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Tereo:Reasonable Men and Fables
by Mike Frandson (Mike's bio)
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'But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear' (I Peter 3:15)
I think we should adopt this verse as our credo. I am also proposing that we adopt Pastor Rod Parsley's quote as our Plan Of Action:
We're not going to just read the Bible. We're going to READ the Bible! (Exclamation point noted!)
Our God has not hidden Himself away in a closet, is not keeping Himself in secret, and is not revealing Himself through mystical dreams, trances, or seances from dark corners. Our God has, in effect, laid his Word out on the operating table and invited us to take a scalpel and examine. Dissect it, ponder it, compare, and yes, contest the essence of what He is. For over 3,000 years men have done that very thing and God and His holy word, The Bible, have come through time and time again.
So let's put our plan into action. Our credo is especially important in two respects when we consider Peter's words. Look back at I Peter 3:15 again as we 'Read The Bible'. One, Peter encourages us to use 'meekness and fear'. We can only assume that these are the qualities that our Lord Jesus used in His ministry and in His revealing of God's Gospel. Meekness is the 'servant' role we play, mimicking our Lord who came to serve and not be served. Presenting the gospel of Jesus in this manner would be much more effective at winning converts than a 'hard sell'.
Fear is respect. Not cowering in the corner, scared over judgement, or vengeful. God wants our respect. He is the authority and the potter. We are the servant and the clay. Peter admonishes us to have our minds trained (ready), our defense presentable (give the defense; don't hold it back), and give it as Christ would give it Himself (humbly, with confidence, and out of respect for the Father).
He is saying through Peter, 'Be ready, for there will be those who will doubt your faith and I, Jehovah, am not a God of doubt, but am a God of Truth'.
The second thing to note is that Peter's words imply that there were already doubters and questions being raised from the foundation of the fledgling religion. I Peter was written in 60 AD (Usher), barely a generation removed from our Lord's ascension. No doubt Peter had seen the beginnings of the terrible times that were to come to him and others. As Rome viewed Palestine and the Holy Land with more and more hostility, the young Christian church and it's believers were a handy target for Rome's brutal vengeance. He had, no doubt, seen Saul of Tarsus' angry attacks on Christians. There is also evidence that the priests in Jerusalem worked hard to quiet the new 'religion'. We know historically that the doubters fought against the new church and that hundreds and thousands were to suffer and die for their faith.
Peter saw the importance of laying a solid doctrinal foundation to pass along to the next generation of believers. How soon would it be before his own life was over? Peter was in peril at every turn. As generations would become removed from the actual events of Christ's life, Peter encouraged believers to go by way of sound thinking, as well as faith. We owe Peter a great debt of gratitude and to pay him back we, too, need to study, to find ourselves approved, and to pass along what we have learned.
Peter later wrote that he and the apostles were not following 'cleverly devised fables' but 'were eyewitnesses of His majesty'. (II Peter 1:16) Again, we can assume (and we will see this in later columns) that he was writing in response to accusations that the Christians were following 'fables'. Yes, to some it might seem like a humble working man from Galilee could not be God's Son. Jesus' remarkable feats were already being branded as 'fables'. But they were not.
In closing, I am reminded again that Peter, Paul, Stephen, Mark, Matthew, and others were not ignorant men, following a 'cleverly devised fable'. These men marched headlong into their own deaths for some reason.
Next time, we will start looking at that reason.
And I would like to take a moment to acknowledge one of my editors, Deana Sprouse, of Brookfield, MO (and the University of Missouri!), for her continued encouragement and inspiration.
God bless you all!
MF
Copyright 2002, Mike Frandson. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Mike Frandson:
By day he mulls over engineering drawings, molding presses, and automobile parts as a Quality Control Technician! But by night, he spends his time tickling the literary muse, writing hit songs, raising his children, and Praising his Lord. A layman who was nearly turned away from Christianity by false arguments, Mike now has set out to study the truth about Christianity, and to share these truths with all who are curious about seeking the kingdom of God. Visit Mike's web site |
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