If the instructions in today’s passage had been taken
seriously by the kings of Israel and Judah, how much different could the course
of their history have been? God commanded each king to read and follow His law.
As we read through the historical books of the Old Testament, we see that this
command was ignored by most of the kings. Even if they kept up the external
tradition of writing out their own copy of the Law (which we are not told that
any king did), they clearly failed to put its precepts into practice.
While not kings, many leaders in the broad stream of
Christianity fail to understand and apply the Word today. We see large numbers
of churches that call themselves “Christian” espouse teachings that openly
ignore what the Word says, sometimes defiantly so. These churches are more
interested in fitting in with the intellectual, social, and moral climate of
contemporary society than they are with remaining true to God and His Word.
They believe that by reflecting current ideals they will attract the world to
them.
Most of these situations do not arise when people who
attend a church start to pressure the pastors and teachers of the church to compromise.
More often, they begin when leaders come in who reject or reinterpret Biblical
teachings to match popular thought. There is a lot of pressure to be acceptable
to those who have status outside of the church, to appear to be reasonable and
tolerant by people who are more interested in justifying their sin than to be
faithful to Christ.
When we look for a church, or for a pastor or Bible
teacher, our first criterion should be “Is this someone who knows and lives the
Word of God?” While we’ll never find someone who is perfect, we should seek out
leaders for whom the Bible is their authoritative guide for life and whose
lives reflect an understanding and commitment to following the Lord and His
Word.
Ironically, it is denominations and churches which have
turned away from the Bible which are losing members most rapidly. The very
thing they thought they could achieve by compromising with modern culture has
not happened. When we seek to be like the world, we give those in the world no
reason to join us. We can’t offer them anything they don’t already have.
The Bible as the revealed Word of God provides the
Christian and the church with something far more important and valuable than
anything this world has to offer. Through the Word, we learn of our need, of
Jesus’ sacrifice for us, of eternal life, and of a life with meaning that goes
beyond our time here on earth. We need to learn from leaders and teachers who
know, study, live, and proclaim these truths to us. For that, we must always
come back to God’s Word, and to what it reveals to us about Him.
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