We Are All On a Journey
I read something recently that caused more than a little concern for me. Various people were being interviewed about an issue that is clearly dealt with in the Bible. There is absolutely no ambiguity in that divine volume about the fact that people who engage in a particular activity are in direct violation of the will of God. I know that I’m going to be criticized for using an old-fashioned and outdated word, but the Bible is clear that this activity is a sin.
The primary focus of the material I was reading had to do with how people involved in this sin should be treated. One man who was interviewed would, in modern parlance, be called a “church leader.” To be more specific, he is one of the elders of a church in Texas.
Personally, I find little with which to disagree with what he said about how people should be treated.
I feel like we should be loving to all people. If we see that it is against God’s will, we need to be loving and gentle in how we deal with people who are involved in that lifestyle.
The material I was reading did not limit itself to how people should be treated. It also dealt with the lifestyle/activity/sin itself. The remainder of this church leader’s quotation also dealt with that. It is the remainder of his quote that causes me more than a little concern.
I am personally on a ‘journey’ with this subject. I initially held to the traditional ‘it’s a sin’ thinking, but as I’ve gotten older, my stance has softened. I’m still journeying and studying this.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen the results of this type of “journey” before. Maybe my experience is unique, but I honestly do not think so. My observation is that at least most of the people I’ve known who have been on this kind of “journey” have left some clear teaching found in God’s Word in the dust and can only be viewed in their rearview mirrors.
All too often, when I hear somebody say that they are “restudying,” “rethinking,” or “still studying” something that is clearly taught in the Bible, it is an indication to me that they are on a dangerous journey. It seems to me that they need to be reminded about a warning found in Hebrews 2:1-2. In fact, maybe all of us need to be reminded of this warning:
Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (ESV, emphasis added).
The remainder of the inspired words of the writer of Hebrews, as well as many other passages in the Bible, remind us that we are all on a journey. At one point in that journey, we will all be in the same place.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).
Contrary to popular belief, we will not all be in the same place following that event. Some will be with the Lord forever and some will be separated from Him forever.
The criteria used to make that determination will not be what is accepted in any particular society, the teachings of some highly educated religious leader or philosopher, what I think should be the case, or any other similar thing. Rather, as we live our lives, we need to live them with the realization that Jesus said:
The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day (John 12:48, ESV).
It is undeniable that we are all on a journey. It is my prayer that all of us (definitely including me) are using the time we have left on that journey to draw closer to the Lord and His teaching instead of creating more and more distance.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
