FatherSpiritSon.com
"Wisdom of the Wandering Dog"
So my neighbors own a black, large, farm dog. It wanders the farm and doesn't cause any trouble because it is friendly. It might even serve some purpose by killing groundhogs which mess up farm equipment. Its name is Roxie and I think it is because its previous owners knew its affection for rocks. If you grab a rock and throw it, this dog will go fetch it. Some dogs like sticks, some like tennis balls, this one likes rocks. And it has a good capacity for rocks too, sometimes it will carry two or three at a time in its mouth. I've seen it carrying a brick before. And I've been told she can carry a cement block.
Here is some more about Roxie that is a little more pertinent to the article. I was once walking and she was following me. I didn't know she was following me, but she wandered out onto the road nearby. She got hit by a truck, but didn't die. She still has a big lump on her back from it. She didn't know the road was some place she shouldn't be. I would have stopped her, but I was further away and never saw her come for a walk with me before. Also she isn't my dog, so I didn't know how to handle her. She is really deaf too so she can't hear when cars are coming.
There is this nice half mile long lane by my house I walk when the temperature is bearable. If Roxie sees me, she tries to come along. This brings up a strange situation. First off, she isn't my dog. She is the neighbor's dog, but she likes me. Yet, I would think she suddenly becomes my responsibility when she comes to follow me. She is a nice dog so she wouldn't start anything with other dogs or people, but if another dog bit her, I don't know what would happen. If it isn't my responsibility, it would be my neighbor's responsibility who is family. Also when the dog crosses the road to get to the lane, I gotta be there to make sure she doesn't blindly run out in front of a car too. This leads me to the conclusion that I just tie her up before I go out and do my walking. Today (7/31/2011) however, it was early like 6:30 AM, so I didn't expect other walkers, and I could watch her cross the road, so I let her come a long.
At the very start of the walk an interesting thought popped into my mind how my leading of the dog was similar to teachings in scripture. As we lead our lives, we may lead other people. What we teach other people is alright to do might not work for them. I can walk down the lane without much threat to my life or my family, but the dog cannot walk down the same lane without careful supervision. The dog can get killed by a car or get its family sued if it gets into a dog fight. Aren't there also things like this in our philosophies?
Let us take for example an atheist who is doing pretty well morally speaking. This atheist has love in their heart, and somehow they even love people that wrong them. There is a possibility that though they did not specifically follow Jesus, but since their actions were in line with what Jesus teaches, they'd get a favorable judgment when they died. Now let us say this very same atheist(who wouldn't think of doing any wrong to another person) decides to get vocal about atheism. This person starts telling people,"You don't need Jesus to be good, I do it all the time. We don't need scripture to teach us morality. God probably isn't real." They've turned from someone who keeps to themselves into a teacher. Scripture states that teachers will be judged more severe than other people.
But let's look at this guy, he isn't harming others when he goes about his atheism, and he is loving. The problem comes when someone else doesn't understand fully. They just hear,"There probably isn't a God, and we don't need to follow the Bible's morality." Instead of being loving to all however, this guy sure of his atheism from the teacher atheist, goes and starts mugging people. The person who is then in part responsible for his sin is his leader. His leader did not intend for people to be evil coming into atheism, but now the sins of this man's mugging are on his head. The very path that might be safe for one man to tread is not safe when tread by another.
Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. 18 Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. 19 So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires."
So right now, the average modern atheist will probably be saying,"Well I don't believe in God, so scripture doesn't apply to me." Of course for them to say this takes anti-faith. I personally know God exists, Jesus is LORD. I'm not caught up in belief and disbelief problems of the average person, but I can understand it because I once was there. For a man to have faith in Jesus means they follow and believe with what they know. For a man to disbelieve God's existence then act upon it would be anti-faith. It is very similar to faith in that you're making a conscious decision based on how much you reason God's existence to be there. I don't think anyone can prove God exists, but no one can prove he doesn't exist. Anti-faith is more dangerous, though, for the person looks at Pascal's Wager and doubles down. To not even have a doubt that God might be real is akin to my neighbor's deaf dog who crosses the road without a care that it might get run over. The teachings of God apply to everyone whether they believe in them or not.
Matthew 18:6 "If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7 How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen - but how terrible for the one who causes them!" If the modern atheist leaders are wrong, and God is real, all they've gained is a short time with their followers' money. No matter what failed logic they're using to want to promote atheism, their doing their very souls a disservice. There are a lot of people who lose out on great eternal things because they trade it away for a short time with money on Earth. I like to try and do the opposite. I'm out to try and raise people's faith in Jesus. Like I said, I know the guy is real. I would hope you help bring others to faith too if you're mature in your faith of Jesus.
Matthew 15:14 Jesus said in reference to Pharisees,"Don't worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch." So the Pharisees actually had the scriptures and were trying to bring people to God. Some fallen misguided teachers made other people in turn fall that were willing to listen to them. Thankfully I have my senses to me. I can guide my neighbor's deaf and unthinking dog across the road so it doesn't get hit by traffic. I can bring people to Jesus if they want to trust me. But if you want to put your trust in someone who's philosophy might not work for everyone, you might be a spiritually blind person following someone else who is spiritually blind themselves.
-Jim Sager