grand larceny
"Part of what he sowed landed on a footpath, where birds came and ate it up." —Matthew 13:4
"The seed along the path is the man who hears the message about God's reign without understanding it. The evil one approaches him to steal away what was sown in his mind" (Mt 13:19). Since we don't always understand some parts of God's word, either we lean not on our own understanding and trust in the Lord (Prv 3:5-6), or the devil robs us by lies and confusions.
For example, in our culture we have difficulty understanding male and female roles in the body of Christ. In this lack of understanding, the devil can steal us blind. He can tell us that certain parts of the Bible are irrelevant to modern times. He can confuse us by maintaining that the Bible makes mistakes. So the devil robs us of one passage we didn't understand, and soon he's robbed us of the integrity of the whole Bible. God's word is now submitted to our culture instead of our culture to God's word. Modern culture becomes the new "bible." It determines which parts of the old Bible are still relevant. The religion of secular humanism is then established. Intellectual pride becomes the new morality, sowing doubt, the new theology. Furthermore, the only heresy is orthodoxy.
This grand larceny is by no means rare. Many churches no longer reverence the Bible as the authoritative word of God. Ministers and priests minister doubt and confusion. Nonetheless, persevere in faith. The word of God will prevail (see 2 Tm 2:9).
Prayer: Jesus, bring down the strongholds of the evil one in our churches.
Promise: "Part of it, finally, landed on good soil and yielded grain a hundred- or sixty- or thirtyfold." —Mt 13:8
Praise: St. Lawrence spread the seed of truth as he traveled as emissary, missionary, and peacemaker from country to country.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape series on Biblical Counseling on audio AV 13A-1, AV 13A-3, AV 13B-1 or video starting with V-13A.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 29, 2009
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