Shall We Have Snakes at Church This Sunday?

 April 12, 2024

Friday

Can the laws of God be wrongly interpreted by men? Of course.

There are always people who strictly follow God's word. That isn't a bad thing. It only become bad when they have wrongly interpreted God's word.

For example: People can take God's protection and flaunt it to prove their faith. Someone might read the following scripture:

Luke 10:19 (NASB 2020)¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

then, decide that those who don't bring snakes and scorpions into the sanctuary of the church building don't truly have faith. They act as if they are invulnerable because of their actions rather than having the faith that the Lord will take care of them when they encounter these things. They do not realize that the authority that Jesus gives is not to be tried. The authority Jesus gives is in His name rather than owned by the user. It is not a promise that nothing bad will ever happen to the believer. It is a statement of assurance that Jesus has everything in control. Even if your life is taken, you will not be harmed. If He meant that nothing will ever harm us in this life, there are many martyrs who prove this isn't true. Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. Neither begged their executioners to "just try to do something that harms me." This is not playing is safe. This is never trying the Lord.

Satan tempted Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the temple. 

Matthew 4:6–7 (NASB 2020) ⁶ And he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

This is not playing it safe. God sends people to unsafe places all the time. Sometimes they are persecuted for their faith. They, however, don't go to be persecuted. They are persecuted because they have gone to preach the gospel. There is no virtue in preaching the gospel in order to be persecuted. There is much virtue in obeying God and preaching for people to be saved.

It is a delusion to believe that you need to try to be hurt so that God will protect you. It is just as prideful to flaunt martyrdom as it is to shout for accolades for preaching or anything else that people might be awed with. It is a side-show trick to hold snakes and dare them to bite you. It is great faith to go where snakes might be because you are obeying the Lord.

When you hear of people keeping snakes at church, don't spend your time telling them how wrong they are. Spend your time obeying the Lord. Then, you are not putting God to the test.