Changing Tastes
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Heavenly Connection
Changing Tastes
by Tim Hall
It's a detail about my past of which I am not
proud. When I was a teenager, the company I
sometimes kept persuaded me to drink beer on two
or three occasions. Though that was long ago, I
vividly remember my reaction to the taste:
Repulsive! "It's an acquired taste," I was told,
an affirmation I've heard several times since.
Thankfully, I abandoned the stuff before my taste
buds were altered.
In his Galatian epistle, Paul wrote to Christians
whose spiritual taste buds had been altered. In
the beginning, their response to the gospel was
enthusiastic. "You know that because of physical
infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the
first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did
not despise or reject, but you received me as an
angel of God, even as Christ Jesus" (Galatians
4:13,14, NKJV).
When these Gentiles heard about Jesus and His
death upon the cross, they saw the "good" in the
"news" Paul preached. They were also grateful to
Paul for his part in preaching it to them: "What
then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you
witness that, if possible, you would have plucked
out your own eyes and given them to me" (Galatians
4:15). Paul had preached to them the pure truth of
the gospel, and they had happily received that.
Things changed after Paul resumed his journey.
Some followed Paul with a different twist on the
gospel: A Christian must first be a Jew,
submissive to all the regulations of the Law of
Moses. Throughout the letter, Paul attacked such
thinking as foreign to the truth of the gospel. In
Galatians 1:6-9 he wrote: "I marvel that you are
turning away so soon from Him who called you in
the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which
is not another; but there are some who trouble you
and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even
if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you,
let him be accursed. As we have said before, so
now I say again, if anyone preaches any other
gospel to you than what you have received, let him
be accursed."
As the Galatians' spiritual tastes changed, so did
their esteem of the one who had first taught them.
Paul pleaded in 4:16, "Have I therefore become
your enemy because I tell you the truth?" Like
silly teenagers who allow "friends" to turn them
against the parents who nurtured and disciplined
them, these Christians had turned against Paul.
Instead of testing the claims of the Judaizers
against the truth of Christ's gospel, they trusted
the charismatic and sincere-sounding speeches.
What a mistake they made by loosening their grip
on the truth!
History's cycles continue to turn. People in all
eras and cultures respond enthusiastically to the
simplicity of the truth (see Randal Matheny's
article from March 22, "These People Can't
Exist"). They can see for themselves the concept
of undenominational Christianity and the necessity
to base beliefs and practices on the word rather
than on whims and feelings. Along the way, though,
tastes change. What was once repulsive to the
taste is made to sound delicious. "We can't
practice those things," the deceivers argue. "Such
views pose insurmountable barriers to people
seeking the truth." And so Christians are
persuaded to turn away from those who first taught
them God's word. Anyone who tries to speak only
truth is viewed as an enemy.
We have long argued that God's word can be
understood by the layman. Have we changed our
view? Must we now rely on the intellectuals to
tell us what God's word teaches? Or is it not
still the case that honest students of God's word
can discover God's will? "Oh, taste and see that
the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in
Him" (Psalm 34:8). I have a tongue; I can taste
for myself. I also have a functional mind; I can
interpret for myself.
----
Read this article online, tell us what you think,
see who's commenting, click here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/736746/
----
You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/