Have you noticed how people from ancient times to the present
project their shortcomings on their deities? Pagans created stories
about their gods that were projections of their own behavioral lapses.
Today, in order to justify their less than perfect behavior, those
who claim to believe in the one true God still (in many cases) want to
believe that the Lord shares some of their faults. Thus, they will argue
that Jesus ate meat or fish; that He doesn’t care about the torture of
factory-farmed animals; and they convince themselves that Jesus would go
hunting with them. I see this as perhaps a more sophisticated throwback
to the pagan desire to have the deities sharing their less desirable
ways.
People will focus on certain Bible stories that justify their
less-than-ideal behavior. They conveniently forget that these are
narratives of actions and situations which are not necessarily meant to
be emulated. There is also the tendency for humans to project their own
desire for revenge against evil doers on God (or gods, in the case of
pagans). Have you noticed how popular the David and Goliath story is? I
wonder if this is so because it seems to glorify war.
Two of Jesus’ teachings from the Bible that aren’t heard very often
(probably because they are convicting) are the following:
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I
do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I
go to the Father.” (John 14:12)
And of course, there’s the Apostle Paul’s statement that is not very
popular with the purveyors of cheap grace (forgiveness without
repentance): “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling….”
(Philippians 2:12).
Instead of trying to justify behavior that they know – deep down
inside – is wrong, why don’t people simply try to be peacemakers as
Jesus teaches? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
sons [children] of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
