Hola from San Pedro, la Lagoona! I have now been on the Guatemalan mission field for 1 whole month. WWHAAAT? Jesus has done great things in the past month, but I know He wants to do more both in and through me. One way I know the Lord is growing in me is through the online school that I am doing here on the field. In my class, Spiritual Formation, I was given a quote and asked to write about it. Friends this quote is too good not to share. Besides sharing the quote with you, I wanted to also share my thoughts on it in a discussion format. The following quote is what I will be basing my discussion off:
“The greatest deception of the people is the kind of zeal for God which is invested without Scripture in the interest of the salvation of souls, the honor of the church, love for the truth, good intentions, usages or custom, episcopal decrees, and the indications of reason, all of which have been begged from the light of nature. These are lethal errors, when they are not led and directed according to Scripture.”-Balthasar Hubmaier, On Heretics and Those Who Burn Them
In the society we live in today anything flies. We are a culture of acceptance and tolerance. Now more than ever, most voices and behaviors are given the opportunity to speak and be heard. We validate everything. Sinful and immoral behavior is accepted because anything goes. But the voice that we should be listing to, the voice of consistency and the standard of righteousness, the voice of God, is often ignored. How often are we listening and following the voice of the Lord? And how are you listening for His voice? Do you wait for the pastor to quote scripture on Sunday or are you living in His Word? If you are not reading the Bible, the voice of God that was left with us on earth, then you are more susceptible to the tricks of the enemy. One way the devil can detour you from the truth is by steering your ship, one degree at a time, off course. It’s several small steers at a time before you are no longer headed in the direction you set out for, all because you put your map down.
Unlike todays reading materials, Scripture never changes. The world has no objective definition to define right and wrong there for it is not to be trusted. The active and Living Word of God is our only measuring stick. Second Timothy 3 verses 16-17 say, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If you aren’t “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training” from a heart saturated in scripture then what comes out will be a human response. Our actions and agenda apart from God can lead us into a form of dictatorship. It’s a dangerous road that can even lead to misrepresenting the name of Christ. What a sad thing it is to think that there are many men and women in Church leadership living apart from the Word of God, guiding and stewarding souls out of their own good intentions. But by just having good intentions what will that do? Christians are to be doers of the Word not just hearers. We are not to trust in our minds but live by the Word of God. Because we are human and fall short of the glory of God good intentions cannot be trusted.
When we’re not actively and deeply rooted in the Word of God, our actions and heart posture become one born out of our self rather than the Lord. Because of our innate sinful nature, it is easy to begin slipping from the commands of God and into the legalistic agenda of the church. When we hold tightly to the “Christian rules” the first-world church offers we will view others through a lens of legalism rather than serving and loving out of the freedom we get to live in because of Christ’s death and resurrection. This is something I have seen during my time here in Guatemala. When you ask a Mayan, the natives of Guatemala, when they met Jesus they often respond, “All my life”. What they mean is that their parents were Christians and have always known Him. If you were to ask when the became a Christian, they would give the same response. Being a Christian here means following the customs and traditions of generations before them. They live their Christian life out of rituals rather than redemption. Some might argue that even liberated Christians follow traditions, such as communion and offerings. So then what’s wrong with the Mayans following cultural customs? There’s nothing inherently wrong with traditions, the problem is when the focus of the ritual falls on the ritual itself rather than the meaning behind it. The difference here is the heart posture and biblical emphasis behind it.
To summarize the quote and put it in my own words I’d like to say this: Faith without works is dead but works without faith is detrimental. If you take an interest in people’s lives, salvation, service and tradition but leave the Creator of it all out, the meaning becomes meaningless as we gradually loose sight of why we’re doing it in the first place. The focus can instead point others to ourselves or the world. Lord, let me bury myself in your Living Word so my every word would be yours.
