the basic message #E318
12/16/04
Do you know Greek? Do you know anyone who knows Greek? How about Hebrew, do you know that language or know someone who does? Your answer, like most of us might well be, "my pastor does". I believe in education, and I certainly believe that we should always be expanding our level of comprehension of many subjects- the greatest one being our understanding of Salvation. I've noticed over the last few years that some pastors and preachers use their education as a defense mechanism rather than as a tool to help people. How so? I'll give you an example that happened to me recently:
My pastor preached a sermon using the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19. I've read this passage many times, and it's one of my favorites. If you recall, Zacchaeus was a tax collector........tell you what, rather than fall into the same trap the pastor did, I'll just let you read it.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ”
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Now, how do you define what happened in this story? I see a man that is fed-up with the system. He's got a good job and he's wealthy, but his life has no meaning. He's heard about this man called Jesus, and he's wondering if Jesus might have some knowledge, some word for him that will give his life clarity. Little did Zaccchaeus know that not only would Jesus speak to him on his way to Jericho, Jesus would come to Zacchaeus' house for a private conversation. Zacchaeus knew he'd led a bad life and he wanted to make amends for that. Cheap grace preachers think we don't have to make amends for anything we've done, but go read the Gospels and see how many times "repentance" is listed. Repentance is simply making amends. Why is it important? It simply shows Jesus Christ that we're serious about implementing what he teaches us. Back to the disagreement I had with my pastor.
The pastor said when Jesus made the comment in verse 9, "Today salvation has come to this house...." it simply means that Jesus came to the house. I maintain that it was Zacchaeus' actions that proved to Jesus that he was indeed sorry about his past life and that he desired to follow the King of Kings. Read verse 8 again:
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
This is clearly a man who is ready to leave his past life and begin anew. When an alcoholic shows up at a AA meeting, does he say, "Hi, I'm Jim, and uh, I sometimes drink a little too much." Nope, what Jim has to say to himself and the others is: "Hi, I'm Jim, and I'm an alcoholic." Maybe the difference seems minimal to you, but it's huge. I believe that Jesus Christ, who knows everything, realized Zacchaeus wanted to change, but when Zacchaeus proved he wanted to change, that made all the difference in the world. When I politely explained my view of the passage, my pastor said, "If you knew Greek, you would understand that in the original text it says....." He isn't the first religious leader that's used that line on me, and I'm sure he won't be the last. In a discussion I had with him earlier in the year, he stated, "If you had an understanding of Johanian theology, you'd understand." I'm just about fed-up with preachers acting like they're on an unapproachable level. Preachers these days seem to think their job is more about going to meetings and conferences, burying people, marrying people, visiting the sick, etc. They need to understand that their first and foremost job duty is to make absolutely, positively sure their congregation understands fully the plan of Salvation. The rest of that stuff they do has little meaning if they can't get that accomplished. If the roles had been reversed in the discussion of Zacchaeus with my pastor, I'd have taken all the time needed to prove my point, but he was clearly irritated that he had to spend what little time he did conversing with someone who "doesn't know Greek".
The next time a preacher or teacher tries to slither out of a discussion with you due to your lack of knowledge about Greek or Hebrew, pose this question: "Pastor, do you think a company like Zondervan Publishing Co. has qualified scholars working for them that interpret the original text for Bibles such as the New International Version?" If his answer is yes, then continue, "If so, why is it that you, in your great wisdom, can interpret the Greek to mean something different than what they translated?" Be forewarned that I took the Dale Carnegie course and I can tell you that questioning your pastor isn't the way to "influence people and win friends", but make no mistake- it's your Salvation on the line. Don't accept cheap substitutes for solid teaching, my friends. There is nothing more important in your life.