Watch your
life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save
both yourself and your hearers. (I Timothy
4:16)
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 3:17-18)
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 3:17-18)
Recently, there was something in the
news about a group of boys who may be criminally charged because they videoed a
man drowning without doing anything to help him. When I took First Responder
training, I was told by the paramedic training me that she didn’t have stickers
on her car identifying her as a paramedic, because if she did, she could be
held liable if she didn’t stop for an accident even if there were already responders
on the scene. In the passage from Ezekiel, God told Ezekiel that if Ezekiel had
knowledge that could have saved someone, and he doesn’t share it, then Ezekiel
had blood on his hands.
Now, I have a friend who was once approached by someone who tried to tell her something, and she politely refused his attention. He told her that since he had tried to tell her, her blood was on her own hands and stalked off. I’m not advocating that sort of arrogance. We’re not to not want someone’s blood on our hands so that our hands are not bloody. We’re to not want someone’s blood on our hands because we don’t want someone to be bloody.
Paul’s solution? Doctrine. Yes, I know. Doctrine. Deadly dull. It’s sort of like studying history: names, dates, places and maybe 10 words about their significance together. I didn’t like history in school. After college, I started doing genealogy, and history became more interesting because it helped me piece together a person’s story. Later, I read How the Irish Saved Civilization (Cahill) and discovered a history that pulled things together, showing how one thing influenced another. I found other books that explored this further. That’s the sort of history I love.
Doctrine is the same way. As a group of facts, it’s not exciting. When you look more deeply, it’s fascinating. And if it can help save someone’s life or soul, why wouldn’t you want to study and apply it?
Now, I have a friend who was once approached by someone who tried to tell her something, and she politely refused his attention. He told her that since he had tried to tell her, her blood was on her own hands and stalked off. I’m not advocating that sort of arrogance. We’re not to not want someone’s blood on our hands so that our hands are not bloody. We’re to not want someone’s blood on our hands because we don’t want someone to be bloody.
Paul’s solution? Doctrine. Yes, I know. Doctrine. Deadly dull. It’s sort of like studying history: names, dates, places and maybe 10 words about their significance together. I didn’t like history in school. After college, I started doing genealogy, and history became more interesting because it helped me piece together a person’s story. Later, I read How the Irish Saved Civilization (Cahill) and discovered a history that pulled things together, showing how one thing influenced another. I found other books that explored this further. That’s the sort of history I love.
Doctrine is the same way. As a group of facts, it’s not exciting. When you look more deeply, it’s fascinating. And if it can help save someone’s life or soul, why wouldn’t you want to study and apply it?
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