Pastor James MacDonald said people call us Bible Thumpers because we use the Bible to beat people up. Have you ever done that? Think about it before you answer. Think about the times you have said, “The Bible says…” and followed it up, not with a truth you are using as an illustration or to undergird a talking point in a Bible study or a small group, but with the words “______ is a sin” (you fill in the blank).
There are times that saying this is innocuous, and there are times it follows a Bible beatdown.” When we use the Word of God to condemn someone, not out of love, with a view to their good, but to shame or attack another person, someone made in the image of God Almighty (just as we all are) who He loves and Jesus died for, we do so in error – meaning we sin.
Many Christians go around armed and ready to fire the Word of God like a weapon. Do you think God wrote this book to maim and/or kill a person made in His very image, formed with care in his or her mother’s womb and conceived in love before the foundations of the world had ever been made? Sounds bad when you hear it said out loud, doesn’t it? And wrong. I doubt there are many people who would answer yes to that question. Of course, there are some who would deny this accusation, but, in their heart of hearts, would still consider these attacks their righteous Christian duty. I pray their numbers are few, but, sadly, there will always be that pharisaical spirit in the church and their end will be worse than their beginning.
“The Bible is a mirror.”1
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 NIV)
It’s for us to look into, much like we do when getting ready to go out somewhere. We carefully examine our appearance, is our make-up on correctly, is there a smear? We make certain our clothes are unwrinkled, straight, neatly tucked in, and matching. Is our choice of shoes proper? Are they comfortable, suitable for the event and the outfit?
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:25-26 ESV)
Use your Bible just as you use the bathroom mirror; look intently into it, and be sure you are ready to face the world. Speak the truth, but in love, not with malice or a self-righteous attitude and a judgmental heart and spirit.
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Do you suppose…—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? …and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (Romans 2:1,3-4,19-22 ESV) (emphasis mine)
Before you sit down to read your Bible, pray and ask God to show you what it is that He desires you to glean from His Word; ask Him to reveal to you the things in your heart that do not please Him and to guide you into truth and repentance, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Pray to be attentive, for your ears to hear the voice of the Spirit, Who leads you into all truth and be quick to obey. Without holiness no one will see God; His Word sanctifies you and cleanses you, if you will have the courage and humility to tell yourself the truth about the things you need to change – God already knows, and His Word is truly a “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 KJV). At times, this will be hard, hearing where you have stepped off the path, but, in the end, it will be precious and healing.
Sonya Richards
3/21/24
1 James MacDonald