Lottery Tickets

Up until today..I was a big fan of what I like to call scripture snack shots. You know those feel good devotionals that come in the form of pictures. They are all over social media, email, and texting.

You can't escape them on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram. Don't believe me? When you go back to Facebook. Look over and under this link. Yup! There they are.

Some of them are lovely photos of Jesus carrying us through a storm. Some are just popular scripture snippets straight out of the bible. Some of them are scripture based everyday life lessons paraphrased by Reverend Doctor Bishop Bible Scholar.

And some of them are what I like to call scripture lottery tickets. These are just a whole lot of opinion with a sprinkling of scripture. They are like those scratch off tickets with varying odds of finding enough scripture to make them worth buying (into)..let alone sharing.

Scripture lottery tickets are dangerous. They pick and choose parts of the bible to highlight for their message of the moment. They distort and manipulate the message of God to suit their own agenda.

These are the ones that I want to take a closer look at. The one pictured was texted to me by a friend. My response was a good hearted.."That's OUR Saviour!"

Below is a transcript of the conversation that followed. And let me say that I have their permission to share this with you. The conversations that I have with my friends..or even my enemies..would not show up in my blog..or anywhere else..without my clearing it with them first.

"So gay is ok?"

ME: No. Same sex sex is a sin. But Jesus loves ppl who have sex in marriage, out of marriage, men on men, and women on women. He loves us all and wants all of us to be saved. But He hates the sin. The point of that is that Jesus doesn't call us out by our sin..he calls us out of sin.

"O ok"

ME: That pix is cute and true and though it is scripture based..u can not take one scripture and ignore the rest. If you want answers..don't rely on other ppl..not me, not your mom, go to the source..the bible! We love you but our truth can be laced with opinion and personal belief. The bible is straight up.

"I dont read it"

ME: Ur gonna fall for anything with no word in you. Ik u read it before..took a few classes..but the word is new to u and for u ev day.

"Hmmm k"

That conversation alone proves my point about how dangerous scripture lottery tickets are. But let's dig a little deeper.

The person I was talking to sits under some truly bible based teaching. How do I know? Because on the Sundays when they are in church, I sit under it with them. And I know their mother personally and she doesn't just tote her bible around in an app on her phone..she lives it. So I know they know the bible.

In fact....

ME: U knew that. Nice try though.

But can you imagine someone whose only exposure to scripture is when they come across a scripture snack shot like the one pictured?

The snack tells you a lot about what Jesus is not..what He did not do..but it doesn't tell you the whole truth. It doesn't give you the complete picture.

The snack doesn't tell you that during the time Jesus was tempted by the devil with all kinds of stuff and things..with all manners of sin..He refused and rebuked the devil saying..“No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4)

EVERY WORD. The scriptures. The gospel. The bible. EVERY WORD. Not some or part. EVERY WORD. Not just what you see in a scripture snack shot. Or hear from other people. Or even read in a blog! EVERY WORD OUT OF GOD'S MOUTH.

Jesus put himself in the trenches. He got down and dirty to save as many souls as possible. Jesus walked, taught, and lived among sinful people that were doing all kinds of sinful things..loving each and every sinner..but..He did not condone or commit sin. 

Though there is no way for us to NOT sin EVER like Jesus...God does call us to be as Christ like as possible in the fact that we should reach out to the sinner to help lead them out of the sin.

This blog point here won't make me popular. So if you NEED to LIKE me stop reading NOW....

Because there are so many people out there who are too busy looking down on the sinner..so busy playing other people's sin up and their own sin down..so quick to get all bent about the so called big sins (abortion, adultery, homosexuality)..to bother to recognize or admit THAT in itself IS A SIN..they think it's okay to live on scripture snack shots. Shoot. They read a few and that's their bible study.

****climbing off my soapbox****

Going deeper still..What happens when all people get from scripture snack shots are just a one line zinger?

For instance. If the snack said..."Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong." (Romans 7:19) Well, that is from Paul's letter to the Roman church. Taken out of context..that is, without considering verses 1-18 and 20-25 and all the verses from all the books BEFORE and AFTER..one could conclude that Paul was saying what's the point of knowing right if I'm just going to do wrong.

PAUL WAS NOT. Read Romans for yourself to see for yourself just what it means. But you get my point. You can surely see how that is dangerous.

And deeper still..Even photos of Jesus carrying us can be misleading. He does indeed carry us..THANK GOD..but look at the caption. The same is true with paraphrased life lessons..Look at the words THAT ARE NOT SCRIPTURE.

Does it..the caption, the personal take..align with God's word? Yes? No? You don't know?

That should scare you. Not knowing should scare the daylights out of you..and some word in you. It scares me. For me, for my kids, for you. Ignorance is dangerous. And that is what NOT knowing the word..not seeking and searching the word..for yourself is. Pure ignorance.

And with all the gizmos and gadgets and apps..there is no excuse for that kind of ignorance today. None.

Better stop snacking on any and everything. Just stopping by random bowls of snack mix..sucking down handfuls because it looks good and is free.