What
to do if your Christian family members or friends
are
at odds with your decision to pursue gentle parenting
This post has been republished in a new book referenced below:
A blog by Samuel Martin A part of www.biblechild.com
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
The Fruit of Spanking in the Life of a Gentle Mother of Six
The Fruit of Spanking in the Life
of a Gentle Mother of Six
I saw an exchange of late that I wanted to share with you and to post on my blog with two hopes in mind.
First, what you are about to read is a post purely from the heart of a dear Christian mother of six small children. It is a post which shares deeply personal feelings, painful feelings.
When you read this, you realize how powerful a control this issue of spanking has over the relationship that this dear sister has with her family.
I mean some parents and family members are ready to let this issue totally control and dictate what kind of a relationship they are going to have with their own child or their own sister. How terribly awful this is. This is clearly not the type of relationship that our Lord wishes us to have.
But sadly, this is the situation that so many mothers (in particular) face from their families when they listen to the Holy Spirit, who leads them through the Scriptures to find Gentle Parenting and in the process they find that still small voice inside them which has whispered all along to them:
"Don't hit the child you love."
There is a second hope that I have in posting this real life testimony. It is my sincere hope that someone in reading it will find a mustard seed of faith, a spiritual anchor, a safe harbor, a shelter from the storm, to hear and listen to their own inner voice and start searching the Scriptures to learn the same thing this dear Christian sister has learned.
What she has learned is that she is ready and willing, no matter how painful it is, to not pass along to the next generation, the fruit of a very special love that God blessed between her and her husband, who chose to entrust them with helping Him bring six children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
This post also has immense beauty, the beauty of witness and of demonstrating to her niece the truth of God. Her witness will probably end family violence for her niece when she grows up and becomes a mother. Because of her courage and investment now, the return will be a reduction in family violence in her own family for the future generation through her niece.
Know for an absolute certainty that this dear sister is not looking backwards, but she is standing fast in the liberty where with Christ has made her free (Galatians 5:1) and is in spite of immense personal pain still no matter what trying to minister the love of Christ to her family. No matter what, she is still reaching out and just wants to be friends with her family the same way she is friends with her God and with her own family:
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:13-14 NASB)
Her post begins below:
My family gossips behind my back.
What I mean precisely is they take truth and twist it to attack by adding nonsense and misunderstanding. Because they don't want to understand!
I know the fact that I parent a traumatized girl and all the therapy that she needs doesn't intuitively make sense. I know my kids are put under a microscope and they are not perfect and that's not because they aren't spanked. It is clear my parents tell them things and rip me apart without my knowing or permission, or complete explanation. So, I have unfriended and blocked her [her sister].
She hates me, doesn't like me, and wishes ill of me and my kids. I need a safe boundary.
My brother unfriended me 2 years ago because of the spanking issue.
He never calls or emails. I cried so hard on the phone telling him he was hurting me and he says he loves me but I said if he didn't stay up on what was happening in my life then I didn't feel loved.
So I texted my niece and she says she doesn't say anything and I asked her to continue that. And she says she loves me and appreciates my parenting because she sees how awesome my kids are.
She thinks they are all jealous because of the issues they have with their kids and they each have just one or two children. That caused some happy tears.
But the interchange with my dad has gone very badly.
I have kindly requested he not speak of me to my brother or sister and to put a stop to any gossip immediately or walk away. I mean it is really bad and they are using them for info to rip me apart and keep their hate induced excitement roaring.
My dad hates controversy. He wants everyone to get along and agree to disagree. I said I couldn't do that. I said I have to live knowing children I loved are hurt and it pains me and i will speak against it because it is outright wrong!
He came back telling me they loved me and we need to come together. I said I thought they hated me. That I am confused by his love, because I told him when he spanked me I didn't feel love, but to this day to my face he says it was right.
That it seems his goal is/was for me to not feel loved.
And then I mentioned I was thankful my mom apologized for spanking me.
She said shortly after she had her stroke that a verse God revealed to her that she was wrong and was sorry. She unfortunately can't remember that verse!
But my dad continues to say he has no shame in spanking me, and I need to stop attacking his Christianity.
He is upset now and wants to end it. I just responded that that comment continues to hurt me.
Then asked him to tell me when my brother and sister were coming on Sunday so I can come when they are not there.
I have a present for my mom.
I have spent the evening kind of hiding in different rooms crying.
The kids get too worked up when I am upset. But this is really bad!!!
POST ENDS
Final comment: There is a lot of pain in this post. In particular if you are a new parent, please read this carefully before you think about spanking your child. Is this the type of relationship you wish to have with your child in the future? Is this the pain that you wish to pass on to the next generation or is there another way?
The answer of the Lord through the witness of this dear sister and mother of six is a resounding:
YES!
Friday, April 25, 2014
Christian Father Shares Journey To Gentle Parenting
A Christian Father of Four Shares His Journey Towards Gentle Parenting
A Guest Post From SR
Sam,
I would like to write to you about some of the experiences we have had in our no-spanking journey from a father/husband perspective. My wife often comes up with crazy ideas. Sometimes this manifests itself in something like “Cabbage Casserole” (not a good idea). At other times her ideas kind of work out (owning rent houses). So when she approached me with this crazy idea about not spanking, I wasn’t surprised. She does this kind of thing to me a lot. I understood the various sociological arguments against it, and I viewed people who espoused them as liberals whose kids probably ran wild in Wal-Mart. I used to be a school teacher and bragged about how I could tell which of my students had parents who spanked. In reality, probably most of their parents spanked. It wasn’t spanking that made the difference. In fact, the more spankings, the worse behavior. What mattered to me was not what some sociologist or psychologist said. What mattered was that the Bible told us to spank. I figured we would talk it through and I would defend the biblical position. In my mind, if God said it, it was true (“Romans 3:4 “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar”). I wasn’t expecting what she hit me with. Every biblical argument I offered, she countered. “Spare the rod…” struck down. “God disciplines the child he loves….” Doesn’t work! “God punishes us…” Won’t hold water. I was losing the argument, badly.
She led me to your book (get it free here - http://www.biblechild.com) so I could read and research it myself. I was shocked (but less so since she already defeated my arguments). All those years I thought I saw something in the Bible that wasn’t there. It was a big spanking mirage! I had read into the text experiences and ideas from my own family, culture, and past. If I had been completely table rasa, I would have realized that the word “spank” was nowhere in the Bible. The concept of discipline was there, but I had substituted “spanking” and even “punishment” in its place. I had to realize that “discipline” does not inherently include a form of punishment. Indeed, punishment is a pretty low level of motivation. I was convinced, so we changed and decided to stop spanking. We became gentle-parenting parents.
Since those early days (almost two years ago), we have done pretty well. I have reverted back a couple of times, but to my shame, I admit it was when I was tired or stressed. It was not a matter of doing what is best for the kids. It was me trying to get what I wanted right now because I didn’t feel I had the emotional storehouse to get through another fit-throwing episode. Instead of digging deep and being the adult I should be, I tried to manipulate through fear and pain. I hate even writing these words. Even more of an issue for me today is the struggle with verbal spankings. I don’t physically strike my children, but sometimes I use harsh rebukes in their place, possibly causing more damage. I’m a work in progress.
I am the father of four little boys (ages 3-9). I know about movement, fights, throwing things, breaking things, punches, etc. If people think that non-violent parenting only works on quiet little girls, let me beg to differ. My boys have changed so much since we have ceased spanking. They get along better with each other and other kids. They are more affectionate toward my wife and me. They throw fewer fits. But most amazing is this calmness they have. There is now an inner peace I see in their eyes and in their movements. It is hard to explain, but I see it in them and I see it absent in children whose parents spank. I don’t know if it is a freedom from fear of being hurt by their parents or if it is a reflection of the calmness my wife and I now have as well. Either way, it is the biggest plus I have seen since we changed.
In case you publish this, I want to give a little advice to wives who might be struggling with their husbands joining in the non-spanking journey. This is not easy for men. Men are taught to be tough and in control, so sitting back and talking gently to your screaming child while all of the restaurant looks on is difficult. We all know what they’re thinking: “If that were my child….” As men, we feel special pressure to appear in control and powerful. This comes out in the form of aggression and often physical punishment. We might be tempted to yank them up out of their seat and march them to somewhere where we can at the least rebuke sharply and at the most spank them in anger. This is the natural approach. It is not right, but it is what we have to overcome. I would suggest that in such circumstances that you, the mother/wife, go ahead and remove the child from the circumstances till the child calms down (and so does Dad). This usually only takes a couple of minutes, but that is all that is needed. People seeing you whisk away your screaming child and coming back with a calm child will probably think you spanked him, but you will know the truth. Besides, it’s none of their business.
Second, to admit that spanking is wrong is to admit our parents (who spanked us) were wrong. For some people, this can be a difficult admission. Be patient with him and don’t point out that his parents were wrong. You might mention how amazing the journey of life is and how much we learn along the way. Then leave it. Eventually, you or he might be tempted to convince his or your parents about how spanking is bad, but unless your parents actually spank your children, it might not be the best choice of battles. They are not in a position to spank, so why start a possible fight and power struggle.
Last, men are not always very good students or communicators. You know this. If you will provide the material for him to read and study and just let it go, you will find better results. He is probably not going to listen to you or your logic and explanation. Leave him the materials (written by Samuel and others) so he can “discover” this information for himself. It also takes men time to process things after we mull them over in our minds for a while. Do not bother him during this process that might take months. He needs time to gather his thoughts, and you asking him what he thinks or if he read the material yet, just makes him want to reject it even more. Give him the materials, and then give him time and space. He will bring it up when he’s ready.
Sorry for such a long letter. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and hopefully help some others in the process. Please feel free to use this as you see best.
God bless you in your work,
SR
Note: This text is has not been edited by myself in any way other than adjusting the formatting of the paragraphs.
Samuel Martin
Samuel Martin
www.biblechild.com
PS. I pray that this post blessed you. Read more on my blog and my Facebook page and download my free ebook.
Please visit my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/byblechyld
PS. I pray that this post blessed you. Read more on my blog and my Facebook page and download my free ebook.
Please visit my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/byblechyld
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
"So you think corporal punishment/spanking/smacking is ok because you turned out fine: Think again"
So
you think corporal punishment/spanking/smacking is ok because you turned out
fine:
Think
again!
This post has been republished in a new book referenced below:
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
One of the most powerful messages from a mother I have ever read anywhere anytime - Do not miss this!
One of the most powerful messages from a mother I have ever read anywhere anytime - Do not miss this!
I read this today on The Guggie Daily and I have to link it here!
My Past is Defeated for My Children’s Future
by Jennifer Lee Wright
Here is a small but powerful excerpt - I strongly urge you to read the rest here.
http://guggiedaly.blogspot.co.il/2014/03/my-past-is-defeated-for-my-childrens.html
"After a year of being sober and trying, we became pregnant with our first child. Something changed. Deeply, drastically, beyond anything else I’ve ever experienced before in my life, upon becoming a mother. Suddenly, I NEEDED God in ways I’d never known or thought was possible. I didn’t want to mess this up. I needed him in my marriage, I needed him in my mothering, I needed him in everyday things. But more, I learned a whole new side of, and understanding of…...love. I was also forced to face the demons of my past and sort through them. I had to think upon and work through how I had been raised. I had to realize that I didn’t have a family unit around me to help me in my new role of life. It was devastating, heartbreaking, and healing all at the same time.
One huge life changer for me was when I held my baby. I would look at her and I would feel such a huge, breathtaking emotion that I couldn’t understand or put into words. All I knew was that I loved this child in greater proportions than I even knew was possible. I felt as though I was going to explode, I had so much going on inside. Finally the dam, that wall of protection I’d built up inside of me to be strong and carry on, broke and the flood burst forth. I broke at the realization of what had been done to me as a child came flooding in with a clarity that made me ache to my core. I wept out of heartbreak for myself as well as for the healing laying in my arms at a chance of a new kind of life. A chance to break the cycle. Tears just poured out of me in a cleansing way and washed away my pain as pure love filled me from within that I never knew existed.
As I looked at this child so small, so helpless, and so dependant on me for her everything, I simply could not imagine ever treating her the way I had been treated. How could THAT be good and right and lovely? It flew in the face of everything I knew about God. Granted, I didn’t know much, but I was learning that he wasn’t the God I had been taught as a child. He was a God of love, grace, forgiveness, peace, mercy, patience, kindness and goodness."
This is an amazing testimony and it has a strong message of Gentle Parenting as well as Jennifer was also spanked and suffered greatly as a child! Please do yourself a favor and make sure you read this!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Our surroundings influence how we look at Scripture
Our
surroundings influence how we look at Scripture
This post has been republished in a new book referenced below:
Thursday, March 13, 2014
In the Biblical context, what can the Great Spotted Cuckoo, the Hen, the Ostrich or the Eagle teach us about parenting our kids? Part One
In the Biblical context, what can the Great Spotted Cuckoo,
the Hen, the Ostrich or the Eagle teach us about parenting our kids? Part One
As often happens, I recently find myself taking to bird watching. That is not too hard to do with the vast multiplicity of native bird species here in the Holy Land, not to mention all the migrating birds that pass through this country on their way too and from Africa.
Recently, I was enjoying a few
moments in the park with my youngest daughter. We were amazed to see scores of
white heron/egret type birds sitting in the tall cypress trees. These migratory
birds were resting on a seasonal migration that they make to and from Africa and my little girl and I got to observe them on
their way.
Just as we were leaving, I saw
another bird fly past my car and I got a good glimpse of it. It was a Great
Spotted Cuckoo. These birds are fairly common here in the Mediterranean zone and
they have an amazing story (we’ll get to this shortly) that people throughout
the centuries have observed here and in Europe .
I reflected on those birds and am
reminded of how much we can learn from animals and birds are no exception. Let
us remind ourselves of what the Bible says on this quoting here a Scriptural
text which has been a repeated reference for me of late:
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the
birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and
they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all
these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the
life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7-10) (ESV)
This text seems quite clear that
“the birds of heaven, they will tell you…” Yes, birds can tell us something
related to the One that “in his hand is the life of every living thing and
breath of all mankind.” (v.10)
Birds
and winged creatures are as old as creation and even older. We even encounter
the Spirit of God “hovering” over the newly created earth in Genesis 1:2. This
verb used in this text relates precisely to the same verb used in Deuteronomy
32:11 to describe an eagle “hovering” or “fluttering” over its nest saying:
“Like an eagle that stirs up
its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,…” (more on this text later)
But I said that birds and
winged creatures are older than creation? Yes, this is what I believe.
You might think it a bit
strange to use the term “older than creation”, but in fact, the Bible speaks of
actions taking place before creation took place. Some of these are
fairly obvious like John 1 or even the more cryptic Proverbs 8 talking about
Wisdom saying:
“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the
earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with
water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the
deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the
deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his
command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of man. (Proverbs
8:22-31 ESV)
This text gets right back to
the beginning of the earth, but, if we are willing to look carefully, we can
find information which talks about times even before this if we are just
willing to consider it and as I said earlier, this period pictures God
undertaking creative works well before the creation of the earth. And
who do we find there with God Almighty: Angels who are depicted often as winged
creatures. Where is this referenced?
It is found in the book of
Psalms. The book of Psalms is a carefully designed group of five separate
collections of books. These collections, or divisions, are lost to the English
reader, but are well known in Hebraic scholarship. These divisions are
enumerated as follows:
Book I of the Psalms – Psalm
1 to Psalm 41
Book II of the Psalms –
Psalm 42 to Psalm 72
Book III of the Psalms –
Psalm 73 to Psalm 89
Book IV of the Psalms –
Psalm 90 to Psalm 106
Book V of the Psalms – Psalm
107 to Psalm 150 (1)
Now, in Book IV of the
Psalms, the last four Psalms of that book are connected together. No one can
read these four Psalms consecutively without noticing the progression of events
described therein.
