Day 17: One Column

Posted by Revolutionary Life on Mar 31, 2010 in Blog | 1 comment

WARNING: This is my journey of seeking the Lord and what he is doing to me. It is not about you, I’m sorry. These are honest thoughts from a heart needing God. I’m not going to be churchy or politically correct about myself and beliefs. If you are unable to deal with that, please don’t read this. Move on; it’s cool. Also, I was warned not to speak the truth on certain subjects as some folks may not want to have anything to do with me afterward, labeling me ‘radical’. Well, I don’t believe that. I believe that there are good folks who want truth regardless of how popular it is. I don’t mind being radical if that radicalizes my love for God and Others. I welcome comments and rebuke. Help me find truth.

Acts 17:10-12

¹⁰ The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹² Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

This morning I got up and headed to my beloved couch to spend a few minutes seeking the Lord before the day started. I really am useless without Him, honestly. I sat down and made the mistake of grabbing my computer before I hit my knees. For me the computer and technology can be the biggest distraction from seeking God. I know better. Even if I am going to use the computer to search the scriptures it is best if I hit my knees first. But I didn’t. Instead I went to a website to listen to a preacher. I started the sermon, set the computer aside, and set my bible in my lap.

I love my new bible. I bought it just a few months back after quite a search for the perfect one. I remember somewhere along the way I asked myself a question: ‘Why do all bibles have two columns on each page?’ I love reading books and figured it would be easier for me to read a Bible set out like a book. This thought led me to Lifeway.

“Excuse me sir, do you have any one column bibles?” I asked.

The young man looked through the entire shelf; none could be found. Agitated, I went home and searched Amazon. There were a few, but very few at this time. Well this got my mind going again. Why exactly do we have two column bibles? Who started this madness anyway? If that’s your cup of tea, drink it bountifully, but me, I was curious. A few webpages later I realized that there were two reasons for the two columns. 1) It saves money for the publishers. I get this. Psalms is poetry so each line must be set on it’s own. With two columns you can get MUCH more on fewer pages. Psalms is HUGE, but then there’s Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and most of the Prophets – all poetry. 2) Tradition. The original KJV (from my understanding) was done in two columns so naturally we have been following that ever since. That’s cool I guess. It sets the bible apart, but it also sets it in the hard to read pile.

Well those reasons were not enough for me. I wanted a one column because it just makes more sense to me. A month or so later I went back to Lifeway.

“Do you have any one column bibles?” I asked.

“Sure do! Come over here and pick out one. I like this translation because…”

I walked out a few minutes later with a new one column bible. Honestly, I LOVE it. It is much easier for me to read. But what happened in such a short time? I think the answer is deeper than this one instance. Lifeway is a business. They operate to make profit by selling worthwhile material to Christians to help them grow. That is awesome, and I have no issues with it; but that means as demand for something rises, they will order more of it. Seems to me, and I could be wrong, that there are more people than just me asking for one columns. What does this mean? It means people are asking themselves a simple question, ‘Why is it like this? Does this make sense? Why do we do it this way?’ Seems to me that people are being moved upon by the Spirit of God to seek the truth rather than tradition. I like that. Those questions are gold.

“Your blessing is connected to you being connected to the man of God!” said the voice from my laptop. “You can not be blessed and favored if you disconnect yourself from the man of God!”

My spirit did a kicking back flip. What? I know this man, a good guy, why would he say such a thing. Listen, the bible tells us to listen and obey (better translation is not to give a hard time – Hebrews 13:17) those who lead us in the church. We don’t need a bunch of rebellion running around, BUT those who would be our leaders must be the biggest servants (Matthew 23:11). If they are not they are not worthy of our following. We as ministers must lay down our lives for the sheep just like the good shepherd (John 10:11). We must wash their feet (John 13), leave our comforts for there protection and salvation (John 20:21), and protect them from sneaky deceits of men like this (Ephesians 4:11-13 – Ephesians 4:14-16). We are not to Lord over them like the system of the world (Matthew 20:25-26), but lead by serving. NEVER demanding honor (Matthew 23:8-10) (although we as Christians should give double honor to those who direct the affairs of the church [little c - local church] especially those who work HARD at preaching and teaching – 1 Timothy 5:17) but that is on us, not those to demand it.

NO ONE stands between us and God but Jesus. The veil was ripped dude (Matthew 27:51), the doors have been flung open, we now can approach God ourselves (Hebrews 4:16) because of what Jesus did. Study it out, the very fact that we can be filled with the Spirit (Acts 2) PROVES no one is between God and the believer. My favor and blessing comes from my relationship with and obedience to the great God who sent Jesus so we could be free; not to my obedience to you and your ideas. Those who serve the Lord by working in our ministry should respect and listen to me in the affairs of what we do because I’m the leader, but they will not be blessed because they are connected to me. They will be blessed because they obey God. If God tells them to work under us then they should obey. If God tells them to leave they better obey.

I am not the head of the Church. A pastor may lead a local church, but he is not the head. There is ONE head. His name is Jesus (Ephesians 5:23). Nowhere in that scripture is minister mentioned.

So why did this good man say these things? It’s because it is popular tradition these days, especially when finances are rough for many folks. It started WAY back but was revamped in the 70s when rebellion was running wild. The attempt was to curve the rebellion, but many overstepped and fell right off the edges of scripture. If the leader doesn’t serve with honor, he doesn’t deserve honor. The priest in the old testament were decked out in fancy clothes laced with jewels, but they spent all day taking those off and getting covered with blood. They stank at the end of the day from the burnt flesh and hair from administering the sacrifices for the people. Now, through Christ we don’t need someone to administer our sacrifice, but we as ministers must still be willing to get dirty for the good of those that follow us. We can’t take honor without the sacrifice, just like the Levites (Deuteronomy 18:1-2). We can’t lead people to somewhere we’ve never been. It is dishonorable to ask someone to go somewhere you are unwilling to go yourself. That is why Jesus came to us then sent us to the world. He is the ULTIMATE leader; the leader by example.

This good man said something because someone taught to Him when he was younger and someone taught it to Him when he was younger, but it is un-scriptural tradition that these days does tons of damage. This man may have a pure heart, but the next man does not perhaps, and if God leads that person who believes these things elsewhere to another part of the Church (big c – The Worldwide Body of Believers) or they stray for a while and are abused because they believed such non-sense then we have added to there hurt. To think that some might gloat at the poor souls pain. “I told them so.” Sick.

Just as I wondered why we have two columns, I think we, like those in the scripture above, had better start searching the scripture to see if these things are SO. If you can’t find it (without a missing link) in the new testament (especially Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – not to discount the rest but we only understand properly when we filter it through Jesus), then we better start asking ourselves why there are two columns.

Our blessing IS connected to our connection to THE MAN of God, JESUS. There in ONLY ONE church, with many small divisions. No one stand between you and God but Jesus.

Be careful not to get too judgmental. We all believe some lies because we have been told to. This is important, listen close. Don’t accept assumption, but love those who make them.