I once heard my Pastor, Nick, say that some people treat the attributes of God like a smorgasbord. Attributes refer to qualities and characteristics associated with God. For instance, some people are hungry for big portions of His grace but quickly pass by His righteousness. His mercy has an inviting aroma, but His justice is a little hard to swallow for some. And then, there is the subject of God’s love… But we’ll come back to that one at a later date.

Last blog I talked about the authenticity and reliability of the Bible, the Word of God. Strangely, some people can say they believe the Bible is authentic, and then doubt it’s reliability. Kind of like the attribute-smorgasbord people, some things are more to their liking than others. For instance, I once told a friend that Jesus stated in John 14:6 that He is the way and the truth and the life. My aim was to direct to the salvation in Jesus Christ alone. She dismissed my statement with a simple, “I don’t believe He said that.”

Sadly, the same person who didn’t believe Jesus’ words in John 14:6 told me with the full authority of Scripture that we aren’t supposed to judge. (Context, please…)

One page 130 of The Bridge from OneDayBow, Tim has some real words of wisdom for those who treat God’s Word like a smorgasbord:

If you don’t believe it all, can you believe at all?

If we can’t trust His whole Word, is He King over all?

Doubting the King’s truthfulness still leads many astray

When the lie is repeated, “Did the King really say…?”

Personally speaking, and I think that this a simple matter of intelligent reasoning; once you make a decision to take God at His Word, in His Word, how can you then become judge and jury of what it has to say? Now mind you, I’m talking about a reliable translation of the Bible (throw away the JW version, the book of Mormon, and in my opinion, The Message).

But sometimes – let’s face it – it isn’t about having a dispute with the translation of a word or a sentence, but rather that we don’t like what it says or what we think it means. It’s difficult to embrace the truth of the Bible when you aren’t willing to let go of a dearly-loved sin or a popular secular philosophy.

Let’s listen to what else Tim has to say about that:

Denying what His Book says results in compromise,

Which leads to more deception and falling for more lies.

Well said, Tim. But what he says next is important because it gets to the heart of the matter, which really is the heart:

Trusting some of His Word means there’s much that you’re doubting.

And if you can’t believe Him, why should you call Him King?

As Christians, we must be led by the truth and not temporal taste. The smorgasbord line may be tantalizing, but it ultimately isn’t satisfying.

And if you don’t believe God’s inspired Word in totality and obey Him in actuality, why should you call Him King?