Sunday, October 07, 2007

what or who is correct?

I've been reading about the importance of right doctrine and since I agree I've posted what I've posted what I read. But I want to emphasize that while right doctrine is important, without right practice it is of no value. Many critical bloggers, preachers, writers, etc. these days have right doctrine (mostly right anyway) but are very critical of those that do not. John Michael Talbot provides the following excellent reminder in his post today.

Luke 10:25-37

And who is my neighbor? v. 29

This question was an attempt to rationalize the radical nature of Jesus’ words, to take the edge off what Jesus said. The questioner did not want to change his current and comfortable "religious" lifestyle.

OUR IMAGE OR HIS?

Many of us do the same thing today upon hearing a word that makes us uncomfortable. We hear Jesus challenge us to change our lives radically, and we respond negatively. We aren’t atheist or agnostic. By and large we agree that we should believe in God. We go to Bible studies and seminaries where we are told not only what Jesus said, but what he meant to say! Usually the interpretation is far less radical and challenging than the literal words of Christ. We would often rather meditate on a modern Bible commentary than on the Bible itself. When we do this, we conform Jesus to our desired image rather than allowing the Spirit and his words to transform us into the image of Christ. Is this anything short of idolatry?

Notice that the people who passed by the man who had been assaulted by robbers were all religious and respectable. Yet none of them did the will of God. It was a Samaritan, a fundamentalist heretic in the eyes of the Jews, who did God’s will.

IT'S A MATTER OF THE HEART

Doctrinally, the Jews were correct, but they did not please God. Doctrinally, the Samaritans did not perceive the full and ongoing revelation of God to his people through the prophets, the psalms, and the wisdom literature. Yet the Samaritan did the will of God because he had compassion; his heart was right even though his doctrine wasn't.

Do we have compassion, or do we just have doctrine? Do we intellectually rationalize, or do we radically obey? Jesus wants disciples who allow their lives to be radically transformed by compassion and love, without which our doctrines may be correct, but our life with God will still be wrong.

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