Swallowing Camels, Straining on Gnats

Recently I was reading an online discussion about the subject of headcovering and its application in the church today. Headcovering can be a hot topic in conservative Christian circles. This discussion was thoughtful and respectful, unlike some I’ve encountered. It sparked some reflection on my part, although not on the subject of covering or not covering.

The church today has embraced some whoppers as gospel while leaving The Gospel in the dust. Sorting it all out and putting the correct amount of emphasis in the correct place with the correct context can be sticky business - and almost nobody agrees. Then, once you feel you have a handle on things, knowing what hill to die on, for what doctrine, when and how, is subject to the Spirit's individual leading. God’s calling for Peter was not the same task he gave John, even thought they were both spreading the same Gospel.

The study of whether to cover or not isn't something I've dug into because Rich and I both think there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to errant doctrines currently in the church. While I completely agree that we need to stop picking and choosing what doctrines we embrace, one of the points made in the headcovering discussion, we need to be sure we are majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors. We’re not furthering a positive witness of the Gospel if we’re swallowing camels and straining on gnats. The questions I ask with regard to any biblical doctrine are: In the larger context of Scripture, is the issue a gnat or camel? How big are the principles behind the practice? How do those principles play into the dynamic of major and minor?

I think an important thing to remember is that sometimes we can become myopic. If we’re tremendously passionate about something other than the saving work of Jesus Christ, is our focus in the right place? Is our passion in the right proportion? Headcovering is not an issue that directly affects our salvation – nor is the version of the Bible we read, the type of music played on Sunday morning or if we pray at the same time each day. Because of that, I believe that as long as our heart is open and we’re not rebelliously abstaining or embracing, there's grace if or until God convicts us otherwise.

I’ve found that when I’m in doubt about something or can’t come to a firm conclusion, I need to wait before I move because often God hasn’t finished making his point. If you’ve wrestled with any issue where you’ve stayed awake nights (or spent days) stuck in thought, I encourage you to ask if it is THE issue itself that the Lord is convicting you about or if it is something bigger, like an issue of a rebellious heart over wanting his will no matter what that happens to be? Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees.

One of my pet peeves in reading thoughts like those I’ve given above has always been, “Yes, well that’s nice, but what does it live like?” – Just like the original question posed about headcovering. My best “live like” answer is don’t be quick to embrace or reject, but be like the Bereans. Seek, continue to do the things you know are right and wait. God will let you know exactly what it looks like to live in time. Seek and knock and you will know – eventually!

We each need to dig into and examine Scripture. And then we should work to apply the truths to our lives no matter how painful or how much we dislike them. But we need to be careful that we don't become legalistic in our application of the truths. We don’t want to be clanging gongs and cymbals.

Unfortunately, as Christians we often disagree with each other on the smaller points of doctrine, depending on our background and doctrinal perspective. Learning to accept and do hard things isn’t always pleasant. Doing the unpleasant when everyone else thinks you are wrong is even harder. I dislike hard things too, but Jesus told us up front that being a disciple wasn’t going to be easy.