There is a way . . .

Charlotte Coyle, one of our local pastors, I guess in an attempt to be accepting and politically correct, wrote a piece for the newspaper. I knew it was going to be a winner before I read even one word she had written. The newspaper head read, "No right way to believe." Sorry Ms. Coyle, but that's not what the Scripture says.

The Scripture says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death."

Samuel said, ". . . I will teach you the good and the right way."

Ezra said, "Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance."

Speaking of false prophets, Peter said they ". . .have forsaken the right way."

Ms. Coyle says that Christ's Church as a body will only function well when there is a wide range of differences. That's not exactly scriptural. The Bible says the church should be of one mind. The Apostle Paul used this phrase frequently -- just one example: "that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." God never said everybody having a different doctrine was OK -- when He spoke of diversity, he was speaking of diversity of gifts.

Ms. Coyle says "there is no one right way to believe; there is no one right way to behave; there is no one right way to be a Christian." I beg to differ as did the Apostle John when he said, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already." I beg to differ as did the Apostle Paul when he said, ". . . that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." I beg to differ as did the Lord Jesus when He said, "I am the way the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

I may not be a pastor and have the religious education that Ms. Coyle does, but I do know a little about what the Scripture says, and when someone says something that is contrary, God usually gives me a little nudge that makes me think, "That doesn't sound right." When we get those little nudges, we need to check it out and then speak out.

"No right way to believe." The Dallas Morning News; May 23, 2014; p. A5.