Spiritual Misuse and Abuse

Most of you know about my sabbatical of sorts in 2022, and as the world evolves, the church has a tendency to remain the same sometimes as the bedrock of our communities and sometimes a visual example of the organization that completely misses the point of its purpose. 

Here is one of the most misused texts in the entire Bible below. 

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40

To some, the phrase decent and in order is something the saints and aints casually roll off the tongue as if it is oxygen. For the critical thinkers, it sparks a hypocrisy: Decent and in order for you does not apply to me. It doesn't have to be that way, however. 

So...why do we use it - or misuse - the verse so often?

Simple: We are still spiritual babies perfectly content with being bottle-fed the Gospel holding on to tomes spoken of long ago. There is a time and a place for everything yet the way criticism is levied tends to cut a bit too deeply for some when it should merely be there as a teachable moment. For them, that plank in the eye is conveniently excused (see Matthew 7:1-5) when the script is flipped. 

Don't get me started on how the King James Version of the Bible is in truth slaveholder religion: Ever read Colossians 3:22-23? 

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

Colossians 3:22

To combat the overuse and misuse of this verse, we must remember to take a good look in the mirror each day at ourselves as we remain mindful of the plank in our eye when we cast judgment on one another. While it is true that none of us are perfect and we are striving to be more like Christ than our sinful selves living hedonistically from one moment to the next, the effort is what matters. 

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matthew 7:5

The irony of this happens to be the "only God can judge me" crowd casting shade on those they deem inferior. ¡Que lastima!

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Matthew 7:4

Lastly and because I have time, decent and in order has been used throughout time to justify some pretty sickening stuff in the church. Why won't the leaders sound the alarm? Why does the body wallow in shallow groupthink when real issues are boiling underneath the surface like mini geysers surrounding Yellowstone National Park? When they finally do blow into the atmosphere, not only will those holding the bag discover the cost of FAFO but also rigidly grasping to the old ways will further push the greatest difference makers away. At the end of the day, false decorum can get you a one-way ticket to hell as quickly as willfully wilding out.