At some point in
your life you will almost certainly talk with someone who believes only select
portions of God’s Word. They pick and choose which parts they like and then
attempt to explain away the other passages as either irrelevant or uninspired. When
this happens, they have adopted a religion of self.
Like all of us,
their worldview has been firmly shaped by those who have influenced them the
most, their inner circle of friends, the books they have read and the people of
whom they have listened. By the time they reach their teen years they have
figuratively purchased the land lot,
performed the necessary clearing of rocks and debris, drawn out the
architectural blueprint, dug the hole, and have even begun pouring cement to
build a secure foundation. Before college, they have already allowed time for
the cement to dry and have begun construction on the worldview house they will
live in for the rest of their life. While some unexpected additions or delays
may creep up, they will finish their worldview house. But what’s missing? God.
At this point it
is hard to change a person’s preconceived ideas, but it is not impossible.
Jesus declared in John 8:32 that the truth of God’s Word has the power and potential to set people free.[1] Yes,
this means demolishing our first home. But God, the Master-Builder, is fully
capable of assisting us in joyfully building a new home built on a sure
foundation. By recognizing the power the Gospel is having in our own lives
(emphasis on the present tense), we are then capable of passionately and
confidently sharing the truth with those around us.
Upon finding out
that someone near to you willingly disregards certain portions of the Bible,
you should know that they have chosen to build their house on a nice sandy
beach. They went for the view when they were choosing lots. And, while it may
look very nice from their perspective, ultimately, their house will not make it
in the long run. It will flood, shift with the sand, and become infested in
life-contaminating mold, eventually falling into the raging ocean.
Whether they
have physically cut out portions of their Bible or not, the fact that these
individuals have removed and denied passages exposes their pride. Their position
that they themselves can determine what is and is not truth reveals the
exaltation of self. They have, at that moment, placed themselves on a pedestal
and have mentally removed God from His throne and replaced Him with an idol.
Do not be
deceived. They have taken the place of God by replacing Him with their own god.
They have selected verses that make them feel good and excluded those that
convict or call for sacrifice and have thus created a god to suit their
comforts. The only problem is that this god does not exist. They may continue
worshipping with you in the same local church body but they are no longer
worshipping the one true God of the Old and New Testaments. If this happens,
love them and pray for them. However, guard yourself from falling into the same
trap of exchanging the truth about God for a lie (Romans 1:25) or following
after words that tickle the ears (2 Timothy 4:3).
The religion of
self is the same temptation Adam and Eve fell into in the third chapter of
Genesis. They believed the lie that they could only trust some of God’s Word. Satan was able to gain a foothold in their
lives when he got them to question the goodness of God. Many today have become
untrusting towards God because Satan has deceived them into viewing God as rival, rather than Father. Thus, when they come to uncomfortable passages or verses
that disagree with certain ideas being advanced in our culture, they side with
the world and not a loving Father.
This then has
resulted in the religion of self. The exaltation of man above God. The belief
that we can define our own reality for ourselves—totally independent of God. This
way of thinking says, “I will believe the passages of Scripture I like; but the
ones that call out my sin must go, because God could not have really meant what
He said. My God would never want me to be unhappy.” It would honestly be better
for them to write their own religious book, than to continue plagiarizing and
misquoting the Christian Scriptures.
Conclusion
We will not
always have the answers to every question. Even through Bible study and
continual preaching (yes, in the Great Commission passage Jesus has called you to be a preacher – future blog
coming) we may not always have an immediate answer to every possible question. However,
we must endeavor to reach men and women no matter where they are at in life
knowing that the only way they will come to hear truth is through people like
you and me (Romans 10:13-15). Remember, this is a spiritual battle so prayer is
ultimately your most powerful weapon to compliment the spoken Truth and the
Holy Spirit’s work.
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