Hi
,
This is a shorter version of an article I wrote that just went out in our quarterly newsletter...
Three of the properties of
rubber that make it so useful are its ability to bend, to stretch, and to seal. Its mere existence is yet more evidence of God's original design in nature.
The Bible has similar properties. Its message of redemtion is for all men, so it "bends" or "stretches" to reach man in all of the various cultures in which he
finds himself. The blood of Christ "seals" us against God's coming wrath. Very rubber-like qualities!
We people, though, regularly approach the Scriptures with our own preconceived ideas or beliefs, or we have moral weaknesses, or lean towards certain desires, so we look at the Scriptures in a
“rubber” way – we make it "bend" to say what WE want it to say. It’s often the same principle used in the scientific process -- A particular scientist might already accept the idea, or framework, of Darwinian evolution as fact, so therefore all conclusions made from observing raw data are “bent” to fit that model.
It's important to recognize that we have the tendency to do this, but we also need to remember that our views and decisions need to be based solidly on the Scriptures, not our own opinions. This becomes much more critical the more serious the topic is. For example, to deny the deity of Christ, or to say that the Bible teaches that Jesus did not actually die (as many do!) are issues that have eternal consequences. The
Scriptures “stretch” to reach anyone - yes - but they are not to be “bent” to fit our own agendas or weaknesses.
