Skeptics say that the Bible is filled with inconsistencies. In a way, they are right. The only problem is that the skeptics are focusing on the wrong inconsistencies.
Scripture says that we should not love the world. Then it says “For God so loved the world…” God mandated that mankind would die. Then He gave us resurrection. The Bible teaches that God is just. And yet He did Himself the supreme injustice by taking on the ultimate punishment and being executed as a criminal though He was blameless. God established a means of human reproduction. Yet the virgin conceived the most important offspring of all time.
All of these inconsistencies display ways that God expresses His love to us. So, yes, skeptics – there are some paradoxes of sorts in the Bible. And we’re all better off for them.
Many people want to see justice. They view life with a keen sense of what is right or wrong for any situation. They look to God to balance the scales and bring fairness.
Other people know better.
If God were truly fair, who could escape His judgment? David expressed this when he said “God has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve.”
Personally, I do not want God to give me what I deserve. I am very willing for Him to be unfair, because in the unfair nature of God there is grace.
For us to desire that which is right is only one part of God’s plan. Another verse says “This is what God requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
As a child of God, I should do right as often as I can. I should also love to show mercy, humbly acknowledging that God has been mercifully unfair by sparing me from the punishment I deserve.
Shortly before his death, Jesus told his followers that it was good for them that He was going away. I always had a hard time believing that. Until recently.
Earlier this year, someone close to me died. It is no exaggeration to say that – in business, philosophy, human relations, and other areas – he was one of the greatest men who ever lived. As eulogies and remembrances were presented at his memorial service, and in the contact I’ve since had with people who knew him, a common thread is visible. We all consciously want to continue his legacy of wisdom, generosity, kindness and the like. And it’s more than simple aspiration. We’re driven. As if we’ve caught the spirit of this departed man.
In no way am I saying that it was good for my friend to have died. But if he could have risen from the dead… if he could say that he was with us always, even to the ends of the age… if he could truly have placed his living Spirit inside us to guide us… and of course if he had been divine, sinless, and infallible, (which I know he was not), I am starting to get a glimpse of how that could be good.
Jesus, of course, did and was all those things. So maybe it was to His disciples’ benefit – and ours – that His physical presence left the earth. Maybe Jesus really knew what He was talking about. Imagine that.
Psychologists will tell us that many people today suffer from an identity crisis. Maybe the best way to avoid this is to not get attached to our identity.
Enoch was a man who was close to God. In fact, we are told that “Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him.” That’s about all we know about old brother Enoch. He walked with God and he was no more. His identity was wrapped up in God.
Jesus said those who try to find their lives will lose their lives, whereas those who lose their lives will find their lives. Another spiritual paradox, but one that will go a long way toward curing my identity crisis.
Followers of Christ got their first label in the town of Antioch. The people there called them “Christians.” Since that time, many have taken to calling themselves “Christians.”
It might surprise people, as it did me, to learn that the word “Christian” is used only three times in the Bible, and in each case it is a label of contempt, or reproach. There was no great love from outsiders for this unruly group who lived in a counter culture within the walls of Antioch. When Agrippa says to Paul, “Do you think you could persuade me to be a Christian?”, he most likely spat at the term. And as Peter spoke to his readers about suffering as a Christian, they understood the point he was making.
Thanks to decades of atrocities, large and small, in the name of religion, and many years of scandal in the “christian church”, this label is again one of reproach. Maybe that’s not so bad. It does leave us, however, with the dilemma of what to call ourselves. I’ve heard all the alternatives, as I’m sure you have… saints, born-agains, believers, Christ-followers, etc. I once got so frustrated when speaking to someone that I told her “I’m a creature from another planet… I don’t belong here.”
I usually conclude that it’s best not to apply any label to myself, or to those whose journey I share. If others, like the people in Antioch, want to call me something – whether it be a term of endearment, respect, or contempt – let them have at it. There are times when I deserve and don’t deserve them all. Meanwhile, I’ll just do my best to stay on the path.
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