My father always taught that
these four Psalms were like a separate history of the world written by King
David,(2) though it is not easy to prove that David wrote these Psalms though his
name is ascribed as the author of Psalm 103 and the three Psalms that follow
are all connected by a specific historical context well known in other parts of
the Bible.
We even herein in these
Psalms find information not mentioned in other parts of Scripture and herein is
where I want to mention Psalm 103:19-22.
The
LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul! (Psalm 103:19-22 ESV)
This text does not really come across
as that important, but it points to something that according to the context of
these four Psalms points to which happened before the creation of the
heavens and the earth that we are familiar with today.
That is exactly what Psalm 103:19
says. “The LORD (here using the Tetragrammaton name of God, known in English
parlance as ‘Jehovah’ – יהוה) has established his throne in the
heavens.” This Hebrew word which is translated as “established” has many
nuances, but is used in the laying a foundation of a house (Judges 16:26, 29);
of establishment of kingdoms, (I Samuel 20:31; I Chronicles 17:24) etc. This is
undertaken in the presence and with His helpers – angels, winged creatures like
the cherubim and seraphim mentioned in other parts of Scripture. So we
can see even before creation, bird like creatures were there working with God
even in the most remote of time periods.
God also likened and compared to birds
God is even likened to an eagle
Himself saying: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how
I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4 ESV)
We can also note the importance
of bird imagery to God Himself in that He chose the form of a bird to reveal
the Holy Spirit to mankind. (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32)
This is quite an important point to the Evangelists considering that each one
of them mentions specifically that the Spirit descended upon Jesus like a
‘dove.’
What Can Birds Teach Us?
Wise men have been speaking about
birds in particular over the ages because like all animals, we can learn
something from them as they exhibit aspects of God Himself through their behaviors.
These behaviors can show the individual birds wise or foolish.
For example, Jesus mentions “a
hen gathering her chicks under her wings” in a sense of something good and
denoting His own feeling for His own people that He wanted to offer them the
protection that a mother hen affords her chicks taking them under her wing, but
as the passage says: “they were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34)
This metaphor remains today in
English parlance where a senior person takes a junior person in some way “under
their wing” (be they a man or woman without gender distinction as both men and
women use this metaphor) in the sense of helping, sheltering, protecting or
guiding. Hence, one who takes another “under their wing” is doing so to bestow
wisdom, protection, guidance, etc.
This illustration of the hen has
its opposite in Scripture. It is the ostrich. Note the following:
“The wings of the ostrich wave
proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love? For
she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground, forgetting that a foot may crush them and
that the wild beast may trample them. She deals cruelly with her young, as if
they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, because
God has made her forget wisdom and given her no share in understanding. When
she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse
and his rider. (Job 39:13-18)
So the bird who leaves its eggs to be
unprotected, “who deals cruelly with its young as though they are not hers”, is
an animal without wisdom or understanding!
Isn’t it also interesting that the
LORD tells Job says that this bird “deals cruelly with its young, as if they
were not hers” and this behavior is characterized as one who “forget[s] wisdom”
and has “no share in understanding.” (ibid.) This is a very interesting
description which may have some teaching for parents, especially when we
consider the writer in question.
Job certainly seems to have bee
influenced by God in his actions toward his own children. When we read of the
actions of Job concerning his own children, in the descriptions we have
concerning his habits in relating to his children, he certainly comes across as
a gentle, caring and loving father. (Job 1:5)
Birds and nature have been the
subjects of discussions among the wise for thousands of years. Note that is
highlighted in the description of Solomon in all his wisdom.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond
measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's
wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east (he is wiser than
even Job, the wise man of Uz (Job 1:1) and all the wisdom
of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite,
and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the
surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He
spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon
Solomon in this text is shown to
have spoken about different kinds of birds. This was no doubt done by
observation and by collecting written information about birds or commissioning
studies about their habits and then having them written down.
