Author: imikemedia

I sometimes struggle with the humanity of this Old Testament hero. It’s not too difficult to imagine him losing his temper, but it’s quite another thing to get my frontal lobe around the idea of him killing a fellow human being.

And yet, there it is–in inspired black and white–Moses slew a man. In fact, he had with some premeditation murdered an Egyptian task master (Exodus 2:11-12).

You could argue that as a prince and adopted grandson of the king, he wielded the power of the sword (Romans 13:1-4) and therefore had the authority to take life. But this wasn’t an on-the-spot, government-endorsed execution; it was a brutal homicide.

But whether or not Moses had the “letter of the law” right to slay the Egyptian, Pharaoh interpreted the bloodshed as a kind of watershed event. He realized that this, in essence, was Moses’ formal announcement that he had defected from Egypt and allied himself with the slaves.

Moses, as you may recall, was a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian for the better part of 4 decades. During that interval he witnessed the plight of his own people and then eventually decided it was time, not only to connect with them (Hebrews 11:24-26), but to deliver them. And from his perspective, deliverance began with the murder of the slave-driver.

He assumed that the Hebrews would appreciate his altruistic motives and be thankful that he, as a sort of patriot, had slain this oppressor.

Ironically, the very next day after he had murdered the Egyptian, Moses found two Hebrews fighting and chose to intercede (Exodus 2:13-14). The evidence (Exodus 2:19) suggests he had the appearance of an Egyptian. When he attempted to reconcile the situation, the Hebrews didn’t see a fellow-sufferer and brother in the flesh, but another heavy-handed antagonist (Exodus 2:14).

Rather than rallying to his side, showing him respect, and supporting what he had done the day before, one of the Hebrews leveled criticism at him. “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” he sarcastically inquired.

I find this fascinating.

Moses was trying to do what he believed to be, a good thing, and not only get some Hebrew payback, but perhaps even initiate a slave revolt against Egyptian tyranny (Acts 7:24-25).

Back away from this story for just a moment and take it in. Moses sought to lead God’s people and anticipated praise. Instead, he received biting criticism.

Does that sound familiar? Have you ever been harshly criticized when you were sincerely trying to do the right thing?

Here’s what I am learning from my hero. Psssst… It’s not what you may want to hear, but it’s biblical. Have you got your seatbelt on?

Criticism is an inherent part of life; you can’t escape it, you can’t run from it, nor can you circumvent it. And even when you’re doing your dead-level best to carry out, what you think to be, the Lord’s will, there will always be those who misunderstand and censure you.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading through the Pentateuch. Moses received a lot of criticism from his peers.

Paul faced criticism on an almost daily basis. Jesus was taken to the verbal woodshed on multiple occasions, not only by his enemies, but even his friends and family (Mark 3:20-22)–and he was perfect!

Here’s my point. If we can begin to expect and anticipate criticism as an innate part of the Christian walk (2 Timothy 3:12), we might be less defensive, perhaps even open to what is said (Psalms 139:23-24; Proverbs 9:7-9; 10:17), when it comes our way.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike

He was Rabonni. Master. Teacher…

He taught his students in terms of the spiritual despite the fact that their preconceptions kept them hearing, more often than not, in terms of the physical. They were looking to overthrow the Emperor of Rome; he was looking to overthrow the Prince of the power of the air.

Now imagine if Jesus had begun his very first Bible class with the twelve with the following introduction:

“Men,” he says, “Big changes are on the horizon. Judaism and the old Mosaic regime is about to come to a close. The Ten Commandments will no longer be in effect. Animal sacrifices will cease. Circumcision of the flesh will be a thing of the past. There will be no more fleshly High Priesthood — at least, not as you know it now. The Sabbath, with all of its ordinances and rituals, will be brought to an end. Regulations that your families have kept for generations will be made obsolete. What was once unclean will now be considered clean…”

How do you suppose Peter, James, John and their fellow-classmates would have responded to that kind of information? Of course, these statements were correct (Romans 7:2, 6; Ephesians 2:14-15; Colosians 2:14ff; Hebrews 8-10), but it’s obvious they wouldn’t have been in any way prepared for them. Yes, the Law was for Israel only (Deuteronomy 4:7-8), yes, the Law constituted a temporary system (Jeremiah 31:31-32), yes, the Law was about to become obsolete (Hebrews 8:13), and a new and better covenant was about to be established, but none of the these twelve freshmen were mature enough to stomach that kind of doctrinal meat — at least not yet.

Jesus knew that — and that’s why he waited; He did not tell them what they were not ready to hear. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12).

