For This Reason 48

[HKHaugan]

For This Reason 48

California TV Station Fox 5 gave this report yesterday 11/21/13:

“Costco has apparently had a “Come-to-Jesus” epiphany.

The national warehouse chain has apologized for labeling Bibles in a Simi Valley, Calif. store as fiction, calling it an error that they are working quickly to correct.

“We deeply regret the mislabeling of the Bible and meant no offense to anyone,” the company wrote in an email received by several customers. “The buyer has let us know that this was an error and the books are being pulled off the shelves to be re-marked.”

Cue the angelic choirs.”

At first glance it becomes a moment calling for a smile, a humorous hash tag in the blur of media overkill. But it reveals something deeper in the modern psyche. An unaware stock clerk in the whirl of daily numbing meaningless labor is not thinking about the differentiation of book categories. You have a pile of books to stack and you just find the place where they can conveniently be put and you put them there. Convenience for this particular clerk was fiction, a subconscious response with a semi-conscious choice. That is exactly where this culture is right now. The fact that California was the location (though it could have been anywhere) speaks loudly to the issue. While Costco executives were quick to provide a fix it was done more out of fear with the looming Christmas rush in mind.

But what is really being said here? The culture is fast moving toward seeing Scripture as part of the great unknown, the untouchable and in some cases the enemy. Let me repeat the condition I described in the last writing, “It is in our most recent decades that its influence has been challenged, taken out of schools and denigrated in our university systems. There is a new atmosphere, another kind of spiritual wave that has assaulted our country. It's like a wave of fear that forces us to view everything immoral as acceptable regardless of the physical and social consequences. The fear is that having a standard of morality is offensive to individual rights and freedom. What we are experiencing is the subtle tyranny of the minority, the offended individual and those who perceive they are victims of indiscriminate discrimination. The fear that one is perceived as prejudiced, that might cause profits to decrease and that regardless of the truth of the situation even the appearance or suggestion that bias may rise up, motivates withdrawal from honest conversation. This is a serious spiritual condition, resembling a contagious fever, sweeping through the nation.”

In order to avoid the problem you relegate Scripture, consciously or subconsciously, to the 'fiction' shelf. This way every person can 'lean unto their own understanding (Prov.3:5),' when it comes to personal decision making, what shapes our political view as well as who and what we support right where we live everyday.

Let me quickly say we are not putting all the weight on the stock clerk but on the spiritual condition that sweeps into people's mindset along the way and causes stock clerks and everyone else to react the way they do when it comes to the Bible. The answer to this is not political but spiritual. Three reactions on our part can begin making an impact on the culture.

First, we live the Bible by reading and studying it, by applying its concepts to the activity taking place in our immediate environment and by taking it as the Holy Spirit's personal quest for gaining my attention from one moment to the next. This is the primary task for each of us.

The second thing we can do is to listen to the Holy Spirit's call to share its concepts either by word or action in local clubs, organizations and even town gatherings. It is the concepts that most of the time are necessary to visualize that make sense to others. However, when questions arise in a public arena trust the Holy Spirit to give you the words necessary to meet the occasion (Mt.10:19).

The third thing we can do is to use every spiritual gathering from worship, prayer group to Bible Study and Bible conferences to sharpen our mind. It's not how much we are able to remember the specific words as in memorization which can be helpful at times. Rather it is very much like filling the mind as you read; stop if you need to understand, meditate, search a commentary, call a faithful brother or sister and pray for insight.

The Bible is God's only Word about the Word in the Word. It is the only catalog of spiritual ideas that come straight from Him. All other books, articles and references are secondary sources to help us grasp what is in it. Even the notes you find in study Bibles are not Scripture so be careful not to stop and accept those comments just because they are in there. I have found that occasionally they are that commentator's attempt to justify a difficult passage so that it satisfies both him and the reader. When the Lord says something He says it without apology or concern about what you may think. He says it because He intended for us to get His point not our satisfaction. He is God and a Holy and Almighty God. When we yield to Him totally and completely regardless of circumstance or the human intellect's pride or our need to be in control of understanding then and only then can the Holy Spirit use its profundity to penetrate our sinful nature. The more we look for simple answers the simplicity of faith in Jesus as Lord will elude the most perceptively brilliant of human minds.

Next we want to look at Scripture and how we can give it the supreme ascendency it calls for as God's very own Word for us. And, by the way, what I say is only from my perspective and its limitations so when I suggest something know that there is always more. I'm just a catalyst to ignite more interest. It's your interest the Lord wants to inspire. He gave us His Word for a personal experience in our every next moment. So stick with me on this as we both continue to learn from Him.