Don't Let Religious Details Distract You

The bible is full of history, life stories, prophecies, laws and commandments, teachings about God and humans. It is a library with so many details.

Some people study the bible and get lost in the details, but Jesus and the apostles had to repeatedly remind people then, and us today, that the details must not distract us.

The main thing must be the main thing.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

God created a perfect world but the first man and woman rejected God and ruined his creation. We have all gone wrong and we need forgiveness, God sent is Son to take God’s punishment on Himself, so God could justly punish evil but have mercy on us all.

The bible experts who saw Jesus face to face simply refused to believe.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Jn 5:39–40 NIV

We can be so full of detailed knowledge, that we are blind to the most important things.

Paul planted the Christian faith in the important pagan city of Ephesus. It was difficult because Ephesus was dominated by a pagan cult. People worshipped the goddess Artemis. Many believed that the goddess Artemis came down from heaven and created women before men.

After Ephesian pagans were converted, they continued to be fascinated with myths and legends, some pagan and perhaps also some of Jewish origin.

Paul had left Timothy in charge of the church in Ephesus. He wrote two letters to Timothy with instructions about how to deal with theological confusion and wrong teachings. He wrote that believers must not get sidetracked with speculative theories or detailed stories.

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 1 Tim 1:4–5 NLT

God is love.

Many doctrinal obsessions can distract us from the love of God.

Paul also wrote to the church in Rome.

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.
One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Rom 14:1–3 NIV

Christians argue about the Sabbath, or whether we should eat pork. Some Christians are so busy debating or judging other Christians, that Christian love becomes nothing more than a neglected doctrine.