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At Liberty Only To Be Bound |
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Written by Chuck Durham
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 Micaiah, the prophet of Yahweh, understood the pivotal issue of man’s relationship with God: “As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak” (1 Kings 22:14). We are not at liberty to tweak it, massage it, bend it, or pervert it. We are at liberty to do one thing: be bound by it. How many grasp this fundamental truth?
The following quote is not taken from a preacher who is a member of the church of Christ. “Before you sits a nice, romantic, post-modern couple who want you to perform their marriage. One of them, a professing Christian, is a member of the church you serve; the other, you have divined by question and conversation, is not a Christian. You tell the latter so and then inform the couple that Scripture does not allow you to join them in marriage (1 Cor. 7:39). But, they say, they were going to attend church here (the suggestion being that now they won’t do so). You realize, don’t you, that the member’s family [also members] will be irate over your refusal? Don’t you know there are other clergy who have no such scruples? While you may have your opinion about what the word of God requires, why do you have to be bound by that? Aren’t a lot of these things open for reinterpretation?” —Dale Ralph Davis, The Wisdom and the Folly, 324.
I have been there; and, I might add, I use 1 Cor. 6:14-18, too. I have looked people in the eye and refused to perform their marriage ceremony. A fellow preacher, who disagreed with my application of Scripture, performed the marriage ceremony I refused. I do not use this example to say that you emulate my position on this issue; but that you, and I, follow hard on the lead of Micaiah! When we have studied out a position from Scripture, we are not at liberty to tweak it, bend it, massage it or pervert it. We are at liberty only to be bound by it whatever the consequences may be. Slapped on the face or slapped into a jail cell matters not. Only one thing matters: we are bound by the word of the LORD. People still don’t get this fundamental reality. It still blows them away. The pressure to compromise comes not only from Samaria…but church pews as well. I want to stand solidly in the company of Micaiah. Safety never comes in numbers, but in One, and One alone. |
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