25 March 2008

Be Willing to Yield: Part 2 of ?


"The Bible teaches certain truths, and we have to deal with them, like it or not." From my pastor's Sunday sermon at my church.

"We are all responsible to know and submit to all of the Bible. Who are we to pick and choose what we like and what we don't like in the Bible? It's not a buffet, after all. It's the Bible." Repeatedly taught by a college professor. He also said that "when we disagree with the Bible, it's our responsibility to give way to the Bible. If we truly believe that the Bible is God's holy word, then we must live our lives in responsiveness to the Bible, giving it the number one position of authority in our lives."

That response to Biblical authority is one I respect and trust. It clarifies for me what's most important. The people I love and trust the most -- more, even than the pastor and professor I quote here -- have lived lives modeling this truth: that the Bible is true and trustworthy in every teaching.

Did you catch that?

...every teaching, even the hard ones! That's the biggest implication for me in this little truth: that even the teachings I think are hard, or that I think don't make sense, or maybe I think they don't leave much room for liberty (liberty-freedom-selfsufficient-American that I am) in my life. The bottom line is...so what if they constrain me a little? A little constraint must be good for me.

I trust the Bible and I strive to give its authority most weightiness in my life, more weight than all the other influences in my life. Maybe that's weird. Maybe it's un-American. Maybe it's dorky and backward and silly. So what? The more I know the Bible, the more I'm taught to trust and love it.

No comments: