The Most Dangerous Thought Ever

What is the worst thing you can allow yourself to think? What is the kind of thinking that is destined to lead you to destruction? What is the worst possible thought to chase in your mind?

 

OK, there are actually a lot of really dangerous thoughts out there. And so I’ll not try to make them battle this morning. But, there is a thought, a kind of thinking, that always leads us to extremely deadly, extremely dangerous spiritual ground. And, as I watch our world, I am becoming convinced that this very well may be the most dangerous thought ever.

 

Watch this little confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees to see an example of the thought.

 

Matthew 15:1-9 - 1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

9 in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

 

The story is easy to understand. The religious leaders want to confront Jesus for not following their traditions on how to ceremonially wash before eating. Jesus points out that these men are willing to condemn him for ignoring their preferences when they are willing to ignore the word of God.

 

And it is in that ignoring of the word of God we find the dangerous thought. It is dangerous, deadly, and destructive to allow yourself to think that you, in your wisdom, have the ability to come up with truth that is equal in weight or superior in value to the word of God. Whenever we allow ourselves to think that we can evaluate Scripture by our own standards or evaluate the actions of god by our own preferences, we are thinking in the most dangerous way possible.

 

How do we know God is good? He tells us in his word. How do we know that God’s judgment of the lost is right? He tells us in his word. How do we know that Jesus is the only way to God? He tells us in his word. How do we know what marriage is supposed to be? God tells us in his word. How do we know what a church is supposed to do? God tells us in his word.

 

If God has indeed revealed himself to us in his word, how dangerous must it be for us to have that revelation, and then hold it up to some other standard to see if we approve of it? What are you saying when you do such a thing? If you take the word of God and measure it by your own standard to determine whether or not you approve of it or will obey it, you are declaring yourself and your standard to be above the word of God. To declare yourself and your standard to be above the word of God is for you to declare yourself to be above God. For you to declare yourself to be above God is for you to actually declare yourself to be deity.

 

All through the Bible, God makes it clear that he will not stomach idolatry. God will not allow anyone or anything to get away with pretending to be God. That includes you and me. So we should be careful not to ever elevate ourselves to the level of deity. And thus, we cannot measure God’s commands and God’s ways by our own standards as if we have the right to approve or disapprove of anything God has said or done. To assume that you can judge the commands of God, the ways of God, or the actions of God is for you to think one of the most dangerous thoughts people can possibly think.