? God, in His grace, does not want to leave us in our sin. Instead, He wants to redeem us and bring us back into a genuine relationship with Him. His goal is to remove us from the kingdom of darkness and invite us into the kingdom of light.  ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)

               But the Bible is not done with us yet. The last goal of the Bible is to train us for God’s service. Someone has said, God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. God’s ultimate goal is for us to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Once we become a child of God, through faith in Jesus, He begins the work of reshaping our lives. The goal is for us to be fully equipped to be and do what God desires.

               If we see the Bible as a searchlight, it becomes a weapon that we use against others. But if we see the Bible as a mirror, it becomes an instrument in God’s hands to change and transform our lives. The Bible is a powerful tool. Used in the right way, it is redemptive and energizing. Used in the wrong way, it become destructive and divisive.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

 

DILUTED OR FULL STRENGTH

 

1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV)
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

               I have been reading The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton. It is a challenging read and sometimes a little confusing. In one chapter he talks about the development of the idea of “the gods” in history. He makes the point that even as the idea of multiple gods spread, there remained in the background the idea that there was one ultimate God who was the source of all the rest. The idea of multiple gods was a dilution of the concept of one God.

               His point was that the more we expand the number of gods, the less we have of God. It is the difference between experiencing something at full strength vs a diluted strength. In our secular world today, we want to continue to expand and add onto the idea of being spiritual. What was once a fairly pure concept has become a diluted solution that only has a faint taste of the real thing. In essence, the more “gods” we add to the equation, the less of God we experience.

               One of the reasons for this is that experiencing God at full strength is so overwhelming. When the people of Isreal encountered God at Mt. Sinai they pulled back. They told Moses to go and speak with God on their behalf because it was just too much for them. I think the same is true today. People would rather have a diluted version of God than to encounter Him full strength. It is just too much.

               The Bible invites us to encounter God at full strength. Rather than moderate the commands of God, it gives us a clear, undiluted picture of what God requires. This often makes us uncomfortable. Especially today, we are reluctant to take God’s Word at face value. Instead, we want to nuance it, to make it more palatable for today’s sensibilities. But in doing so, we move farther away from God, not closer.

               I am not suggesting that we go back to a legalistic approach to faith, where everything is about keeping a set of rules. What I am suggesting is that we need to get back to the very basic reality that there is one God who is supreme and has the right to rule and reign in our world.

               At the very heart of genuine faith is the concept of one God. It was the foundation of all faith. It is stated clearly in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Jesus affirmed this reality and applied it to the way we live our lives. "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  Mark 12:29-31 (NIV) Knowing and believing that there is only one God who deserves our praise ands service shapes the way we are to interact with one another.

               Many people today want to camp on the second half of Jesus’ words. They have made love for others the top priority. At the same time, they want to deny the first half of this statement. Genuine love for others is born out of a genuine love for God. When we take God out of the equation, we dilute what it means to love one another. We get to redefine and nuance it to mean whatever we want it to mean. We can excuse all kind of behavior by appealing to love. What we end up with is a watered-down version of love that has lost most of its real meaning.

               God has set a high standard for us to live by. It makes us uncomfortable at times and we often chaff under it. But God is offering us a full-strength encounter with Him. As Jesus put it, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 (NIV)

               We are in the habit of diluting things to make them easier for us to handle. But what we lose in the process is genuine effectiveness. It is just like diluting a medication to make it more palatable, but sacrificing its healing effects. We live in a world that has pulled away from a full-strength encounter with God. We have tried to substitute many diluted versions of “the gods” to make it easier for us. In essence, we want to shape God to our own wants and wishes. In the end, we lose God all together.

               If we want the healing, restoring power of God in our lives, we need to encounter Him full-strength. No diluted version will do.