"I'D
RATHER FIGHT THAN SWITCH"
Some
years ago, there was a very popular advertisement on television.
It featured a certain brand of cigarette. The ad showed a man
and a woman with black rings under an eye (This was to suggest
that they had recently been in a fight). The speaker would then
say: "When it comes to ________(Naming the brand of cigarette),
these people had rather fight than switch!"
The thought occurred to me that how much like that we really are.
A person can be so set in his opinion that nothing can move him.
This ranges from baseball to the Bible. Please understand that
opinions are not law; but if one listens to many things preached
he will find that some are making their opinion the law of God.
Let me give you an example.
Paul
had a thorn in the flesh. What was it? You can read about this
in 2 Corinthians 12.
Which
one is your choice? Perhaps, you have one of your own. This example
should be able to show the difference between opinion, and known
fact. God did not tell you what the thorn was therefore we can
have our opinions. The problem arises when we start to use our
opinion as the fact. We do not know what Paul's thorn was and
therefore we should not divide over it.
It has always been my persuasion that most divisions result not
over what the Bible says, but over what it does not say! Paul
said it was all right for him to eat meats but if it caused a
brother to stumble, or be made weak, he would eat no more meat
as long as the world stood. What is the point? The point is that
Paul would not divide the body over a point of opinion. He would
do whatever he could to keep the brethren from being offended
by any thing that was against their conscience. This is how we
should all feel about these matters. If the Bible is clear on
a point...that is it! It is settled! But, if God has allowed us
to have our opinions on matters not specified, then we should
let them be just that...opinions.
Some years ago, I preached for a small congregation in west Texas.
The people were good, honest and God-fearing. However there were
a few things that became contentions. Perhaps some of you will
recall that some congregations would have "white sheets"
on the communion table. One was used to cover the emblems, the
other was under the trays. One little couple had taken care of
the communion table for many years. When his wife died, the man
decided that he would just keep the work of preparing the table
every Sunday. One day he came in to see me and ask if I thought
it would be alright to leave the "white linen" off the
table in as much as they had to be starched and ironed. My thought
to him was that they could be left off the table. We almost caused
a split because some folks had come to believe that these represented
the burial clothing of Jesus.
See what I am talking about? We must be careful to teach the truth,
but let us be doubly careful it is what the Bible says, and not
our opinions that we make into laws.
*You can receive a free correspondence course study of the Bible
by making your request to us.
