Not too long ago a Baptist accused me of "straining at a gnat" for quoting the Bible in a conversation about something in the Bible. Ironically, the quote was in support of what the person was saying. A while back an SDA accused me of being too nitpicky about the Bible for referencing verses that explicitly contradicted SDA doctrines. Awkward. On a side note, if you're in a Bible study where the person leading it thinks the Bible is off-topic or offensive, you might be in the wrong Bible study. :)
Several months ago, I got nitpicky and strained at a gnat about something I thought contradicted the Bible. I'd like to share the consequences of what happened when I did that.
There's no Messianic synagogue here close enough to drive to, so I've been going to churches for a while until I can move or something shows up. I was going to this one church that had a decent pastor. He had a mild tradition problem, but he was okay. I don't know any denomination that doesn't have a problem with tradition. It goes with the territory. He was elderly and ended up having to leave because of back surgery. Another pastor took his place on a temporary basis.
The substitute pastor was an in-law of the pastor with the back problem and had been going to church there for a while to support the other pastor. The substitute's first wife died a number of years ago, and he remarried. His new wife had belonged to her church for a long time, and she didn't stop going there once they were married. It was rare that she would go to church with her husband if he went to the church where I was going. It had been that way their whole marriage. I think he went to her church for a while, though, and otherwise attended with her when he wasn't visiting us. Nobody said anything about all that. It was just the way things were. They were an older couple. Older people tend to do what they want.
I always thought it was weird that she didn't go to church with him in spite of how long she'd been a member of her church. It didn't seem Biblical, but I didn't say anything either, because it wasn't really any of my business. However, when this guy started pastoring where I was going to church and his wife refused to attend church with him under that circumstance, it suddenly became my business. I finally decided based on 1 Timothy 3 that she was in rebellion, and he was no longer qualified to be a pastor. (KJV version. CJB version.) I based that on verse 5 specifically, which asks the rhetorical question that if a man doesn't know how to rule/manage his own house, how can he take care of God's house. From what I could see, his house wasn't in order. So, I quit going there and went somewhere else.
The pastor at the new church was okay. The congregation seemed much more excited about the Bible than the place I quit. Things looked good. However, at some point a young man announced that he had been "called to preach". The pastor let him do a few sermons. It was a big deal for the family. Very emotional. The sermons were short. He did okay. He didn't embarrass himself. He was comfortable in front of the crowd. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he said nothing outrageous or controversial. I had vague misgivings about the change but nothing I could really point to. Then it turned out the young man was only 18. I could detect an undercurrent of something not right when the normal pastor dismissed the congregation, and the kid halted it and spoke on for probably less than a minute. But that wasn't my business. The regular pastor was older. I figured he'd handle the kid behind the scenes. After the third(?) sermon, the kid announced that he was going to be baptized. Whoa! He was such a new Christian that he hadn't had time to get baptized.
Since I'd just quit one place because of 1 Timothy 3, I already knew that novices are forbidden from the pulpit. I quit that church, too, immediately. I knew the kid wasn't supposed to be doing that, and if the pastor was letting him, there was something wrong there, too. To quit both churches over the same chapter was hard. I was standing on what I thought the Bible says, but no one else gave any indication whatsoever of seeing it, although I didn't discuss it or talk to anyone about it at either church. I had self doubts. Who was I to be so nitpicky? Should I just stick it out and hope God did something about it? Was I being prideful somehow? I finally decided to stick with what I thought the Bible said regardless of the circumstances and my doubts.
Over two months after I quit the first place, the phone rang. It was about the substitute pastor. He had to quit the church. Why? His wife wanted a divorce. The Bible was right. Despite how it appeared, that pastor's house was not in order. Once that church got a new pastor, I started going there again. I don't know yet if it's going to work, but so far so good.
I don't know how the church with the novice is doing, but I know what 1 Timothy 3 says. The kid's almost certainly going to be lifted up with pride and fall under the same condemnation as the devil. It was already beginning.
Galatians 1:13-18. After Paul's Damascus road experience, he went to the deserts of Arabia for an unspecified period of time and then back to Damascus. Three years later, he went to Jerusalem. Paul did not begin his ministry as a novice. He did not become the "Apostle Paul" for a long time. It took him years of preparation after his salvation to get to the point where God could give him a ministry.
What were the consequences of my choices? Even though I didn't have all the facts, standing on the Bible was the right thing to do. I wasn't being nitpicky or straining at a gnat after all. I was being a Berean.
Book Stuff
I'm very close to having the rough draft finished for the Young Adult espionage book. I might get it done this weekend. It's been a hard slog. It's not as polished as it should be at this point. I need to fix some things such as a hostage scene involving someone who probably can't be held hostage without breaking a rule. It's going to take some thought to fix it while maintaining the same level of tension and character motivation. If there's no hostage, wouldn't the characters just run off instead of risking a fight with the villain? Hmm. I also want the main character to realize something about herself, but it needs to be handled just right and occur at the right moment. It involves scars, but because of the winter season, they would be covered up. I've been wrestling with how to get past that. Maybe there could be a warm snap? Hmm. Once I reach the end, I should go over the whole thing doing polish and fixes before letting it rest a month or so. It would be easier to fix some of the mistakes while they're fresh in my mind.
During that month or more I need to do some painting and get more writing done on the next B'vellah War book. I've been going over some of the ideas for that on the side, filling in some of the blanks in the outline. It's been a struggle not to put the YA book down for a while to work on that more. :) The second half of the YA book has been difficult. I've really had to make myself stick with it.
I wanted to have the second B'vellah War book done in December, but things kept happening. It feels like I'm hopelessly behind.
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