Acts 4:32 English Standard Version

They Had Everything in Common

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

This is about what ails me. Since the Word is true, then this ails us all.

I am intolerant. This is a disorder which has varying degrees. For some of us it is nothing more than a minor nuisance. We might not even notice it as much as an itch we can scratch. For me, it is a trigger I must not pull because it can wound others.

I confess this in order to tell those of us that suffer this same degree of irritation that we are not alone and there is help for all of us.

My latest foray into intolerance comes with the reporting of Hurricane Lee being reported to likely hit Downeast Maine, specifically Eastport, Maine on the Canadian border. That is not what downest means. It irritated me every time I hear it.

That is absolutely harmless for a weather forecaster to get wrong. Having grown up in Maine and being a Downeaster myself is how I identify with my childhood. 

This affects only me and people like me. That isn’t the point here. I live with people I love and they should not have to listen to me complaining every time that report comes on tv. What it does do is tell them that if I am that intolerant of a weatherman, what must I think of them.

James wrote to us about the unbridled tongue. God’s word is true. It harms the trust in relationships even when it is not aimed at a person present at the time.

I have taken God’s Word to heart and know it is true and I have bridled my tongue. While I might feel it, I don’t have to infect others. As a Christian I should model control.

1 Timothy 4:1-10 English Standard Version

Some Will Depart from the Faith

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Before Paul addressed the harsh realities of 1 Timothy 6 he laid out what a good servant of the living God would look like.

In these passages I can see Martin Luther, the great reformer, who opposed the Pope. He was labeled a heretic and excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Without him the Reformation would not have happened and we would not have all the denominations we have today. Denominations do not identify believers in Jesus Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit does.

Everything Holy is made so by the Word of God.

According to John’s gospel, Jesus Christ is the Word.

All scripture, our bibles, are God breathed according to 2 Timothy 3:16.

The Holy Spirit is given to tell us all that Jesus has to say to us according to 1 John 5:6.

If what is being said cannot be verified by the scriptures, then those comments are to be discussed in more detail before labeling an individual as a heretic. 

I doubt that God will send us another Martin Luther, but we should search the scriptures to see if perhaps someone else is coming and what that really means.