He's Serious

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness ..." (2 Tim 3:16-17), so if "all Scripture" is "breathed out by God" it's all God's Word. However, there are some tough spots. In my day, Ronco was a force of culture. You had the "Ronco Pocket Fisherman" and the "Ronco Veg-O-Matic" ("It slices! It dices! It even makes Julienne fries!!") and on and on. It became a meme before memes were something. We had our own additions ... like "The Ronco Erasable Bible! Erase any verse you don't like, write in something new, and God has to do it because ... it's in the Bible!" Here's a passage that should have ended up erased, right?

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you. (Deut 13:6-11)

Um ... yeah ... that probably shouldn't be in there. Of course, I'm not advocating that. And it's God's Word, so we can't just ... erase it. What, then?

Consider the context. Israel was a theocracy. The "King" of Israel at the time was ... YHWH. Trying to persuade people to idolatry, then, was the highest form of treason, both politically and spiritually. It is not uncommon for acts of treason to be punished by death. This law, if enforced, would have a devastating effect ... on idolatry. It would protect the community ... not from crime, but from God's wrath. It would protect Israel's position as God's representatives on Earth. It would protect their blessings of being a blessing to all nations. And it demonstrates an issue of vital importance ... God is really serious about idolatry.

We are not a theocracy. We don't enforce worship with force. The Church today isn't national; it's spiritual. We don't get to coerce spiritual purity. So we don't do this now. We don't kill heretics and we don't kill idolaters inside or outside our "nation" (especially since the "Christian nation" is a spiritual nation, not a geographic nation). We do need to understand that idolatry is a serious issue ... especially to God. Replacing God with anything -- fame, wealth, power, self, or any other modern "idol" -- should be met with extreme resistance. It doesn't matter if it's a close family member or a beloved spouse or a dear friend. We are called to "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Col 3:5). Not "coddle it" or "indulge it" or "look the other way." Kill it. No, not physically. Our struggle is a spiritual one (Eph 6:12). I suspect, if we are paying attention, killing it in our own lives will be a pretty long task as it is. But keep in mind ... God is serious about it. We should be, too.