The Maze of Off Ramps

I don’t know if you have experienced what I am about to talk about, but there are times when I study God’s Word, and look at some of the misunderstandings, divisions and false teachings that do abound, within Christianity, that I wonder how in the world is one supposed to navigate through this maze, while learning of Jesus and what He would have us comprehend, and at the same time, maintain some resemblance of Christian love and compassion towards all who come across our paths, in this quagmire of a world that we live in. To say that the task can be daunting is a bit of an understatement.

Each generation, throughout history, has had their own tailored maze of particulars to walk through and come to terms with. These particulars can and do, indeed differ, depending on the time frame and the geographical location that one is in, but this experience that I speak of, is not just isolated to our own set of circumstances, but is in fact, consistent throughout all of recorded history, as it relates to the dawning and establishment of Judaism and the establishment and growth of the Christian Church.

But, as Christians, we do have a road map, which is our Christian Bible, that contains both the Old and the New Testaments. And in order to successfully navigate this maze that is set before us, it is absolutely imperative that we be very familiar with that road map. And that doesn’t mean just parts of it, it means all of it, because the Bible does indeed, contain the whole counsel of God that God would have us know and understand. That word “whole” is critical, because developing a Biblical understanding on any Biblical topic, does necessitate that we have access to and understand the implications of, all of the parts of that particular equation or topic.

And of course, reading, discerning and applying God’s Holy Word, takes time, considerable time as God opens His Word to us through the leading of the Holy Spirit and our expanding comprehension to the difference between His ways and His thoughts and our ways and our thoughts, and as most of us know, who have earnestly started on this walk of discovery, the depth, width and height of God’s whole counsel literally knows no boundaries. It is in fact, a life long endeavour, that never ends.

The Jews put great emphasis and value on God’s Holy Word and yet, for far too many of them, they missed it. In John 5:39-40 NASB Jesus said the following” “You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”

And as Christians we may say to ourselves, how could they have missed it, it was so clear, yet many of the mistakes that they made, we continue as Christians, to make ourselves. The mistakes that they made in the Old Testament, in spite of God’s revelation, are put there for a reason, that we might learn from them.

That narrow gate and constricted path that Jesus speaks of (Matthew 7:13-14), has many what I call “off ramps” that lead us away from, rather than closer to, that which God would have us focus on. And there are many many “off ramps”, and all of them, without exception, focus on the things of this world, rather than what Jesus has already conquered and established in the Kingdom of God.

When we focus our words and thoughts on slander, conspiracies and questionable conjecture on worldly events, that takes our eyes off of He who God would have us focus on, who wins and who loses? But as Christians, we are smarter than Israel was, we don’t get taken in by that which surrounds us, do we? When we focus our faith and trust on earthly leaders and alliances, we don’t fall into the same traps that Israel did. No, we’re much smarter than that. Spoiler alert: no we are not.

And what have we done to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we really take to heart the whole counsel of God that is given to us in the New Testament on a particular topic or subject or do we just pick those portions that align with our worldly perspective of not offending anyone? We expound upon the Scripture where Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery and drop off the part where He told her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Or we expound upon the Scripture where Jesus tells us “judge not, that we be not judged” and totally neglect the rest of the context of that subject about judging (Matthew 7:1-6). And you know, I am just barely scraping the top of the iceberg.

And heaven forbid that someone should actually note these misalignments of Scripture and call them into question. Just label that person as a “legalizer” and Bible thumper who obviously doesn’t love like we all should. Search the whole counsel of God, love does correct and love does judge, but not hypocritically. Big difference.

 And what bothers me the most is that there are many Christians who don’t see that “big difference”, not only do they not see it but they actually applaud those who expound the exact opposite, and by doing so, they sanction the one who actually voiced the objection. And once again, you know how much smarter we are than Israel was. 

The “gate” is small for a reason and the path is “restricted or narrow” for a reason. The maze of “off ramps” is big, stay focused.

Something to think about.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!