LORD KNOWS

This is often the prelude to more than one comment I've heard where the person is saying they don't have the answer to a problem. That God does have the answer even if he has chosen not to tell us.

On the surface it is a statement of faith in some ways. It is about a person essentially acknowledging the Lord as being omniscient.

I think it would be wonderful if in addition to this reality, we also embraced the fact that we can't always know every answer for every subject. Which seems obvious, but it really amazes me the times when some bible teacher will take scripture and translate it according to what he or she thinks is what the Lord knows.

I've heard some of the most absurd teachers from people who had claimed to interpret scripture by what they say the Lord knows. And so many times it creates this venue of illogical thought whereby the end result has no relationship to reality, let alone to God.

The other night I was listening to this one bible teacher on the radio trying to advance his idea that obedience to God translated into a blessing where you kids would be nearly perfect. As a parent and now a grandparent the one thing I've come to appreciate is that kids are not some kind of computer you can program to behave in a given way.

Plus I've known enough good and faithful servants of the Lord whose children were anything, but perfect. So the nagging question for me was how in the world could this so-called bible teacher make such a claim?

Oh he did have scriptures to support is point of view. They were all from the Old Testament and related to the general disobedience of the people of Israel. There was a subtle aspect of truth to his teaching. That was in relationship to the fact that God does desire obedience from us.

And I certainly believe that obedience does a lot more to enhance the faith and intimacy of one's relationship with the Lord that disobedience. Still, I also understand it is not a cure all for everything that is wrong in our lives.

What amazed me I guess is that this bible teacher could feed his flock such a teaching and still have a flock. Are there really that many people out there incapable of thinking or appreciate when something is utterly ludicrous? Apparently so.

Of course it wasn't hard to appreciate this man's point of view. I have heard him before and being a church member and going to church are for him practically synonymous with salvation.

So it ends up coloring all his teaching to the point that he seems to define what is a true Christian as only being somehow sitting in the pews of his church. As for me, well I think the title of this posting truly says it all in terms of salvation, Lord knows. And that is good enough for me.