“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.” – G.K. Chesterton
Somewhere in the time line of Christendom, we’ve picked up a bad habit. Where-as the line Christ clearly drew in the sand should not be crossed, often (and in my experience, often means always) there are those Christians who will draw additional lines in the sand seemingly to perpetuate to the nth degree the teachings of Christ.
Though I rarely come across the “Jesus turned the water into grape juice — not wine” believers these days, their cause provides the easiest example to understand: the Bible teaches you should not be drunk, these Christians would like to append that you must not drink. On the surface this idea seems beneficial, if at all innocuous. After all, if the ledge of a the rain slicked precipice of darkness is 10 feet away, wouldn’t you be all that much safer standing 20 feet away? If we look Through the Eye at the heart of the issue, there is something insidiously dangerous about this behavior.
If you set up numerous “fake” lines in the sand that shouldn’t be crossed, eventually one of those lines will be crossed and the offending party will quickly see there was no real consequence to their action. Then the next line will be crossed, again met with no consequence. By the time “real” line is approached, the line that was put there by the master for our protection, the confidence of the man will be so bolstered, he may trespass without giving it a second thought. This will not only leave the person to suffer the consequence of his action, but also, most likely, confused as to it’s origin.
The perspective we should keep is on the laws we should follow. When Christ laid down his law, He knew exactly what he was doing. Anything that takes away from this, or adds to it, acts as a wedge.
