Secular Twists On Biblical Truth
Secular Twists On Biblical Truth
Words, Actions & Wisdom
Ever since the scales fell off my eyes, and the little Star Trek leaches slithered out of my ears, I’ve been made aware of the difference between God’s Truth and the world’s truth.
“Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” Matthew 13:16
Whether it comes from reading the words of a book, or hearing words on the radio, the truth of the matter is that it all comes down to words. God’s Word is Truth, and any supporting words thereof are the Life. They are ‘living words,’ and they light up the world. Any words that are contrary to the Lord’s, are a result of the devil’s great deception and man’s misunderstanding of the Truth. These are words that are comparatively ‘dying words,’ and they add only darkness to the world.
“The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these [can] make a man ‘unclean.’” Matthew 15:18
The Bible makes it perfectly clear that the Word of God is our greatest weapon in fighting against the deceptions of the devil. The Word is referred to as the “sword of the spirit,” and with it God has given us the power to repel evil. Jesus used His ‘sword’ regularly; most notably when facing the devil himself after fasting in the desert. So we study the Word of God regularly so that we keep our sword sharp, and our mind focused on the Truth that comes from above.
‘The world’ on the other hand, is in a constant state of ignorance, whereas it ultimately opposes God and His Word. This means that the crafty devil has had to do his best at sowing his weeds into the good seed of the Word. This creates an atmosphere of confliction and confusion that keeps the good seed from growing in those who are without it. Even the most seemingly insignificant misrepresentation of God’s Truth is a point of contention for those who are not blessed to be able to see or hear clearly.
And so my amplified hearing has constantly been ringing with red flags that mark a deception to God’s Truth. And so many of these things I hear, have become so accepted as a part of daily speech, that it has obviously created a widespread misconception of what is, and is not, acceptable. ‘The world,’ that doesn’t know better, only exacerbates the issue by its constant lack of appropriate boundaries in it’s mish mash of worldly wisdom.
Here are some examples of figures of speech in ‘the world’, that are constantly demeaning the Truth:
#1 - “You’re body is supposed to be a temple.” This saying I heard from my new age Mom, and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard other non-believers say it. The context is about being a temple, not the temple of God. This saying takes the significance of our salvation bringing God’s Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us, making our body the holy temple of the Lord; into a self-centered importance of the body being our own most holy possession, to cherish, worship and serve.
This is usually the underlying theme with those who do not believe; that the purpose of God’s involvement and authority is given over to the ‘self’. This has been the issue since the day of the devil’s deceit in bringing Adam and Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge, so that they could feel they know right from wrong and good from evil, in what essentially means following the ‘self’ over God.
I see this theme in all of ‘the world’ without God. When noticing these words, it is often as simple as substituting the ‘self’ for God. Like this Yogi tea I just had, came with some ‘words of worldly wisdom,’ “Self-reliance conquers any difficulty.” This is just one of the many many examples I’ve found, and only God can truly measure the effects of such misleading statements. Obviously here, this saying is remedied by just putting “God” in where the “Self” is. God-reliance conquers any difficulty.
#2 – “It was a miracle!” This example came from a radio book reading when someone made a hole in one golfing. Now let’s get this straight, miracles are from God, and God is not involved with your tee shot on the par three during your afternoon recreation; not even if you were Elijah the prophet. You might as well call it luck; Christians don’t believe in luck either, but at least it would be coming from the appropriate background.
Of which I also must address, the weed and casual use of secular terms like “good luck,” have more than infiltrated the good seeded Christians, as I hear it used regularly by believers. And I’ll admit that the habit and influence of such actions have even slipped out of my mouth, but I immediately recognize it and kick myself in the backside afterwards. I am determined to gain more control on the words I use, maybe I need to get out that rubber band and put it back around my wrist, like when I trained myself to ‘snap out’ of swearing. And I recognize that the term ‘lucky’ often means ‘by chance,’ but it being a derivative of good luck and bad luck makes it ultimately superstitious.
#3 – “That’s the gospel truth.” This one came from the same secular radio program after a parent tried to be encouraging by telling his son that he could do whatever he put his mind to. Then to emphasize his wisdom, said with elder confidence, “That’s the gospel truth.” No, the Gospel Truth is not that you can do whatever YOU want to do. The Gospel Truth is that you can do whatever GOD wants you to do, if you submit to His rightful authority.
