Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, July 10, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Even so. Plenty of people are out there making outrageous claims about what God’s will is for our country (well, my country, the U.S.), twisting and stretching the words of God’s prophets and the biblical writers in order to justify an agenda of privilege for a small set of people who are of a similar mind. Plenty of them don’t even believe a word they are saying—they are simply telling people what they want to hear in order to gain and/or hang on to political and economic power. They behave in ways that are obviously, even incredibly counter to the religious mores they are supposed to be holding up as unassailable. “Even so” many follow their ways, somehow willing to set aside these egregious acts of “licentiousness” (among other things), and because of this the truth is maligned.
Of course, nothing is ever that simple, and I am too often tempted to judgment (clearly) to stop myself from saying things like “these people” and “those people”, which makes any kind of productive discourse impossible. I need to be attentive to the log in my own eye. Yet, that being said, it is important for all people of faith to be attentive to how God’s word is being wielded in the world—is it a means of achieving justice for all of God’s beloved children and creation itself, or is it being coopted as a means of shoring up human power? Let any who have ears listen.
Have I been tempted to justify my own bad behavior with spiritual or scriptural ideas or passages?
