Today’s Scripture Reading (September
25, 2015): Number 14
I recently
found an article in my inbox from a ministry magazine entitled “Four Reasons Why
it’s Time to Fire the Pastor.” Evidently someone had decided that I needed to read
the article - and so I did. The author outlined his four reasons, and admitted
that there were many more, as being sexual infidelity, financial mismanagement,
promoting himself over God, and preaching heresy. The first three seemed to be
automatic, but the last one made me a little angry. There is a clause in the
rulebook of the denomination that I minister with that says basically the same
thing, any pastor can be removed for preaching heresy. And my question is this –
who gets to decide whether or not someone is preaching heresy? Isn’t it part of
the Pastor’s – or any other church leader’s – job to press the people of God
beyond what is comfortable? There are many behaviors that are common in my
denomination that were once branded as heresy – including, but not limited to,
adult baptism and the idea that every Christian needs to read the Bible. People
have not just been removed from the church for these offenses, they have been
executed for believing either one of these things. They were clear cut heresies
then, but now they are the expected behaviors, at least within the context in
which I minister. I am thankful for people in the past who chose to become
heretics and baptise adults. I am indebted to the first heretics that were
involved in translating the Bible into German and French and English so that
the average person could know what was contained within the pages of the book.
In today’s
church I believe that we throw the word heresy around a little too easily. Too
often we refuse dialogue because we think we know “the truth” – and we brand
leaders as being non-Christian for the sin of not agreeing with us on hot topic
issues. The word heresy shuts down dialogue at a time when what we really need is
to talk more.
Joshua and
Caleb had entered into Canaan and had explored the Promised Land. And they had
decided that if God was with them, then there was nothing that could stop them.
But to the people, that advice sounded insane. And so they decided to brand
Joshua and Caleb as heretics, and then carry out the prescribed punishment against
them which was execution by stoning. If God had not intervened, the history of
the Nation of Israel might have been very different – after all, there would have
been no Joshua and Caleb to lead the nation into Canaan forty years later.
But that
seems to be the problem. Too often we brand as insane those who hold a
different idea than we do about the way this world works. But if history holds
any example with regard to heresy maybe it is this – sometimes the heretic is
right. Maybe rather than spout out meaningless words when we think we see heresy,
it would be better to sit and listen – and to try to understand. I have seldom
been sorry for the words that I have not spoken – and I often wish that I could
take back the things that I have said. I need to be continually reminded that I
am nothing more than a simple Christian who has been called to one simple task –
love the world in which I live. The judging of it I will leave to one more
qualified. There are Bible teachers who I disagree with, and I am sure that
they disagree with me. But my hope is that we could still sit together and
dialogue over the issues, and maybe understand each other just a little better.
This, I believe, is exactly what our faith demands of us – this, and little
more.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers
15
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