“The joiner is meticulous,” Don said. “If the plaster board
on the ceiling is a tiny fraction out, we unscrew it and make it right.”
Of course. A small discrepancy can lead to a gaping hole by
the end of the room.
I thought again about the BBC program I watched the other
night. It documented the relationship between evangelical American Christians, Israel
and Trump. It led me to question what I should call myself. A name should
reveal principles and beliefs that I espouse, and if by calling myself a
Christian, I am associated – in the minds of unbelievers – with the same
beliefs as those evangelicals, I don’t want to call myself that. I may adopt
one of two other names I’ve heard – ‘red letter Christians’, who stick to the
words of Jesus as highlighted in red in many Bibles – or Jesus-follower. In my
Bible study group yesterday, we read in Acts that it was in Antioch that
believers were first called Christians. What a beautiful name, and what a
privilege to be associated as a disciple of a healer, a man of peace, a man of
justice and mercy and love who embraced all peoples no matter their creed or
colour or gender. It is such a privilege to bear the name of Jesus Christ – and
it fills me with sorrow to think how tarnished that name now is.
If a ship’s navigator is slightly out in his calculations, a
ship may never reach its destination. The navigator has to be meticulous,
constantly checking the ship’s position. Everyone who calls themselves by the
name of Jesus Christ has to be meticulous, checking their viewpoints by the
words and actions of Jesus as recorded in Scripture. Otherwise, what starts out
as a small misunderstanding or misinterpretation can grow into a huge and
horrible gap, where a believer is embracing a twisted theology and living out
of a self-centred misunderstanding. Instead of being a witness to the love of
Jesus, one can become a witness to human motivations and calculated
manipulations.
I am reminded, yet again, of the absolute importance of
prayerful Bible reading, and the helpfulness of studying Scripture with other
believers. It’s as we gather, even on Zoom, that we find our understanding
illuminated.
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