I've wondered about the expression, the devil is in the details. Today I read in Wikipedia that a similar expression is, God is in the detail. So, right from the beginning of my blog article, I spot a difference of interpretation!
I grew up in a family home that God was not part of. Sundays were days to go and visit family. Church was ignored. I changed my beliefs only a few short years ago in my adult years and began to go to church. I became fixated on which denomination was the right one for me. And then I tried to volunteer at the first church I attended in earnest and found this was a difficult thing to do. Why?! I understand now that I was perhaps too impatient and did not understand cultural norms, but that particular church did not feel right for me then, especially when a Pastor ignored my questioning this, and I walked on. I began to attend a few churches, to see which one felt right. None did. For example, I wondered why none of the churches emphasised the Ten Commandments. This was important to me, something I kept as a marker in the back of my mind, perhaps a holdover from attending Catholic Church a few times with my mom. I brought the topic up in a training course for new Christians at the next church, one I was invited to and which I then decided on, and they said The Law was done away with for new Christians. I didn't know what they meant: of course I was not going to celebrate Passover, but surely the Ten Commandments was still important? So I began to attend a church that kept the Saturday Sabbath, because maybe that was what the Ten Commandments was trying to tell me. And then an elderly person I met there died of cancer, and I felt lost again, and in addition I wondered why they collected money on the Sabbath, for Jewish people do not collect money on their Saturday Sabbath, and after that I lost my desire to celebrate Saturday Sabbath. So I was back to wondering which church was right for me. I decided to go back to one I left. It is difficult to find a church if you have not grown up as part of a particular denomination. In fact, I discovered people questioned why I wanted to attend some of the churches I did, because they seemed to find it odd that I would just arrive out of nowhere. I think I have settled on a church now and I pray God leads the way for me.
In all of the above, I see that the devil may be in the detail. One can say one follows God, but are the Ten Commandments important, or aren't they? Is the name of God, Jehovah and/or Yahweh, or should we just say God or LORD or Lord? And some people say Jesus is Yahweh and some say He is the Son of God, not to be confused with Yahweh, God the Father. So, the devil may be in the details, because these details can lead us astray from following God. In many ways I wish I could but say, I am a Christian and I follow the Bible the best way I can, and there are no denominations, only churches with different cultures and their own different ways of interpreting the Bible, but the Bible is the real cornerstone. Yet, even Bibles have different translations, and I learnt recently that the original Hebrew that used to have written YHWH (Yahweh) and Adonai was replaced by LORD and Lord respectively. I used to think Lord and LORD were the same, just the one with more of an emphasis, but they actually reference the names of different divinities Should I therefore just use the word God so I don't go wrong? But I was once present in a room where many people took an oath under God, and there were many different religions present--they were taking oaths to different Gods. I would like to know my God by name.
Just as the devil may be in the details, God is also in the detail, because there is untruth and somehow, somewhere, there is also God's truth.
Father God in Heaven, I pray that from this moment on, you lead us into truth, so we may worship you in spirit and in truth. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment