Hey, America, Swallow Any Camels Lately? Majoring on Minors

by Dennis Albini
Clash Daily Guest Contributor

The Lord Jesus Christ confronted the corrupt religious leaders of His day according to the following Scriptures: 

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23: 23-26 NIV  
 
The Lord was rebuking these false teachers for “majoring on the minors” of the civil and moral aspects of Old Testament Law.  While they shouldn’t have disregarded the minor laws, they should have placed much more emphasis and attention to the weightier matters. 
 
This same admonition applies to American society today, especially regarding the leadership of our various institutions.   Please note the following examples: 
 
— America “strains out the gnat “ (s.o.t.g) of intolerance to protect political correctness, hate laws and tolerance, but “swallow the camel” (s.t.c.) by the disregard of our first amendment right of freedom of speech. 
 
— We s.o.t.g. to legislate the protection of offspring from various endangered species, but s.t.c. by diminishing the  intrinsic value of the sanctity of all human life.  
 
— We s.o.t.g. to protect the rights of any individual(s) to engage in any type of intimate relationships, but s.t.c. of diminishing the sacred institutions of traditional marriage and families.
 
— We s.o.t.g. to protect our right for the pursuit of “our own” happiness, but s.t.c. by diminishing and/or dismissing the effects of our actions upon the happiness/well-being of those people involved in our lives.
 
As the Lord Jesus stated in the above referenced Scriptures, we don’t have to neglect the “gnats” of the law.  After, all, no one wants to swallow a gnat … but that’s not life threatening.  However, the “camels” (more important matters) of the law should be habitually practiced. 

Remember … swallowing camels could be very life threatening.

Image: Irshadpp; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license