It should not surprise us that
when Solomon spoke of birds, he would have almost certainly focused primarily
on the bird species within his sphere of influence. It seems reasonable that
his focus would have been on bird species that would have been more familiar to
him and to those in neighbouring regions. While we do not have any specific
scriptural evidence for this suggestion, it is not outside the realm of a reasoned
approach to the materials that we do have in Scripture. END PART ONE
(1) See Ernest L. Martin "Restoring the Original Bible" Appendix One, pg. 477, ASK Publications: Portland: OR, 1994)
(1) See Ernest L. Martin "Restoring the Original Bible" Appendix One, pg. 477, ASK Publications: Portland: OR, 1994)
(2) The Story of Creation (1988) and The Post-Flood Creations of God (1989) by Ernest L. Martin - ASK Publications Alhambra:CA)
Friday, March 07, 2014
Blind acceptance of religious leaders - Do it to your own peril!
Blind acceptance of
religious leaders - Do it to your own peril!
I have to admit that I have not really lived under a system
where the blind acceptance of a religious leader was a major part of my
life.
Oh yes, for the first nine years of my life I lived in a
family where we were members of the World Wide Church of God (WWCG), a total
hierarchically based, top-down dictatorial cult run solely for the good
pleasure and at the whim of the late Herbert W. Armstrong.
Yes, my family were a part of this cult until 1974, so I
guess you could say I was under that system, but from 1965 to 1974, from the
time I was born until we left the WWCG, the sanctity of the WWCG Church and its
Pastor General were now seen in our home as something that our family,
particularly my late father, were becoming more and more uncomfortable
with.
A Roller Coaster Ride
My dad had had his difficulties with Herbert W. Armstrong.
At several times during the period of 1965-1974, my father was ready to resign
and leave the WWCG because of the major disagreements he had with Mr.
Armstrong.
He was told one time by one evangelist that he should not
read the Bible for 10 years during a major disagreement that he had with Mr.
Armstrong. I can remember my father refusing this, but lamenting that the main
criteria for getting along in that denomination seemed to be:
1. Don't think
2. Don't ask any questions
3. Don't propose any new ideas
4. Just blend in and do nothing different from anyone else
5. Only propose ideas that you know the boss will like and
just fit in with what he (always a he seemingly) is teaching.
He hung in there until 1974 when we left. After that time,
my father started into ministry and his first primary readers were the tens of
thousands of people who left the WWCG after Herbert W. Armstrong's prophecies
of the Second Coming of Christ taking place in 1975 (then later 1975)
failed.
Thousands of people were touched by my dad's ministry in
those WWCG circles.
The World Wide Church of God was a church
where blind
acceptance was demanded
When we were in the WWCG, the church leaders told you the
following:
1. What to do
2. What not to do
3. Who to do what they told you to do with
4. When to do anything
5. Why you had to do anything
6. Where you had to do anything
7. How to do anything
Of course, if you were a woman, you had a whole other level
of the above because not only did you have your husband (that is, absolute
master controlling everything you do) in charge of you, you also had the church
leaders in charge of him, which meant that they also were in charge of
you.
I've talked a little bit about that here -
http://www.thatmom.com/2014/02/24/guest-post-by-samuel-martin-new-thoughts-about-the-woman-at-the-well/
Now, as I said, in my former church, blind acceptance was demanded
by the church members. You were a sheep to be fed by the shepherds and mainly
by the top shepherd, the Pastor General himself.
It was totally a one-way system. Information was not exchanged and
learning and growing was NEVER EVER encouraged. Blind obedience, on the other
hand, was not only encouraged, it was demanded.
The only thing that was exchanged was huge sums of money that were
exchanged between the church members and the church leadership, which really
went to address the priorities of one man in the WWCG, the Pastor General.
