June 21, 2013
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If your right hand offends you
This isn’t really a post, it’s really a comment I made over at ReveLife that I felt worth sharing / saving because it pertains to a general misunderstanding of a statement of Jesus. (This also marks the first time I have written a post at WordPress and copied it over to Xanga.)
The original topic was regarding pornography. As with any “Religious” blog-site, atheists & agnostics love to heckle…. one “Lovegrove” made the following semi-sarcastic comment which led to my response that follows after.
If your right hand offend you, cut it off.
As I had dealt with Him before, I knew his sarcasm and tone…. I responded thus.
I greatly think that we misinterpret that verse now-a-days. Honestly face the question —- Does your RIGHT HAND cause you to sin? Jesus said plainly — “From out of THE HEART proceeds all manner of evil.” (paraphrasing the verses found in Matthew 15:19-20) and even a casual review of scripture will show you that God’s not talking about your emotions here… but rather, your mind. (one of the clearest evidences of that is the very passage I just quoted — for out of the heart proceed evil THOUGHTS…. since when do we think with our emotions?)
If your right hand causes you to sin… but it’s not our hands that cause us to sin… so where’s the chopping to be done?
Romans 12:1-2….. Philippians 4:8….. Psalm 119:9,11…. Psalm 1:1-6….
Once we face the fact that the very thoughts and imaginations of all that we do are evil (Genesis 6:11-12; Jeremiah 17:9-10), through and through, only then can we seek the only cure that God provides or offers —-
Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10-12)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, behold the old things have passed away and the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
and most beautifully —-
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope (Titus 2:11-13)
If your right hand offends thee —- seek the grace of God that teaches us to say “No”… renewing our minds… creating a new spirit within us…. that we might ultimately please Him who calls us onward.
amen.
So how are you dealing with your thought-life? Have you placed your neck on the chopping block lately? See where I am heading with this? It’s never our “right hand” or “Right eye” that causes us to stumble…. for from out of your HEART proceeds the evil that makes you fall. If you aren’t taking your thought life to Christ for renewal and transformation… cutting off your hand isn’t going to solve the problem in the least.
Comments (4)
I agree with you about our thought life………but I have wondered if this might also pertain to the body of Christ that we all are……is it proper to put someone out of the congregation if they are knowingly sinning, refuse to repent and stop doing it when spoken with by one or two out of love…….after all, just look what has happened with the Catholic church and some of the priests they sweep under the rug.
@alterb4ego - Ok, The Catholic Church is another matter altogether different… and maybe… MAYBE… I’ll deal with that in time… but as to your comment…. simple, very easy answer.
1 Corinthians 5.
read the chapter, it is now your homework. That one chapter will answer your question fully.
That said… while the excising (Not exERcising… different word…) of an sinning individual may have profound implications on the attitude and direction and life of a church…. that is not the bent of this passage. The actual bent of the passage was not something I dealt with in my blog, so please allow me a little freedom to expound here. I will try not to be overly long.
Jesus is specifically dealing with individuals in this passage and attempting to show that salvation has a price. A dear price. Is it worth your hand? Is it worth your eye? What will you surrender in order that you might obtain heaven? In another passage Jesus talks plainly about counting the cost of becoming a disciple (Luke 14: 25-33). In yet another passage Jesus reminds some of his followers (who we never hear from again…) that the Christian life isn’t full of promises of comfort, prosperity, or popularity. (RE: Luke 9:58-62 — read that… it’s important. The list I just gave you is the specific order of that passage… 1st: No comfort. 2nd: No prosperity. 3rd: No popularity.)
I guess what I am pointing at is that we (America) seem to have forgotten Jesus words about actually following him having a cost. Read the following verses and they will hopefully put the passage about chopping your hand or gouging your eye into perspective.
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!’
“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. (Matthew 10: 34-39)
Jesus did more to turn people AWAY from Him than He did to draw men TO Him. Did you catch the importance of that statement? The Rich Young ruler went away sad. Jesus didn’t chase after Him and say “Hey, Hey, I was only kidding… Let’s talk about lowering the bar so that we can get you into the Kingdom.” John records that when Jesus started talking about “Eating His flesh” (John 6:58) and of being the only true way to Heaven (John 6:65)…. Many DISCIPLES …. ouch…. turned away and followed Him no more. (John 6:66)
Jesus wasn’t into casually committed believers. It may cost you your eye. It may cost you your arm…. and it will definitely impact your thought life. Jesus is asking you to go against the world’s beliefs… against the world system. Thus when all your friends are talking about evolution, and you speak up to say that you believe God created this world and the evidence is in the flawless perfection of cellular design…. they’ll probably laugh at you, maybe even mock you or scorn you…. but all of that… all of the last 4 paragraphs… just to get to this one verse.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
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The world will hate you.
It might cost you an eye.
You might wind up homeless, living on the street. (I did… twice)
Your parents might fly into a rage because of your decision. (all 4 of my siblings don’t want to hear what I have to say, and 2 of them are downright hostile to me, like violently so.)
You might be called upon to sell everything and give all the money away. (I did… when I left America for Taiwan.)
You might even have to die.
Is it worth that to follow Jesus?
Today we preach “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”, and we miss the whole point of Jesus calling men to be His disciple. This isn’t about getting people to “Like” Jesus… as if he were some Facebook Celebrity. This is a call to make men consider what truly is valuable… and ask, “Is it really worth surrendering my entire life over to have?”
It is the pearl of great price, worth selling all you have to buy.
It is the treasure hidden in the field, worth selling all you have to purchase.
Jesus commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). It’s the first step and always has been (Proverbs 28:13). And if we’re not explaining this to men…. If we’re simply telling men that there are no costs or restrictions upon them “If they simply believe in Jesus” …. then we’re preaching a false gospel bent on making men comfortable in their sin and falsely believe that they are going to Heaven. It is no wonder that Paul pronounced the strongest condemnation upon those who preach a false gospel. (Galatians 1:6-10)
I know this turned out longer than expected… my apologies, you got another blog in answer to your simple question… but this issue has been dear to my heart for years.
Thank you for expounding on it for me…….
@alterb4ego - Please do not miss your “Homework”…. that one passage (1 Corinthians 5) will greatly explain the whole church discipline matter in perfect detail.