In Ephesians 6:11-17, the apostle Paul describes for us the full armor of God. Verse seventeen mentions the only weapon in the list, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This sword is sharp and must be used wisely. Despite this caution, many people think they can play around with God’s Word. This is how I came to the name of my post. We must think of this sword as more of a scalpel. Why? Good question, let me explain.
First, you must be a surgeon in order to use the scalpel to its fullest. When it comes to the Word of God, you don’t have to be the best biblical scholar ever, but you must know how to use it. In today’s society, people think reading their Bible twenty minutes a week is enough to get by. If you were a surgeon about to perform surgery on your patient, how would you feel if you had no idea how to use a scalpel, which is possibly your most important tool? I’ll tell you now, neither you nor I would be comfortable performing surgery on someone without knowing how to use the proper instruments. This is why we never get comfortable about doing a Bible study with someone. Deep down we know twenty minutes a week does not get us acquainted with our most precious tool.
Second, a scalpel is used to be precise. Many people think we will evangelize the world by using the sword of the Spirit. This is good, but we take the analogy of a sword a bit too seriously. Instead of viewing it as a tool by which God cleanly cuts out someone’s sin, we go chopping their arms off with the sword. We have to present the word as something they desperately need. Imagine if a doctor told you that you had to lose your left leg in order to get better, when in reality all you had to do was take a few shots and take better care of yourself. This is what we do when we tell a new convert they must give up every sin they have before they can be baptized. If they are committing adultery or some ongoing sin, they will obviously have to change before baptism, but they don’t have to give up getting angry right then. That is something that comes with practice and time. We must be gentle with our ‘patients,’ who are the world.
Please do not misunderstand me and think I am changing the words of the inspired apostle Paul. Clearly Paul’s writings were inspired and he was a very accomplished writer – I am simply attempting to take this concept into the twenty-first century with things we have seen and heard about. The word of God is a powerful tool. Let us work to use it to its fullest.
Preacher Joe's Thoughts 