Occasionally
I spend time sitting in court room as part of my job as a pastor. This is a
task; an opportunity really, to come alongside of a client or parishioner who
has broken the law and must appear before a judge to face the consequences
required by the law.
And
because I'm not the one on trial it is easy to go and sit for a half a day or
more as I await the trial...
My
purpose for going to court is not to defend or even try to get them off, but
rather to be available as a friendly face for the client or parishioner as they
are facing a “kairos” moment in their life that could possibly alter how they
spend the next several years of their lives.
A
moment of “bad” decision is now being called to accountability as they stand
before a judge who will decide what is best for this situation.
Some
of my time is to be available to either side, including the judge, to call me
as a witness to speak about the person’s character in an effort to help decide
what is best to do in this situation.
Most
of my time is spent praying for wisdom for all who will be presenting their
case as well as for those who will ultimately make the verdict. And to pray for
all who have been and will be affected by this situation.
Recently,
while in court, I noticed that every key player in the court room (the
prosecutor, the DA, the judge, the clerk, and the attorney for the defense) all
had a copy of the same large book; “West’s Minnesota Criminal Law Handbook”.
And
when presenting their side of a case, all of them referred to the large book to
prove their point that either the defendant was guilty or innocent; or at least
what the consequence should be.
My
mind wandered as I thought about how so many Christians have turned away from
using the Bible as the book to turn to for answers to life’s problems or for
counsel or direction.
No
longer do they see the Bible as the book to turn to make them wise for salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus.
Many Christians, if
they do read the Bible, prefer to use the “Loose-Leaf” version. That is the one
where if you don’t agree with what the Bible says or want to ignore biblical
principles, one simply tears out the “offending” page, and pretends as though now
he or she can do whatever they want.
Why? Because many
Christians no longer believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for
instruction in righteousness.
And, consequently,
they are incomplete and are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful
plotting.
Fellow Christians;
there must be a standard that we turn to in order to make sound judgments as we
go through this life! We must have the whole counsel of the Bible for counsel
as to how we should live!
The Apostle Paul wrote to
young pastor Timothy;
“There’s
nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and
useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting
our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put
together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Imagine if in our
courts of law we simply each had our own different law book and made it up as
we went along!
All
Scripture taken from The Message (MSG)
Copyright ©
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
