Good Whippin's

Today I was re-reading a verse that I’ve been focused on: 2 Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

This morning the next verse, 2 Peter 3:9, caught my attention:

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

That passage brought to mind a memory that gives me a chuckle…

Many years ago as a younger man, a friend and I were asked to prepare a lesson for a men’s Bible study. The topic we were to present was “The End Times”. Now we were both green, but we weren’t totally ignorant.

We knew we had a lot of very well-versed older Christian men in the class, amongst who were several self-proclaimed end-time aficionados. And we knew this was a big topic that generated many conflicting opinions. Our answer was simple: “They’ll hand us our hats if we try to use our limited knowledge of this topic, but no one knows more than Jesus so they won’t beat us up too bad if we stick with Him.”

To us there was only one reasonable, (and safe,) path available. We compiled a document which gave all of Christ’s statements regarding the end-times and used it to give some simple principals that seemed to be laid out plainly in Christ’s comments.

That was the lesson we gave …
…and the whipping we received was epic!

I remember being shocked at the response we received from the “experts” in our midst. (I’ve been tempted at times to joke that "those men apparently knew more on the topic than Jesus", but that wouldn’t be honest or fair.)

The fashionable thing to do these days is to say that my buddy and I were the victims of “hard-hearted Pharisees” and to go on at length about the damage done to our “sweet, tender, spiritual selves”.

Today I appreciate what those men were trying to do. The Bible tells young Christian men that we are to learn from older Christian men. Nothing in those instructions qualifies that we need only learn from older Christian men who are “pure and gentle”.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

- Proverbs 1:7

Our simple presentation was built on a foundation of “our understanding.” We had believed that "simplicity" was a refuge and defense within which we could deploy our best thinking. Even if those men were completely wrong, (which wasn’t the case,) they were concerned about our understanding and willing to correct what they perceived as error. Today we need more Christian men like that.

Once again I am reminded that my only confidence can be in Jesus and God’s Word. Even my best understanding is dangerous in my hands, but if I watch His lead, it’ll be alright...

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

- Proverbs 1:32-33

Praise Jesus name!