John 10:1-10
Throughout history, people have used the Bible to justify their mistreatment and murder of others. In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote, “Today, I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." (Hitler's emphasis, not mine.) He also used Romans 13 in his argument that citizens should support the government regardless of how atrocious the government might be.
Today, instead of hearing “the bible says” followed by something that isn’t in the bible, the rallying cry is often “well Jesus never said anything about” followed by something that is in the bible but isn’t addressed by Jesus.
People use the Bible to justify their opinions on everything without ever reading enough of it to see what it actually says and, they always have. That’s nothing new. Thieves and robbers have always tried to steal the sheep.
What is new is that the thieves and robbers have easier access to the sheep. They don’t have to break into the pasture anymore because we let them in every time we take what we hear on the news or read on the computer as gospel without ever comparing what is said or written to the entirety of Scripture.
We are bombarded daily with ideas. The problems come when we take an idea and run with it as our own without ever comparing the idea to Scripture. When we do that, we create a superhighway into our sheepfold because we don’t take the time to determine if it is Jesus’ voice we are listening to or that of a thief or robber.