Christian teachers need to remember this important principle today. Typically folks have to get the hang of addition, subtraction, and division before they wrestle with algebra, geometry and physics. They learn the basics and fundamentals first, then they are incrementally challenged with higher mathematics.

What is true in the realm of academics also ought to be true in matters pertaining to the Faith. Typically people need to learn the difference between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ (Heb. 8) before they’re told that instruments of music in worship are sinful.

It’s not that instrumental music is an inconsequential matter and shouldn’t be addressed (Colosians 3:16-17); it’s a matter of readiness and timing. We can convey the right information at the wrong time in the learning curve. What did Jesus tell the twelve? “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them YET.”

When we fail to prepare the heart-soil of our peers, try simply to win doctrinal arguments, and/or show others just how much (or little) we know about the Bible, more often than not, we shut out the very souls we were meant to convert. When we force information upon them when they’re not ready to hear it, we’re simply scattering the Seed on blacktop.

It’s not that our friends will never accept the truth at some point in the future; it’s that they usually aren’t ready at Bible study #1 for deeper concepts of doctrine. It’s addition — then algebra, Testament — then worship, milk — then meat (cf. Hebrews 5:12ff).

Jesus, the Master Teacher, knew that. He prepared the hearts of his students for the reception of important truths. He reiterated ideas. He gave little tests. He spoke in figures and parables. He planted little seeds of faith, watered them, fertilized them, and then he waited for growth and maturity.

Christian teachers and evangelists would do well to remember his example.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike

Church work is like gardening (2 Timothy 2:6), without the bib overalls and straw hat.

The seed is the Word (Luke 8:11).

Preachers are patient laborers (James 5:7), seeking to bring their produce to harvest (Matthew 9:37-38; Matthew 13:30).

Making a good garden is dependent upon several factors–the right seed, proper fertilizer, sufficient water, warm sunshine, insect control and periodic weeding, etc. (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Joe Neal Pinion, my old gardening buddy over in White, Georgia, used to laugh and say, “Mike–growing a garden isn’t just about pulling weeds.”

His humor had a point.

Having spent considerable time in my own vegetable garden and having observed other growers and their produce, I can attest to the truthfulness of his statement.

Pulling weeds is but one aspect of what a gardener must perform.

Respectfully, I wish some of my fellow “gardeners” could learn that lesson.

To read from the pen of some of my brethren, you would think that weed pulling–i.e., exposing false teachers and false teaching–is a preacher’s sole responsibility; it is THE gospel.

Virtually every issue of their bulletin or paper is devoted to “weed-pulling” and little–if anything–is written from the vantage point of optimism or encouragement.

Please don’t misunderstand here–left unchecked, the weeds of false doctrine can choke a congregation and MUST be pulled up (Titus 1:10-11; Romans 16:17, 18; 2 John 9-11; Matthew 7:16-18) in order to ensure the garden’s growth (2 Peter 2:2; 3:18).

However, a preacher-writer who devotes 98% of his energies to condemning wrong will never produce the kind of soul-harvest the Master husbandman requires (Hebrews 5:14).

It is impossible to grow a garden by simply pulling up weeds.

Yes, weeds can choke plants and rob the soil of important nutrients, but if the full range of garden tending efforts are neglected, the herbage will eventually wither and die.

And if somehow it survives this imbalanced treatment, it will be incapable of yielding fruit (John 15:16; Romans 7:4).

Where are the articles about the joy of Christian service?

Where are the lessons about the blessings of our fellowship?

Where are the sermons addressing the good things about the Lord’s church?

Where are the literary treaties on what is positive about the Christian life?

Where are the essays concerning basic, Bible doctrine and how to be saved?

(If a preacher isn’t careful, he can prefer condemning to saving–Jonah 3-4; Luke 15:25-32).

The Bible says the “sum” (not some) of God’s word is truth (Psalm 119:160 ASV).

It is not a matter of “either or” brethren, but “both and.”

The sole purpose of teaching through the printed page and internet should not be merely to denounce and attack denominational error and or liberalism.

This is to be but a part of the whole commission we are to fulfill (Matthew 28:20).

Paul himself said that his gardening efforts involved a complete balance.

“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27; cf. 2 Timothy 3:16).

Those of us who preach through the printed media and internet might do well to heed the advice of one Christian educator of the past who challenged his young students to leaf through their Bibles and underline those passages which they seldom or never addressed and then preach on them.

Note Paul’s example, “…I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you…” (Acts 20:20).

Joe Neal was right–good gardening requires a comprehensive approach.

It’s not just about pulling weeds. May God help us to keep this in mind as we declare the wonderful word of God.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike