Convictions Can Kill

I am currently reading Believing God by Beth Moore. My husband recently found some interesting reviews of the book on a blog called Slice of Laodicea. Now, I am not new to this site. Late in the evening hours, as we sit around our table, the thoughts and convictions expressed on this site provide ample fuel for discussion. But usually I allow my husband to filter what he has read there and to express his concerns. When they started discussing Beth, however, I decided to read what they had to say for myself. And I cried.

I didn't cry for Beth. Beth is a big girl with a heart as big as Texas itself. Her life is zeroed in on God and her love for Him spills over onto all with which she comes in contact. I didn't cry for her. I cried for the people who were writing on the site.

As they expressed their convictions about prayer, scripture reading and versions of God's word, I was impressed with the cloud of death that hung over them. There was no life abundant that Jesus promises in John 10:10. They were "waiting for God in the next life". They were "annoyed" by their brothers and sisters in Christ. They were wallowing in death....abundant death.

Oswald pointed out, just yesterday, that had Abraham clung to his convictions (as adamantly as these people cling to theirs) he would have killed Isaac. The only thing that saved Isaac from a brutal death was Abraham's ability to be completely and totally zeroed in on God. Focused totally on God and God's nature, Abraham was able to hear the angel tell him to "Stop!"

In Matthew 15, Jesus has a discussion with the Pharisees regarding the keeping of tradition. It was tradition (and a fairly wise one) to wash your hands before you eat. The Pharisees expressed concern that the disciples didn't always do this. And when they asked Jesus about it, He asked them why they could pick and choose which traditions they would adhere to. "Why hold only to the hand washing one? Why do you ignore the one to honor your father and mother?" Who are we to pick and choose what traditions or rules we will honor and which we will ignore?

As I read the responses on the SOL site, my heart broke at the venom that was vomited all over my sister in Christ. Jesus explains in Matthew 15:10-20 that our lives are defiled not by the things we take in (Beth's study on Believing God, reading the NIV or, heaven forbid, the Message!) but by what we spew out. What comes out of our mouth comes from our heart and if it is vomit, putrid and foul, then the source (the heart) is putrid and foul as well. And according to Psalm 18:25-26, if our hearts are corrupt- putrid- foul- bad, we cannot figure God out- He makes no sense to us. And we cling to empty traditions and exist in a life void of Life.

Pause a moment with me and pray for those trapped in convictions that kill. Allow blessing from a heart that is pure lift prayers of praise to a God that cares that they are blind leading the blind into a ditch. Pray that their eyes be opened, and if you have a chance, offer a hand to pull someone from the ditch and point them to a God who is bigger than tradition and more merciful than we could ever imagine.