TOXIC!!

TOXIC!!

".... the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” Luke 13:14 

Toxic Faith!   Read these words and they sound contradictory. How can one have faith that is toxic? How can faith become toxic? And then, why would someone want to have a faith that is toxic?

Toxins are the rage, and have been for more than a century. From our water to our food, everyone is concerned about toxic this or that. Yet, you hear very little of people talking about faith as being toxic, or even concerned if it is.  The first question is how does faith become toxic?  It becomes toxic or poisoned when God is no longer its focus, motivator or center. Could you imagine, having a severed limb - going into an ER only to be told to come back tomorrow?  We would be outraged.  Could you imagine calling the poison control center because someone has just swallowed rat poison, only to be put immediately on hold for over 30 minutes? We would want heads to roll for that one. And yet, we need to take care in our judgments of these. 

In Jesus' day, He had healed a man on the Sabbath. What a glorious thing! A man with an infirmity healed after all this time, and rather than be happy for the man, or joyous that God would grant mercy to such a one, the synagogue leader was more concerned about the technicalities, rules and regulations than they did on the people he was meant to shepherd and love. The local leader chastises Jesus for, in a sense, rushing to the aid of a bleeding child instead of making sure the carpet stayed clean.  

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. He adds, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)  I understand this to mean that love should always be the foundation of our rules and regulations, and ALWAYS trumps the technicalities. 

In the same respect, we also need to understand that love and compassion do not grant us excuses as believers to always come up with ways NOT to do what God says or asks. God has given us His word for our growth, learning, and experience. To come up with excuses to always NOT do what God says, is just as TOXIC as putting everything under a microscope of perfection.

So, be careful of TOXIC faith, on either side. This is why "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.(Mt.7:14)" Because on either side of that are toxic pits that lead to our ruin.

Jim