Pendulum or Plumb Bob?

A friend of mine from college expressed frustration recently about controversy in the church carried too far. The subject was the inerrancy of the Bible. There was a great deal of this back in the 1980's, but for most Christians it has passed. It now divides what we call moderate and conservative Christians. I believe that it has pulled the teeth from the preaching of the moderates because they cannot speak with the authority that Jesus and the church have been renowned for generations for. Yet it has also been expanded in a way that it was never meant to be. This is the frustration that my friend wrote about. My response is the balance that I have sought over the years.

Sometimes I think that we need to ignore the controversy and just be givers of radical grace, that is controversy enough for me. The pendulum always swings and man will always write the latest type and version of the Talmud, adding to God's Word, as if God is not able to speak for Himself. I prefer the plumb-bob to the pendulum and I try to keep it centered over the heart of Christ and His redemption- the essence of the gospel.

Perhaps we should simply seek "plumb-bob faith."

The Rug Pulled Out

It has happened to all of us. We are happily going about our life's business, all of our plans going smoothly, and then with a sound like an earthquake, the rug gets pulled right out from under us. Now when this happens in life we think of things like divorce, the realization that a child is not who we thought he/she was and is involved in a terrible relationship or drugs. It is affairs, alcoholism, and all kinds of life’s mayhem coming from quarters that are simply not expected. We always see this as a negative thing, but it is not always negative.

You see sometimes it is truth that pulls the rug out from under our perceptions. Jesus was the Master of many things, but his communicating of "rug pulling" truth may have been His greatest skill.
Matthew 5:43-48 (HCSB)
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Love must be radical and far outside our comfort. Just as then, today men work constantly to make the words "Love your Neighbor" more comfortable while Jesus works to pull the rug out from under us.