These are prime examples of how ‘the world’ just takes from whatever is sacred out there, regardless of whether it’s understood or believed, and incorporates it to emphasize the power of the self.
#4 – “I swear to God.” What good is this saying when you have no God, or your god is yourself? How come I never hear, “I swear to myself?” Or, I guess it could more appropriately be, “I swear to my god, Satan.” I guess that it is somewhat of a good sign when someone wants to say things that kind of acknowledge that there is a God, but it seems to be a much more meaningless (and demeaning) figure of speech. Same thing for when a pagan says, “God knows….” Well if you believe there is a God and that He knows everything, why don’t you think He’s watching you ignore His otherwise entire existence and Bible full of commands and impending Judgment?
#5 – Or what about something God’s not in, and people will give thanks to Him for it. Like, “Thank God the liquor store was still open.” Where would I even start about how ridiculous it would be to really think that you’re going to express great appreciation to God only because you really wanted to get drunk and you thought you were too late? Such references to God have become mere figures of speech with no recognition of its logical implications.
#6 – “Keep your faith.” Is faith really a term that should be interwoven into secular belief in anything? I’m not sure about this one, maybe Webster knows better than I, but it seems misleading to correlate having faith that the fish will eventually swim into your net, and having faith that God will save you from hell and destroy the ruler of this world as well as all things wicked in order to create a salvation and new eternity of heaven and earth?
#7 – “Pain is temporary, glory is forever.” I love this one; somehow people are so deceived in their pursuit of self-fulfillment, that they even think that any glory they may attain will somehow last forever. Such a silly notion, and as Solomon would say, “vanity in chasing the wind.” Once again it’s a matter of glorifying the self, as opposed to glorifying God; because, this statement could be transformed in an instant by simply adding God where He’s supposed to be, “Pain is temporary, God’s glory is forever.” Just ask His Son Jesus Christ.
#8 – And what of saying the name “Jesus Christ!” This is the biggest problem, that the devil and his entire deceived world have come so far down the road toward perdition that the very name of our Lord and Savior has become a swear word. Whether it’s the first name alone, the last name alone, or the two together; people are constantly throwing it out there just like the lowest forms of filthy, detestable language. Is this not the most astonishing degradation of all the most vial expressions of what has become totally normal and habitual? People will use the Lord’s name in vain over the most trivial of issues, and not even think about thinking twice. How can this transformation have come to be such a casual part of everyday life? Because the devil has deceived the whole world, that’s how! And we aren’t fighting to save it.
Now my wife and I have had issues where she’s told me that I’m too anal about words and speech. Maybe she’s right in some ways, but these little details are worth addressing I think. People cannot continue to go on thinking these misrepresentations are OK. I think my propensity towards assessing words through my anal nature, is something that can serve an important purpose, God’s purpose. Obviously we are called to study His Words very closely, analyzing them for accurate understanding; and we are definitely called to analyze what words we use, so therefore I am going to analyze what words those around me are using. “The tongue holds the power of life or death.”
And it goes beyond words as well. ‘The world’ has taken Biblically symbolic actions and flipped them on their head in an attempt to adapt them for, you guessed it, their selves.
1 – The symbolic act of tearing your clothes used to be for when fortune turned against you and you became humbled. Now it is used as an expression of exalting the self and the ego of being a champion. The symbolism of beating of the breasts is the same thing. People beat their breasts in Biblical times when their leader died. Now a person beats his breast when he overcomes his opponent, in some Godless competition for self-centered greatness. The ego of the self is what has separated men from God, as well as Satan and his demons.
2 – Or what about the symbol of shaking the dust off of your feet. It was originally to acknowledge that people were not able to recognize the sovereignty of God’s teachings, and after all attempts, it represented letting them go and shaking off their wickedness. Now people like to brush the dust off of their shoulders when someone doesn’t give them the respect they feel they deserve. They brush their shoulders to brush people off because they didn’t want to listen to their ways, which are not God’s ways, and exalt them to fulfill their self-centered ego.
So there is today’s sermon boys and girls. Do you follow God or are you “doing your own thing?” If you claim to follow God, do you recognize these things when people say them? There is a ‘world’ full of them and we should not be so quick to dismiss these little reality shaping words. Everything that is a step in the right direction, or wrong, is added to the pile – none of which is without its effects.