Looking for Loopholes

Someone saw W.C. Fields reading the Bible. The man asked him, “Why are you doing that?” And Fields said “I’m looking for loopholes.” Almost everybody I know have read page after page of the Bible searching for loopholes.

The whole history of the church shows God’s people looking for loopholes. 

Abraham almost sacrificing his son, Isaac. Moses murdering an enemy. Killing millions of people—didn’t the Bible say so? And David committing murder and adultery. His son, Solomon splitting the kingdom over-spending the coffers of the Temple not to speak of all those wives and concubines.

We can search high and wide today hoping to find some loophole in the Holy Bible that will let us off the hook.

There is no loophole about lying. Check the Commandments.

There are no loopholes about the treatments of our enemies.

There are no loopholes about accountability. 

There are no loopholes about immigrants and strangers.

There is no loophole about loving God and neighbor.

There is no loophole about the lust for power.

There is no loophole about disagreement of others.

There is no loop hole about hatred of our enemies.

There is no loophole dealing with the poor. 

'There is no loophole dealing with Blacks and those different than us.

There is no loophole for the church to be silent as the world convulses.

There is no loophole about adultery and lusting after someone else.

There is no loophole that can ignore character.

There’d is no loophole about the treatment of children ours and others.

There is no loophole about the fidelity of marriage.

No loopholes in treating everyone the same—including gays.

There is no loophole about greed and materialism.

There is no loophole for prejudice.

There is no loophole about whittling down the charge to love. 

There are no loopholes for a silent church.

I could go on and on. And you can too. You might want to study some of the loopholes of your own life and the destructive chaos that surrounds us all.  

Jim Wallis said when he saw so many loopholes in Christians and churches today he was appalled. He found over 2,000 verses about taking care of the poor and challenging the inequities of society. So he took scissors and cut out all these verses in Old and New Testaments. When he finished he stepped back in amazement. The holes dealing with peace and justice were everywhere. He would hold up that Bible as he spoke and say, “This is an American Bible today.” But hopefully he said, he had seen many signs

of Christians determined not to leave the Scriptures on the floor. He tried to live and act in ways that would restore the integrity of the Word of God—in our lives, our families, communities, nation and world.  This is the challenge for us and our churches. No loopholes just hard sayings that stretch us more than we cannot even envision. 

—Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com