Controversy

Today's Verses -- Matthew 10:11-16

Context:
Jesus is sending out his apostles to towns of Israel to perform miracles and preach the truth. These words are a part of his advice to them before they leave.

Text:
11"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

We have another controversial book on the Christian radar screen -- The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. This book is touted as pure heresy by some, and as an eye-opening view of our limited human perspectives of God by others.

Have you read it yet? Do you typically read books that are controversial, like The DaVinci Code? There is one school of thought that says we should be innocent as doves and not even open the pages of a book that isn't Biblically correct in it's portrayal of religious beliefs. Others believe we should be as shrewd as snakes, reading the books and making intense comparisons of its claims against what the Bible says.

At different times in my life I have been in both camps, and rightly so based on my level of spiritual maturity. Early on in my Christian life I would have been confused by concepts that sounded Biblical but really weren't. I would never have passed the tests Jesus passed in the desert when Satan tempted him by using scriptural references. I wasn't grounded enough in the truth to know a lie when I saw one.

And while I know I have a long way to go to get to spiritual maturity (if such a thing is even obtainable), now I really enjoy reading books of controversy because it's fun to validate or disprove the concepts! I like to read reviews by famous Christian scholars and try to understand their perspectives of heresies or values displayed in the text. I really enjoyed our classes by Lee Strobel on The DaVinci Code. I find it interesting that few scholars will portray both sides -- the good and the bad -- about a controversial book. They seem to say that if any point is heresy that the whole book is worthless.

I get concerned a bit by that. It makes me think of the Pharisees who saw Jesus himself as a heretic. They knew the Torah (the Old Testament) inside and out, yet they were unable to reconcile their perceptions of God's word with God's own son standing before them.

How often do we do that? We've been so conditioned by whatever religion we participate in that sometimes it's hard to see what God really intended in his word. The things we learned in childhood may have been refuted as adults, but how many of us still picture God in our heads as he is portrayed in the Sistine Chapel : old, wise, bearded, and Caucasian?

I do find value in reading the book and deeply understanding the controversial points so I can have intelligent discussions with non-Christians who may have read the book and actually believe some of the foolishness portrayed within. I also like to explore my own beliefs to see which might be tainted by 'man's religion' instead of Biblical wisdom.

What is your take on controversy?