That Isn’t Biblical: Part One

It’s funny how many people think God is a certain way—or that something is in the Bible—yet the Bible doesn’t say what they think it says when you do a closer search on these topics.

One notable example is “God helps those who help themselves.”

Sorry.

That’s not found anywhere in Scripture. Our God is a father to the fatherless, a friend to those without friends, a spouse to those without one. God helps those who seek Him and His ways and often helps those who CAN’T help themselves.
He is far kinder than popular catchphrases that are oft repeated, but not truly biblical.

If you find yourself in a rut and feel yourself hating everything you touch, God would love to step in and help you. I’ve had times when I’ve not liked how I’m feeling, but then I think of solutions or pray about situations to find a way out, whether that’s with His help or my own ingenuity.

“I can’t be a Christian because God hates sex, drugs, and rock and roll. That sounds like a boring life to me.” Or some variation of this.

First, there is an erotic poem in the Bible, so clearly God doesn’t hate sex. Pastors who make up sins hate sex. King Solomon had 1,000 wives, so I’d say he knew a bit about the topic. And God didn’t seem to blush having him put one of his erotic poems in the Scriptures. Song of Solomon is a spicy poem about spicy things. The end.

That’s all I’ll say about that, since I’ve spoken about religious oppression and control many times before.

As for drugs, you really shouldn’t do drugs if you can avoid them, even if the Torah doesn’t outright condemn drugs with a “You shall not…” statement. You could make the argument that drugs are tied to sorcery, or that they harm you, which is not loving the body God gave you. However, there is evidence that marijuana was used in the Temple and the Tabernacle services, and that God loved the mixture of fragrances from the cannabis plant, so perhaps that has its place. There is certainly evidence of ancient Israelites using the plant (a).

While marijuana has its place in the world, whether for recreational use or medicinal use, and God made the plant, I’m not saying to ruin your life by picking up a crack addiction or something to that effect (that sounds so silly). I’m not here to judge.

My point is, God is not a killjoy. He certainly doesn’t forbid alcohol, and Christ drank wine so much they accused Him of being a drunkard!

As for music, God created music. Rock and roll is not the devil’s music. It is another genre of music. It doesn’t matter if it’s a metalcore band like August Burns Red, the soft melodies of Taylor Swift, or an orchestral arrangement of a movie soundtrack using violins and wind instruments with classic instruments complementing the pieces.

I’m not saying that listening to gangster rap with lyrics about accumulating massive amounts of wealth and explicit proclivities is always healthy, but I don’t add to the Torah, and everyone has their tastes.

I listen to drum and bass, but that doesn’t mean I do ecstasy or something. I like so many genres of music. To attribute Satan to a country love ballad is silly. Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, and Kelsea Ballerini are not trying to steal your soul away (at least spiritually).

 I listen to symphonic black metal, but I will not sacrifice an animal to the devil because I heard lyrics about mythical creatures. The guitar work in those bands is fantastic, as well as the singers during the clean vocals. I grew up listening to “emo” music, but I still don’t want to kill myself. Stereotypes be damned.

Am I saying that the enemy can’t trap you with musical influences? No, of course not.

But I am saying Christians need to stop being like the Gnostics about things in this world.

Liking things is not a sin.

Gnosticism has crept into the faith, taking the church down with it.

The enemy is actively undermining our God with his plan of making God seem unreasonable and a killjoy.

Playing poker will not damn you to fictional hell (the popular notion).

God doesn’t care if you drink coffee or have a glass of wine with dinner.

He cares about making Him your priority in life and keeping His commandments.

“There are too many rules. I can’t follow the faith.”

This is also an easy one to tackle. Love God and love your neighbor. That covers all 600+ commandments into only two, as our Savior Jesus wanted us to realize.

We must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves in our lives.

Don’t let popular opinions of what people think God or the Bible says affect your walk with Him, or if you are doing things perfectly. While the way is narrow, I’d argue it’s narrow because adding things that aren’t biblical is just as bad as not following the commands.

May the LORD give you favor in your life, may everything you put your hand to be blessed, and may your heart be filled with gratitude and shalom.