Sanitizing The Bible
The more we sanitize the Bible, the more we wash our hands of God. So let's wash our hands of sin, not Jesus. The only way to do so is to remain in His Word without sanitizing and disinfecting it. My comments may be offensive; however, if you are old enough to say, "Back in the day...," you are old enough to relate to this blog post. So...
Back In The Day
Back in the day, we knew that the common cold, flu, and other airborne and surface-dwelling "cruds" were part of life. "Common sense" informed us that we should wash our hands frequently and cover our mouths and nose when we sneeze. We knew the importance of exercise, eating a healthy diet, and reducing negative stress. We even knew that getting quality rest and cleaning the house was good for us. Spending time outdoors was a must.
Did we always follow every common sense best practice for warding off the bug? Of course not. We are human and make mistakes. But we learned that errors in judgment and common sense have natural consequences. The more we followed the "science of common sense," the healthier we were. Not always, but usually.
The point is that "back in the day," we didn't try to change "common sense" because it no longer conformed with our worldview or resonated with our lifestyle. So common sense was just that, whether we followed it or not. However, failing to follow common sense has removed many from the gene pool. Translation: doing something foolish can get you killed.
Now in the Present Day
Now in the present day, we have been psychologically conditioned to be hyper-sensitive to the bug. To be hyper-dependent on those who claim to know the truth, a truth grounded in their own understanding and hidden agenda(s). Now we are told to "follow the science" even when the science is no longer supported by the science of common sense. It is no longer supported by fact or reason. It is insane.
This insanity is psychologically mutating. It is changing forms and generalizing across settings. Just as one example, the vocal few have convinced the silent majority that perhaps there are more than two sexes. Maybe gender is fluid and culturally constructed rather than designed by God. We hear the familiar voice, "Did God really say there were only males and females?" Yes, He did (see Genesis 5:2).
A little doubt, a small amount of wondering, can lead an entire society to change definitions and add new culturally relevant terms. And unfortunately, in the present day, pastors who preach are nearly as likely to be as culturally fluid as professors who teach in secular universities. Worse still, we are seeing progressive Christianity sanitize and disinfect the Bible. We watch as our brothers and sisters in Christ comply with mask mandates and simultaneously put on blinders that shield their eyes from God's Word. What's next?
What's Next?
The question facing us today is, what's next? First, we expect the world to sanitize the Bible and disinfect it, hoping it will be killed like a bug. But what about the church collectively? What's next for us? Do we continue on the Biblical exterminator path with the willfully lost because it's the sensitive, loving thing to do? God forbid.
Instead, we should return to our 2000(+) year old roots. Use the common sense God gave each person--male and female--to make informed decisions about the world and what bugs us. But more importantly, we must remember that while cultures have come and gone, the Bible has remained the same. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8
The Bible, all 66 Books, is God's inspired, inerrant and infallible Word. We are free to destroy the book, dilute it with water, sanitize it for sensitive skin, or disinfect the words of their toxic message. No matter. God's Word and the message it contains about Jesus will never change.
Like our brothers and sisters who willfully disregarded common sense, and suffered real-world consequences, so will we if we deny God's Word. It is humanity that needs sanitizing and disinfecting, not the Bible.
The world offers no assurances, no guarantees. But God offers eternal life to those who believe in His Son, Jesus. I don't know about you, but my resolve to follow God's "best practices" in the Bible has never been stronger. In Jesus' eternal name. Amen!
