Right Words, Wrong Heart

 Mark 5:6-7

When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”

At the village church in Kalonovka, Russia, attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed lad who recited his Scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it. The priest took a liking to the boy, persuaded him to attend church school. This was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him. By offering other inducements, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, he won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in church. Now, 60 years later, he still liked to recite Scriptures, but in a context that would horrify the old priest. For the prize pupil, who memorized so much of the Bible, was Nikita Khrushchev, the former Communist czar.

It is possible to know the right facts but have the wrong heart for them. In the passage from Mark, the demon possessed man runs up to Jesus and calls him, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.”  This was not a sign of respect by the demons inside the man, it was a power play. There was a popular superstition of the day that if you called someone by their complete name you could have power over them.

The demons had the right name, but the wrong heart.

We can find all kinds of people today who, like Nikita Khrushchev, can quote the Bible but totally miss the truth in its words. They try to use Scripture as a power play against Christians or to try and justify their actions. They often misquote verses out of context, or try to twist the words to fit their purposes.

They have the right words, but the wrong heart.

As Christians we need to make sure that our hearts are right, especially when we invoke the name of God. If we don’t, we may bring needless hurt to others and ourselves.

Today’s Readings: Numbers 19,20; Psalm 28; Mark 5

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