“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!” ~ Matthew 23:23-24
Our enemy tempts us to place a high priority on trivial pursuits. If we’re not careful, we might find ourselves expending valuable time and energy on the less weighty matters of our faith. For example, Jesus called out tithing spices vs. acts of mercy and justice. The tithing should be done, but there are matters that are weightier, or more significant, than our tithe of dill and mint.
Jesus teaches us a valuable lesson here. Some doctrines or matters of the law are more significant than others. In the Bible, murder carries a heavier sentence than perjury. What a person thinks about the deity of Jesus Christ is more important than what they think about the identity of the anti-christ. Being on time for worship service is important; but not at the expense of driving your family van 95 mph to get there! In other words, some things are more important or weightier in the Kingdom than other things. Or one might say, "Not all acts in the Kingdom have the same weight or eternal significance." That being the case, we must consciously prioritize the “weightier matters of the law,” lest we become distracted and guilty of majoring in the minors.
This is especially relevant when it comes to our fellowship with people of different denominations, where brotherly love is to be desired above doctrinal exactitude. “Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14). Notice the bond of perfection is not winning every debate over doctrine, or having complete harmony in all matters of the faith. The bond of perfection is to walk in love. The psalmist states: “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:63). That seems to be a pretty big tent to me.
But alas, the body of Christ is divided into a myriad of sects and sub-sects. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, if we can remember the motto: In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. The problem arises when we forget the motto, or distort it. Today, instead of: "In non-essentials liberty," we seem to have: "In non-essentials bicker and fight." We tend to think the person of another denomination is a heretic and a mortal enemy. And while we’re building walls and circling the wagons, we seldom consider how the unbelieving world thinks about our actions. While we're engaged in battle over doctrinal exactitude with other believers, our true enemy – the prince of the powers of the air – is busy tarnishing our testimony, thus killing our evangelistic efforts!
This is one of the greatest dangers from majoring in the minors. If we are devoting our time and energy fighting one another to prove our doctrine is purer, we can lose focus in the fight against our true adversary. The late church planter and spiritual warrior John Wimber put it this way: “We’re in a declared war, but unless we’re clear about who the enemy is, we’ll waste our time fighting enemies that aren’t enemies at all.”
The most distinctive bird of Scandinavia is the capercaillie or the troll bird. The roosters are easily identified by their dark coloring, a bright red patch over the eye and a large, fan-like tail. The males can grow to nearly the size of a turkey. The rooster reigns as lord over his flock of hens, and will aggressively fight off other males that attempts to move in on his birds.
I watched a documentary this week that filmed two male troll birds locked in mortal combat. They slashed at each other with their sharp beaks, and used their strong wings to slap the other off balance. The roosters were so intent on fighting each other that nothing else mattered. Everything around them faded into oblivion as they attacked and counter-attacked. Defeating the other capercaillie became their major focus and goal. As the two roosters engaged in battle against one another, they catch the attention of a raptor soaring high in the sky. Before they realized what happened, a hungry golden eagle descended on the fighting pair of troll birds and killed them both! The roosters lost their lives because they were so busy fighting each other that they failed to keep focus on their true enemy. They majored in the minors and lost the whole ballgame!
Fellow soldiers of the cross, let’s not be sidetracked. Let’s not lose focus. Let’s keep the main thing the main thing! “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. ~ Matthew 28:19-20
Grace, Peace and Jahspeed!