Doctrinal committees existed in the church, not to promote new
truths or progressive thinking. NEVER! They were there to keep people in toe
and for people to reinforce existing church teaching.
I have also talked a little bit about that here -
http://samuelmartin.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/the-two-two-churches-part-five-church.html
Blind Acceptance - A Modern Example
Now, in an environment of blind acceptance of church teachings,
you have no incentive to think for yourself. You just let someone else think
for you.
There is only one problem with this approach. What if that person
is wrong? Or worse yet a false teacher?
This situation demands that you take appropriate action to check
what you are being told and being asked to believe and especially what it is
that God wishes you to do versus what God wishes you not to do.
Now, look at this simple example. I will now refer to a discussion
that my late father had concerning his review of a small evangelical
publication from the UK:
"there are preachers and evangelists who abuse the
contexts within the Bible to apply various teachings to themselves or to those
to whom they minister. Look at how this is done. Once I reviewed a small
publication called "The Little Bible." It was published by an
evangelical group in England who decided to pick what they considered the most
important verse from each biblical book to instruct the child of God in his
daily life. The portion of a verse they picked from Leviticus was
"Do not drink wine nor strong drink" (10:9).
The impression they wanted to leave with the reader was that God didn't want
any of His people to drink wine. But this was an utter perversion of the faith
they were trying to promote. Certainly, the use of too much wine or strong
drinks is wrong, but the publishers failed to tell their readers that the verse
they used pertained only to the priests of ancient Israel (not laymen in
general), and even then it only concerned them "when ye go into the
tabernacle of the congregation" (10:9). The priests were allowed to drink
wine or strong drinks at other times.
Really, the pious Christian publishers of "The
Little Bible" were well aware of the real teaching of Scripture on this
matter, but they falsified the truth by trying to get their readers to think
the command was meant for all Christians at all times. This procedure of taking
teachings out of context is wrong, but it is being used on a wide scale today.
It is important that we do not interweave scriptural
teachings meant for certain peoples at particular times in human history, with
revelations of God meant for others at later times. Though God ordered Abraham
to sacrifice his son, none of us is expected to do the same
thing. The truth is, God has even overthrown previous teachings in favor of
more advanced (spiritual) ones. Only chaos will result when all the disciplines
of the Bible are jumbled together in an attempt to make a homogeneous system.
It is time we should all heed the admonition of Paul and start "rightly
dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). The
teachings of the Bible will then begin to make sense." (Ernest L. Martin -
Progressive Revelation in the Bible, Foundation for Biblical Research: Pasadena, CA: 1974)
There is one other thing
that this publication failed to tell their readers. One of my scholar
friends, Dr. Randall Heskett, who many of you will know due to his work against
corporal punishment and my reference to his work in my own, has written a very
important book concerning the history of wine in the Bible.
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Vintage-Following-Genesis-Modern-ebook/dp/B009A9LMKO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394227442&sr=8-1&keywords=randall+heskett+joel+butler
Now, on an FB discussion, I asked a question on my wall about what
people thought the Bible meant by the use of the phrase: "Strong
Drink".
A number of people said: Liquor, Whiskey, etc. focusing on a
strong drink well above the level of wine in alcoholic intensity.
Randall pointed out that the Hebrew word in question means exactly
"beer."
The point to all of this though is very interesting because of the
publishers of that Little Bible really understood the text to mean "strong
drink" in the hard liquor sense and as Randall also mentioned, liquor or
spirits were probably not even invented until the 1400's.
Now, the clear point to all of this concerns our attitude to
information we receive. Are we just going to accept everything we are told
without checking anything? If we do, we risk being in a situation where we are
letting people who may not only not have the proper knowledge we need to help
us decide spiritual matters for us, but they also may be governed by other priorities which are not accurate
according to the Biblical revelation.
Let us be careful with the information we receive especially in a
religious context. Be prepared to challenge information and look things up.
Things that do not feel right to you, go with those feelings and follow them
up. Check to make sure, if something doesn't feel right.
In closing, keep this text in mind and always check on things to
make sure that they are correct.
Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to
be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV)
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