Benji's BlogSpot

Look at just the boxed words. Think about the Ten
Commandments, and how a youth minister broke them
by ‘coveting his neighbor’s ox’ or ‘committing adultery.’ Now
look at the picture. You see now, how the Ten Commandments
were actually ‘broken?’ Not the same thing you originally
thought, is it?

It is so easy to take the words of scripture, line for line,
and leave behind the picture that God set them in. Without the
intention that is behind the words, the Good News is lost. Just
look at Matt. 5:30: “And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part
of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Jesus
is not preaching to amputate our hands when we sin - He wants
us to separate ourselves from the instrument that puts our sin
into action. If it is a bar (drunkenness), a computer (lust), a hair
salon (gossip), or even a tradition of being ‘right’ (pride), Jesus
wants us to ‘cut it out’ of ourselves.

Discipleship is not about living right by keeping to a
strict interpretation of the Bible, but by denying our selfishness
and self-righteousness. You’re not right – God is. It’s not how
you can make people see it your way, its about how you can
see it His way. Set aside what you know about the words in
the Bible, and seek out what is going on in the Bible where
those words are written. Jesus didn’t say go follow ‘righteous
people,’ He said “follow me.”(Lk. 9:23) and His way is mercy.