Thoughts on Gnats-Slayers
and Camels
Written early in 2001
1.
Man’s sanctified wisdom ought to direct him even in the study
of the Bible. The Bible speaks about both gnats and camels, and blind
people cannot tell the difference. Discernment requires judgment, an
exercise of reason. This does not place reason above the Bible, because
the Scriptures speak of the weightier matters. The scribes and Pharisees
were without excuse. Of course, Gnat-Slayers and their blind
followers will alike fall into the ditch, sometimes while on safaris for gnats.
2.
There are many more gnats than camels and gnats can occupy a
great deal of time. Blind people who go after gnats do not think they are
gnats. Of course they don’t. They have elevated their reason above
the Bible so that the gnats look like camels to them. This is exactly the
point of Christ—if they perceived them to be gnats they would not regard them
so much.
3.
Gnats are unpleasant and troublesome, but they are not
camels. Gnats deserve a little bit of attention, of course, but they are
not a real threat unless we perceive them to be camels. That’s where the
trouble is. The gnat is never a problem; the problem is the one who is so
obsessed with filtering it out that he swallows a camel.
4.
People who chase gnats are never aware that they are blind
guides. Instead, they think are more diligent than others. They see
the present and real danger of gnats. They see themselves as a voice
crying in the wilderness, but they are crying about gnats, not the Lamb of
God. They have thought it through and are convinced that the danger is
real. As a result, they persuade other blind people that there is a
great threat in this or that gnat, and want to spend a great deal of time and
effort straining it out. “I shan’t take anything with a gnat in it, for
that would defile me.”
5.
Blind guides and their blind followers are persuaded that
those who do not perceive the threat of the gnat are blind, because a person’s
spiritual acuity is known by the number of slain gnats. Once the gnat is
slain it become a trophy, which hangs in the church as a witness to unusual
clarity of sight.
6.
Gnat-Strainers are expert on the history of the Gnat-strainers
of the past. They are experts on the history of men of renown who did
valiantly against the gnats.
7.
Not only is a special blind eyesight required to see the
threat of a gnat, but also an unusual way of looking at Scripture is needed to
find gnats. Paul, for instance, did not spend much time explaining the
real and present threat of gnats, and so some of his statements are enigmatic
about them. It takes unusual powers of reason to see the outline of a
gnat in these obscure statements. On the other hand, false accusations
against brethren and bitterness and pride are very carefully dealt with
throughout the Scripture, as well as the wickedness of division and strife.
8.
Gnat-Filterers gauge their vision by their ability to see the
gnats, turning Christ’s words on end, for His Wisdom was to see the
camels. Blind guides and their followers, unlike Jesus, glory in their
ability to discern the real and present danger of gnats. But they also
must develop the special eyesight needed to find these gnats in the Scripture,
in order to be able to justify their preoccupation with them.
9.
Gnats may be found in Scripture, certainly. They are
right behind the camels. Just swallow down a camel and you will see the gnat
clearly. Others may not see the gnat so clearly, because they are having
trouble with the camel. The trouble with camels is that they do not stay
swallowed, and become a nuisance to Gnat-slayers.
10.
It takes a great deal of time and effort to slay gnats.
It is really, really hard to be right about everything all the time. It
is necessary to make several pretenses in order to be a Gnat-Slayer. We
must pretend that there are no camels around, and that if we can just overcome
these gnats, we will have achieved perfection. It takes a very
well-developed blindness to see this. There are many irritating gnats
hiding behind the camel of perfectionism, and the camel doesn’t stay
swallowed. It must be swallowed again and again. It is really hard
work.
11.
“But why can’t we have a world without gnats?” Yes, it
would be nice. That world is called Heaven, and those who don’t swallow
the camels will go there. Until then, there are crooked places that
cannot be made straight, because God has made them crooked; there are things
that are deficient, because God has made them lacking. [That is also in the Bible;
find it for yourself] These crooked places are there for the purpose of
teaching us patience, forbearance, love, and mercy. In spite of the crooked
places, God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. [God is
filled with patience, forbearance, love, and mercy. Gnat slayers are
uncomfortable about that, and wish He would help them shape people up.].
12.
“But the Bible is very plain about my gnat. Let me
explain it to you again.” Yes, you are right. The gnat is
there. But what will you have to swallow? You are going to have to
swallow the division of the church, the marginalizing of the church, the taking
of resources away from subduing camels. And will the church really be
better by the slaying of this particular gnat? How many camel-slayers are
you willing to destroy in order to subdue that gnat?
13.
“But this is what the Bible says about this gnat. You
are just using reason. Who are you to say it’s a gnat?” Yes, Jesus
said I was supposed to be able to see the difference between the gnat and the
camel. It will be a test of my vision. He didn’t say I was to be a
blind commandment keeper, following things I did not understand.
14.
“But it is sin to tolerate the gnats.” Yes, I suppose
so. Sin is certainly bad, and it crucified the Lord of Glory. As we
read the Bible we become more and more aware of sin. Jesus knew what sin
was all about and is not saying that gnats are ok; He is just calling us not to
think we have done some great thing by straining one out. “There is not a
just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.” The HC says
that we break every one of the commandments every day. The commandments,
that is, not gnats.
15.
The Gnat-Slayer pretends that only gnats are left to
subdue. It’s a lie, of course, for Gnat-Strainers always neglect the
three things commended by Christ: First, judgment—the ability to discern
[between gnats and camels in this case] Second, mercy—the ability to abide
gnats in others; Third, faith: the knowledge that Christ forgives all our sins,
the gnats as well as the camels.
16.
The Apostle Paul was a MSG [Mighty Strainer of Gnats], until
he met Christ. From then on he just wanted to talk about Christ and His
righteousness. “If ye bite and devour, take heed that ye be not devoured
of each other,” he warned. “I want to know nothing from you except Christ
and him crucified,” he told the Corinthians who were all divided into various
MSG denominations. “All that stuff about me I just count as garbage—the
real value is Christ and Him crucified.”
17.
A confessional church recognizes the difference between gnats
and camels. The camels are in the creeds. It is just wrong to
dissipate the energy of the church in straining gnats, when we have a huge job
to teach the world about the camels identified in the creeds. The
blindness that afflicts Gnat-Slayers is called perfectionism, which comes in
many different varieties, for there are lots of gnats.
18.
“Wow! Sounds like you don’t care about the Scriptures.”
MSG’s do care about the Scriptures, but they use them to fortify their own
sense of righteousness, ignoring total depravity in themselves and the futility
of the law to bring righteousness. “But that’s antinomian!” You
mean that warning people about staining at gnats and swallowing camels is
antinomian? Hmmmmm.
19.
Things that are not important enough to be in the creeds
aren’t important enough to squawk about. If we preach Christ and him
crucified and connect men to Jesus Christ, they will be all right, even if
there are some gnats flying around. If ministers want to be astute and
wise, let them become wise in this.
20.
If ministers will dedicate themselves to preaching and
teaching the doctrine of the creeds they will have plenty to do, and shouldn’t
waste their time following their independent and private side trails. It
is also very important that they not swallow the camel of contentiousness and
strife.
21. The River of Grace is free and flowing and very, very deep. The marshes around the River are acrid and bitter, and very shallow. The gnats live in the shallows. [Ezekiel 47]
