(Revised October 2015)
So
many beliefs we cling to are based on bias perceptions, comfortable personal
beliefs, and erroneous interpretations. I
recently became aware of a red herring in my life. Believing one of my prescribed medications
was no longer having its desired effect, I began researching the medication's
history, side effects and the dangers of its long term use. To my astonishment, I learned that many of
the medication's adverse side effects, which are compounded when toxic levels
are reached, are the same as the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Due to the medication’s side effects and
health risks, and physical signs indicating my body had reached toxic levels, I
decided to wean myself off of the medication. Now I have to ask myself; which debilitating physical
reaction is a result of MS and which are reactions caused by the medication? The true battle is with MS but I had been distracted
from my battle with MS by the adverse effects of the medication.
When
we follow a red herring we lose our focus. I recently saw an example of following a spiritual
red herring in a story I had received via an email forward and which I want to
share with you (for confirmation of this event visit. http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/practice).
A
disgruntled viewer recently wrote the following to the ABC television network.
From: Coach Neugent
To:
ABC Network
My name is James Nugent. I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a program
called 'THE PRACTICE.' In last night’s
episode, one of the lawyer's mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to
go to court and help her get a marriage license so she could marry her “partner.”
I sent the following letter to ABC
yesterday and really did not expect a reply, but I did get one.
My
original message was:
“ABC is obsessed with the
subject of homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to
convince the world that homosexuality is OK.
THE PRACTICE can be a fairly good show, but last night's program was so
typical of your agenda. You picked the
'dufus' of the office to be the one who was against the idea of his mother
being gay, and made him look like a whiner because he had convictions. This
type of mentality calls people like me a 'gay basher.'
Read
the first chapter of Romans (that's in the Bible); and see what the apostle
Paul had to say about it. He, God and
Jesus were all 'gay bashers'. What if she'd fallen in love with her cocker
spaniel? Is that an alternative life style? (By the way, the Bible speaks
against that, too.)”
--
Coach Neugent
Here
is the reply that Coach Neugent received via the ABC on-line webmaster:
How about getting your nose
out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of stories compiled by MANY different
writers hundreds of years ago) and read the declaration of independence (what
our nation is built on), where it says ' All Men are Created equal,' and try
treating them that way for a change!
Or
better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories
as your lame crutch for your existence. You are in the minority in this
country, and your boycott will not affect us at ABC or our freedom of
statement.
Coach
Neugent’s second response to ABC:
“Thanks for your reply.
From your harsh reply, evidently I hit a nerve.
I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper
will include it in one of their columns and I will be praying for you.”
Signed
Coach Neugent
Note: Wouldn't Satan just
love it if people stopped using the Bible for a crutch?”
According to the
investigative website “Snoops” the responses to Coach Neugent from ABC did not
come from an authorized ABC official but were “the product of an overzealous
employee overstepping his authority.”.. To review a full report of this event, visit http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/practice
My response to the forward:
Dear Coach Neugent,
I
am a wife, a mother, a grandmother and, most importantly, a follower of Jesus
Christ. I have been a Christian for over
forty years and during that time I have studied the Bible and have deepened my
spiritual intimacy with Christ. It may
seem ironic but I have found that the more I learn from the Scriptures and
increase my spiritual intimacy with God, the more I realize there is much more
to learn and to understand. I do know
that God is perfect and infallible. God’s
word is also infallible but our understanding and interpretation of His word is
not. We have to guard our hearts and
minds against legalistic and self-righteous mindsets as we interpret God’s word
or we risk becoming like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ time; spiritually
dead, self-righteous, arrogant, unmerciful and unloving. I invite you to watch a video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezQjNJUSraY. It is not my intent to sway your opinion, but
to encourage you to seek an open dialogue with Christ on the subject of
homosexuality.
The
spiritual battle between God and Satan (good and evil) has eternal consequences
for every individual. In order to avoid
spiritual death when we die physically, we must be united with the spirit of
God. As spiritually imperfect beings we
cannot bridge the gap that separates us from the spiritually perfect God (“All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)”). Only Jesus can spiritually perfect us and
spiritually unite us with God. Once our
spirits are united with God, His Holy Spirit can then instruct and guide us. In order for a sanctification relationship to
begin, however, an introduction between the unbeliever and Jesus must be
made. As Jesus’ ambassadors it is our
mission to introduce others to the Savior who loves and values them (John 3:16
& 17). It is not our mission to fix
the world nor is it our mission to force unsolicited advice or beliefs on
others and it is definitely not our mission to critique and judge another
person’s life journey.
Jesus
gave us two commands: love God and love others.
Nowhere within your letter to ABC was the love of Christ spoken. You used Scripture to accuse and belittle,
not to edify and encourage. Christ is
not a “gay basher”, or any type of basher, and anyone who believes, or implies
through words or actions that He is does not know Him (1 John 2:3-6)! Social and Biblical debates continue to act
as red herrings to distract us all from the real war that rages around us
(Ephesians 6:12). Satan uses our own
biases, ignorance, insecurities and pride to stir up hatred, suspicion and
strife between us. He plays us against
each other when he stirs up our passions about issues that have no eternal
consequences.
Whether or not the last day
for the world is imminent, remember that every day is the last day for someone. What if it had been the last day for the
writer of the ABC response? Would you
really want your letter to be the last words he heard from you? We should never lose focus of our true
mission which is to love others and what better way to love someone than to
introduce them to a loving God? We need to remain focused on the true battle. We need to guard our hearts and our minds
from the distractions of the enemy (Satan) and pray that the Lord will grant us
the wisdom to recognize those distractions for the red herrings they are.
.