Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian
denominations? Can’t God write an easier to understand book? If the Bible is
the authoritative, inerrant and inspired Word of God how on earth do we all
arrive at so many interpretations? What’s worse is that the people within each
denomination each believe they have the “correct” interpretation, so we all
separate ourselves from the others in order to not let any “false” doctrine creep
in. We each believe we have it all figured out (or at least we believe our
pastor does and we really “like” him) so we box ourselves into a building and
label it “Lutheran” or “Catholic” or “Baptist” or “Methodist”. Or, if we don’t
want our particular label to hinder any newcomers we will get ‘seeker friendly’
and swap out our “Baptist Church” sign with a “Community Church” sign while
holding to the same doctrinal exclusivity.
But if we really believe we built our tree-fort on the
correct branch, what are we so afraid of? Do we really need to agree on
everything in order to get along? If two people who confess Jesus Christ as
Lord disagree on the meaning of God’s sovereignty is it really time to build a
separate building? What happened to us? What happened to “Love
is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable,
and it keeps no record of being wronged” (1 Cor. 13:4-5)? Somewhere along the
line we started believing that salvation is about correct doctrine rather than being
reconciled and restored to the God of love. Somewhere along the line we started
worshiping the “Father, Son & Holy Bible"
(my interpretation, of course) instead of worshipping the “Father, Son &
Holy Spirit.”
There’s a peculiar story in the book of Genesis about Jacob
working for his deceitful father-in-law, Laban. Jacob had worked for Laban for
many years and had been cheated by him over and over again. Jacob wanted to get
away from him and start his own family somewhere else, so he made a deal with Laban
for a portion of the flocks to be given to him for his many years of work. This
would allow him to leave and start a new life with something of his own. They
agreed that Jacob would take all the spotted and speckled sheep and goats as
his wages. Laban agreed to the terms, knowing that spotted and speckled lambs
were considered flawed. This is when the story gets really weird:
“Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar,
almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on
them. Then he placed these
peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for
that was where they mated. And
when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to
young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.” – Genesis 30:37-39
As the animals came to drink, they would
see spotted, speckled and streaked branches at their watering holes, which also
happened to be their breeding ground. As they came to the water, drank and
bred, they did so while looking upon the spotted branches. The result was that
they reproduced spotted and speckled offspring. And it was all because of what
they saw when they came to the water.
We read that the Word of God is referred to
as “water” in the Bible (see Eph. 5:25-27; Heb. 10:22).
Not only that, but the Word of God is also referred to as a “mirror” (see James
1:23). What’s even more interesting is
that way back in the book of Exodus the Israelites were commanded to make the
washbasin for the Temple out of “bronze mirrors donated by the women who
served at the entrance of the Tabernacle” (Ex. 38:8). The Word of God cleanses
us in much the same way as the washbasin made of mirrors cleansed the Old
Testament priests before they went into the presence of the Lord. They were to examine themselves in the mirror and then cleanse themselves of what they "brought along".
So, we see that the Word of God is like cleansing water
which reflects and reproduces what we bring to it. When we come to the watering
trough of God’s Word, we will reproduce what we see. Not only that, but
whatever our heart is set on when we come to the Bible is what we see in the Bible.
As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects
man. – Proverbs 27:19
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do
flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23
The Bible will reproduce whatever is in our hearts when we
come to it. Are we coming to the watering trough with too much "baggage" - with our minds made up about a
particular doctrine or way of thinking? If so, the Bible will reflect it back to us and reproduce
more of what we see. This will do nothing more than convince us to continue
justifying our own “interpretation” – to draw even deeper lines of separation
between us and others. This is the “knowledge which puffs up instead of builds
up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
Or, are we coming to the watering trough with a humble, open
and hungry heart? If so, we are a soft piece of clay in the hands of the Potter
– a blank canvas for the Holy Spirit to splash with revelatory color and a kind
of “knowing” which isn’t about doctrine, but about a Person. Love Himself.
So, getting back to this issue of all the
denominations. I believe the story about the spotted & speckled sheep
teaches us that we should concern ourselves less with bringing interpretive
methods and doctrines to the Bible and concern ourselves more with the attitude
of our hearts when we come to the Bible – the watering trough made of mirrors. What
we bring to the Bible determines much of what we see in the Bible – good or
bad. The Word of God is a “mirror” which is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). Jesus
never told us to “be right” about the Bible (which is a book). He told us to become the Word of God (who is a
Person). What we "know" often keeps us from who we need to know.
May we set aside all the labels we have for each other and
come to the pure water of the Word. May we set down what we think we "know" and come to the watering trough with humble and hungry hearts. Like little children may we bend our knees, open
our hearts and be filled with the love and revelation of the Word
Himself, Jesus Christ.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” –
Matthew 5:8
