Have you ever been slapped in the face? Stings, doesn't it? Personally I hate being slapped in the face. But what if someone told you they are slapping you to save your life? I wouldn't buy it. Well this is exactly what happened out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on July 30, 1945. The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed & sunk by a Japanese submarine, it took only 12 minutes to be fully submerged. 1,196 sailors were aboard that ship, 300 went down with the ship, which forced approximately 900 to try to "stay alive" in the warm Pacific waters. For three days these sailors had to survive without adequate food and fresh drinking water. As they say, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!" But out of desperate thirst some sailors drank, not even caring that the saltwater they were ingesting was slowly killing them. When a person is poisoned by salt, not only will they quickly dehydrate, but the mind will begin to hallucinate - - which in turn caused many of those sailors to swim outside the protective circle of the living, the only defense against hungry tiger sharks. It is estimated over 500 or more men were ravaged by the sharks. One of the ships doctors demanded the sailors to do everything they could to keep their friends from drinking the water, even "punching" or "slapping" them if they had to. A slap in the face saved lives, and that slap was motivated out of love not judgment. Every once in a while, we too, out of love, need to slap people. But our society frowns upon it and labels verbal slapping (warnings & rebukes) as judgmental and intolerant. Everyone has real desires and human needs, but sadly many of those we love reach for saltwater solutions which they believe will help quench their thirst. At first, what they choose to ingest may seem to work, even making you look educated & enlightened; but over time these tempting solutions become deadly. Let me give you some examples: - Humans all fear the idea of eternal punishment, while at the same time their natural selves still crave personal autonomy and freedom to do as "we wish!" So along comes the cool, hip, trendy voice selling saltwater, "Psst, buddy, drink this: it's water from the universal fountain and liberal mountain stream, it offers all the freedom of human choice without any of the consequences -- all love, no wrath." - Every person on earth has been made to desire human touch and intimacy (no one can claim they are more needy than others here), but sadly in our post-modern era we have wrongly been told that we don't need to bridle these cravings. It should be your individual right to freely experiment and find personal satisfaction in the arms of a lover of your choice and preference. "Psst, buddy, drink this: it's called rainbow water. Sure we bottled it from the putrid flowing sewer of perversion, but its packaging & marketing is ingenious and sophisticated...in fact, all the celebrities drink the stuff!" - Humans want to be right, we have a desire to know and find certainty & purpose in a confusing world; and yet we also do not like it when others disagree with our findings or prove us wrong, especially in the area of spirituality and morality. Here is how the water of tolerance is sold these days, "Just because some cantankerous white men think a 2000 year old book contains the very words of God doesn't mean it is so. In fact, drink this water: C. S. Lewis called it the 'God in the Dock' brand. God is the one found wanting, his ways are not working, & He and His Son need to be put on trial because I am not sure they even exist. The verdict on Him is still out; but we are certain that mankind is innocent (especially the smarts ones who read philosophy & the poor ones who have been oppressed)." Have you ever noticed, extremely thirsty people don't like to listen when saltwater is nearby? So you may need to slap them. But let me warn you ahead of time, it wont go well. Jesus said something to the affect of "if they hated me they will hate you." The famed reformer Martin Luther was a master at slapping, especially the pope and his cronies. They didn't like it so they asked him, "Martin Luther will you retract?" Here is his response, "I am bound by scriptures...my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience." I am not sure post-modern people even have a conscience anymore to even go against? To them, saltwater is no longer bad for you...and the sharks probably are not real.
10 Comments
Christopher Weeks
1/15/2014 02:21:13 am
Gracias amigo Chris!
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Cherie
1/15/2014 02:24:55 am
AMEN...Thank you for never being afraid to slap, it may hurt but it puts us back on track to the truth in God's word...
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Buddy
1/15/2014 10:12:23 am
I agree with everything you said. I would just respectfully add that a slap is not necessarily the desired FIRST option when trying to communicate the inherent offensiveness of hard truths. In my opinion, too many Christians (not you, Chris) jump straight to the slap without even trying a gentler approach first.
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Christopher Weeks
1/15/2014 10:44:13 am
Sadly Buddy, you are right! I find, however being in ministry for the past 15 years the tables have turned...the grumpy old men have given up voicing their disdain and now the new "free grace crowd" flaunts their freedom more and more. Where parents and a pastors word once carried weight, now godly advice has become just another possible suggestion in a swirling sea of relativistic opinion.
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Anne C. Rawson
1/15/2014 10:56:53 am
slaps don't always have to be hard and hurtful...sometimes just a gentle slap by a loving friend can wake you and send you in the right direction.
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Doug Krueger
1/15/2014 04:36:43 pm
i have quite often wanted to slap people in the name of Jesus, of coarse. especially for those who are supposedly followers of Jesus. thanks for sharing this.
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Christina
1/17/2014 12:54:49 am
Very good illustration, it is helpful to remember that the 'slap' although painful for a time is done in deep founded love and is based on the desire to see the other person thrive. IF we as fellow believers would remember that when we too are 'slapped' then change would come much more quickly. Unfortunately I think you are right in that we have fallen into the trap of not even having a conscious of our own anymore; we too often allow the opinions of society to determine how we respond to the slap. We need to 'detox' somehow and get to a place where we can hear God speaking to us again.
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Christopher Weeks
1/17/2014 01:48:00 am
Ooh, I like the detox idea. Any suggestions on how to do this?
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Jim
1/17/2014 08:41:10 pm
On the detox thought...anyone entering detox has done so because of crisis, whether it is a personal decision or one imposed upon them. I believe God brings crisis into our lives providing us the opportunity to make a change.
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