“He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” Isaiah 42:2-4
One of the problems with shooting in the dark, as is so often the case with Internet communication, is innocent people can get hit by “friendly fire.”
Where our introductory passage here is concerned, innocent people likely include “bruised reeds” and “smoldering wicks.”
Jesus never shoots in the dark. It is true, however, that those who listen in or overhear what He may say to others, especially religious experts, are vulnerable to misunderstanding, and think that He is talking to them. Where a venue does not afford opportunity for private conversation it can be difficult to get this misunderstanding sorted out.
Back in the late 70s, I saw the similarity between cancer and what has been calling itself “church,” and shared the word picture in a small gathering of believers. Even there, where there was opportunity for conversation, it was difficult to tend the wounds of the innocents.
Anticipating this same problem here, I need to clarify what I understand to be “Mutated Cells.” One of the ways that cancer is detected is by the difference in the speed of healthy cell metabolism and that of cancer cells – mutated cells. They metabolize very rapidly. Drinking liquid sugar or injecting radioactive i.v. solutions is the way that scans for cancer typically light up the cancer. Cancer loves sugar, and its speed of metabolism is highlighted by radioactivity. Or so I understand. (I’m no expert yet, but I am paying very close attention in class. By the way, I’m off of sugar.)
If we can find words that target, and hit only mutated cells, there is some hope of avoiding innocent people being hit by verbal shots aimed at those mutated cells. If this can be done in a way that the innocents are able to see and understand the M.O. (Modus Operandi – method of operation) of mutated cells, there might be some hope of keeping the innocent from being vulnerable or as vulnerable to the mutated cells.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Matthew 23:15
In my experience this verse is exemplary of what I am talking about here. Our hope is that this blog might be helpful where discerning the difference between healthy cells and mutated cells is concerned. Jesus came that we might have life… not pointy top buildings, programs, systems, deals, multilevel marketing networks, “down line,” etc. To paraphrase the way someone put it, “Is it Memorex or is it Jesus?” It’s not always so easy to tell the difference.
Did I mention that what God calls Church is not divided? You can read about it in the Bible.
Love!
By Jay Ferris, originally posted March 4, 2012
Loving Like God 