God has seen fit to plant our family at Fundamental Baptist in Battle Creek for the time being. And, once again, God did good!

Not only are we enjoying, and I MEAN ENJOYING a time of rest, but we’re soaking up some wonderful Bible preaching! Over the past couple of weeks we’ve heard some messages about human nature that have allowed me to categorize experiences I’ve had with some people in my life. It’s easy to see that people aren’t living right, but it’s not so easy to put Scripture to it other than just using verses that talk about how people don’t love God. Here’s some of the analyzing I’ve done this week with the help of Pastor Ron and his wonderful grasp of the Scriptures.

Read Mark chapter seven. There are three types of people that Jesus spoke of in this passage: (1) the scorners,  (2) the simple,  (3) and those with understanding. There are many passages that tell us to smite the scorner so the simple will learn and reprove those who have understanding, or those who wish to learn. In Mark chapter seven, Jesus talks about the Pharisees who were hypocrites, or scorners (vs. 1-13), the crowd who were unlearned, or the simple (vs. 14-16), and the followers of Jesus who were students of the Scriptures (v. 17).

The Pharisees were scorners, not accepting what Jesus had to say. They saw their traditions as being a spiritual necessity. They were clueless as to what spiritual maturity was. They thought they were the only ones who were spiritual, which was very far from reality! They looked down on others as being less than themselves and lived the “Performance Based Christianity.” Rules and traditions were their forté.

The crowd fit into the category of the simple.  They followed Jesus because everyone else did. Jesus spoke to them in parables because they had no understanding. Some believed, some walked away confused or unconcerned. Small children could be labeled as “simple.” I’ve known many an adult too who would fit here. These are the folks that don’t reason well or have trouble applying truth. They typically wander through life unconcerned about spiritual things.

The disciples were those with understanding. These are the ones who questioned Jesus, seeking the truth and applying what they learn. These are the people that most Christian workers love to spend time with teaching and guiding. They’re the easy ones – the ones we don’t have to motivate to seek out God’s truth. In my experience, these folks are the ones who get most of the attention in churches. I’ll leave it to you to decide if this is as it should be. I will also leave you to decide which category YOU fit into.

Proverbs 19:25  “Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.”