The Dangers of Making Light of Holy Things

Published:
September 16, 2019

Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa

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It is way too often that Christians make light of what God has called holy. The Old Testament was considered unquestionably holy. It was held sacred as God’s written Word and was treated as such.

The Dangers of Making Light of Holy Things

>> To read all the posts in the “managing our mouths” series, click here

The Keep Quiet Challenge – Learning How to Manage Your Mouth – Click here to learn more!

 

When writing the Old Testament, scribes did not take the privilege lightly. They used pristine animal skins for writing and binding. They read each word aloud while they were writing. They wiped the pen and washed their entire bodies before writing the word “YHWH.” A peer review had to be done in thirty days, and if as many as three pages needed corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.

There is something to be said for that type of reverence to God and His Word.

I look around me today, at churches, other Christians, myself, and I can’t help but realize we have completely lost that type of reverence in most of our ways.

I met this lady who invited me to her church a while ago. I declined to attend her church because I am pretty boring; I am more conservative in my worship and prefer expositional teaching. She said, “What’s the fun in that?” As if saying, “What is a church without fun?”

And what kind of Christian am I to call myself boring, ashamed because I like to hear teaching that was from God’s Word and not fluffy?

Stop to think about that for a moment. The church is the bride of Christ. Yet it needs to be fun? Or I call myself boring because I want Truth?

Can you imagine yourself, before Christ and being confronted with making light of His Word like the Jews made light of the gospel in Matthew 22:5?

 

How many times have we heard Christians, who believe in heaven and hell, tell people that deceased loved ones are “in a better place” or that “heaven gained an angel,” when we know the person in reference was not a Christian? That is a lie and you know it. How do you sleep at night after saying that bold-faced nonsense?

You cannot distort God’s truth, no matter how much you want to comfort someone. When we turn what God’s Word says into something flippant in our walk and talk with other people, we are comforting them straight to hell.

How many times have you told someone you will pray for them without following through on the prayer? Please people, saying you will pray for someone is not nonchalant. James explains how “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Some people need us to contend for them, therefore we really should.

Praying for others is important; it fulfills a New Testament command when we pray for all people, as instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1. Please stop saying, “I will pray for you.” Stop what you are doing and really pray. When you don’t, you are lying and being deceitful. Think for a moment about that.

 

We should revere what He says is holy and be unwavering about it.

The very name of God is holy.

Exodus 20:7: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

 I am in a Facebook group with believers who are pretty intense about their faith. I wrote” OMG” on one of my posts. Of course, I meant “oh my goodness” because I wouldn’t say the other meaning of OMG.

They private messaged me and asked me to delete the comment. They explained that they revere God’s name and why. They came to me in a loving manner without demeaning me. I get it. The Lord said to not take His name in vain. No matter what I think that means or not, it should be enough for me to stay away from even the perception of disrespecting His holy name.

Sex is holy.

Hebrews 13:4: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

I was in a bible study once and a girl was trying to explain how her fornication was OK. She obviously had Romans 5:20 memorized, “where sin is increased, grace abounded all the more.”

Now, I want us to be careful here and realize something. When Jesus was in the wilderness before he was crucified, the devil tempted him three different times with verses from scripture. Jesus combatted those temptations with three different scriptures.

It is imperative that we read God’s Word for ourselves. People will use scripture for their own gain and we must have an answer from God’s Word to arm ourselves.

Yes, surely grace abounds, but God also said in 1 Corinthians 6 that the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. He continues by saying… flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

Sex is holy, don’t get it twisted. Winking at sin is something we will be accountable for on judgment day.

 

Marriage is holy.

Hebrews 13:4: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled.

Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

What I don’t understand is why people who don’t believe in God even marry. What is the point? If you are going to call your partner “partner” then why marry? It has to be that marriage means something more than just a piece of paper. God has made a husband and a wife one flesh. God calls marriage a holy unity, more than a piece of paper.

There are biblical reasons for divorce, but any other reason is just not good enough to break what He has put together.

 

Human life is holy.

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

We are not holy because we are so awesome and because He loves us so much. Holiness applies to humanity because God created us in His image and set us apart from all other forms of life. My mind is boggled by Christians who call abortion anything but evil. It is beyond my understanding.

1 Peter 2:9 says we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Jesus calls us into something deeper than just having fun in His name. He calls us to also be holy and not make light of things that He has called holy. We will have to answer to Him one day on this. Are we ready?

Will you pray with me?

Lord, help us to keep quiet when we are tempted to make light of holy things and help us to not be quick with our mouth and to let our words be few. (Eccl 5:2) Help us to keep quiet even when tempted to joke about sin (Prov 14:9). Help us to fear you by honoring, obeying, exalting, worshipping, and trusting You for our salvation. We want to revere what you say is holy.

Forgive us for what we have made it. Amen.

The Dangers of Making Light of Holy Things

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