Adventures in Religion

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     1. Jesus taught that a man creates the standard by which he will be judged. We will be weighed in the scales which we use to weigh others. God will accept our own yardstick as the criterion by which we will be measured. "For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." If your basis of judgment for your brothers is strict conformity to legalistic procedure and you deviate from that law in the slightest degree you sign your own death warrant and seal your own doom. If you demand as a requisite to fellowship with you that others must have the same degree of spiritual knowledge as yourself, then you must have the same degree of knowledge as God to be in His fellowship. If you do not have, you will be damned, not because God desires to judge you thus, but because you chose that basis of judgment.

     The way to assure that God will be lenient and merciful unto you is to be forbearing and forgiving toward your brethren. "Accept life with humility and patience, making allowances for one another because you love one another" (Eph. 4:2 Phillips). Since we cannot claim perfection God must either make some allowances for us or we will be lost. I am convinced that He is willing to do this because He loves us. But if we do not love our brothers enough to make allowances for them we cannot expect to measure them by one rule and be measured by another.

     It is for this reason we are under a "law of liberty" which means that we operate under a principle of freedom. The apostle says, "We are free to serve God not in the old obedience to the letter of the law, but in a new way, in the Spirit" (Romans 7:6). If we were under law and not under grace we could not make allowances for one another regardless of the degree of our love. We would have to "exact the pound of flesh for every failure" because law knows nothing of mercy, but only of justice. Since we serve in a new way we can extend mercy for ignorance and mitigating circumstances. Circumstances do make a difference. "Anyway, you should speak and act as men who will be judged by the law of freedom. The man who makes no allowances for others will find none made for him. It is still true that 'mercy smiles in the face of judgment'" (James 2:12, 13).

     Recently, on the outskirts of a town I saw a sign which read: "Speed Limit--25 Miles Per Hour. Fine--One dollar for every mile in excess. Write your own ticket!" In that town the judge will assess you according to your own decision. The eternal judge will do the same. It will be well to recall that Jesus said, "For if you forgive people their failures your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive people their failures neither will your heavenly Father forgive yours" (Matt. 6:14, 15).

     A prospective proselyte once approached the aged Rabbi Hillel (who died when Jesus was about ten years old) and enquired of him what was involved in obeying the law. The reply was, "What is hateful to thee, do not unto others. This is the law, the rest is commentary." Jesus agreed that the rest was commentary but he turned it from a negative to a positive statement. "Therefore in whatever way you would have people treat you, treat them the same; for this sums up the law and the Prophets." You are writing your own ticket!

     2. Jesus taught that reciprocal love is no proof of a righteous life. It is not a distinction belonging to children of God and, therefore, has no particular promise of reward. Such love not only falls short of perfection, but is grounded in selfishness whereas true love is selfless. It expends itself with no thought of personal gain or return. Much of our love today is partisan and parochial. It is exclusive and limited. It is reserved for those who do things as we do. Many point to closely knit factions and fraternities as examples of love. In reality these may merely mutual admiration societies. Their members love each other only

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because they know they have the ability to respond in kind. That is like being certain that a man has the money on hand to pay back a loan before you let him have it. Such a man does not really need the loan. Jesus used this very illustration.

     "If you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get your money back, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners and hope to get their money back. No, you are to love your enemies and do good and lend without hope of return. Your reward will be wonderful and you will be sons of the most high."

     Here is a real test of the depth of your conviction. God has said "your reward will be wonderful" if you turn love loose in your life and turn your life loose in love. If your motto has been to "live and let live" He challenges you to get love and really live! Do you know someone who is an enemy of yours? The best way to get rid of him is to "love him to death." When Lincoln was rebuked for showing kindness to the South during the Civil War and told that he ought to destroy his enemies, he answered, "Do I not destroy them when I make them my friends?" One of the quickest ways to destroy factionalism is for those who are members of various parties to start visiting each other--not to find fault but to find friends! Jesus ate with publicans and sinners because He loved mankind. The Pharisees and scribes murmured because they did not know how to love that kind of man. Their religion got in the way of their love. Such religion is the worst kind of slavery. A member of a faction said to me not long ago, "I'd like to get out to hear you but I do not know what they would do to me." A man in jail once said identically the same thing to me.

     3. Jesus taught that the will of the Father is sovereign and He has a perfect right to administer His affairs as He wishes. What God wills to do is right, because He has the right to will to do it! He may dispose of His blessings irrespective of any previous agreement. This is illustrated in the story of the farmer who went to hire laborers for His vineyard. Early in the morning he hired a group after agreeing to pay them each a silver coin a day. He went out again at nine o'clock in the morning, at noon, and at three o'clock and five o'clock in the afternoon. Each time he hired additional workers and told them to go to work and he would give them a fair wage.

     At sundown the laborers were summoned and lined up to receive their pay. The foreman was told to start with the last ones who were hired and pay them off first. As each came forward he was handed a silver coin. Those who were employed first expected to receive more but each got just one silver coin. This caused a lot of grumbling which came to the ears of the farmer. He said to them, "I'm not being unjust with you. Wasn't our agreement for a silver coin a day? Take your money and go home. It is my wish to give the latecomer as much as I give you. May I not do what I like with what belongs to me? Must you be jealous because I am generous?"

     In the final day of accounts there may be those who will share in the blessing of God's bounty, not upon the basis of an agreement, but upon the basis of fairness and justice. Jesus continually held out that no law was of universal application. We ought not to bind God by a law which He has given to bind us. When He put all things under the feet of Jesus He excepted Himself. The grace of God existed before the church and is greater than the church. While we have no right to violate the agreement of God, nor seek to receive His blessing upon any other ground, He will not violate that agreement if He sees fit to extend mercy above and beyond it. He can do what He wishes with what belongs unto Him. Let us hope that we shall not be found grumbling about His administration of mercy nor seek to argue about our human concept of fairness.