Snakes and Doves
Randomly today I ended up reading Romans 16. There some pretty deep stuff in there. A whole bunch of names no amount of Bible college ever helped me pronounce. Lots of greetings and kisses (friendly group apparently). And then in breaks into a few verses with a very stern tone…
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Then it’s back to more random greetings and a lovely and hearty goodbye.
It’s those middle verses (17-20) that jumped off the page to me. So I thought let’s see what some commentary’s say. Honestly that was really pointless. I scanned half a dozen or more commentaries and most that I checked out seemed to just repeat the verses and warn against following people who are out for their own good. Which seems like a big NO DUH! No one wants to be friends with someone who is all about themselves and who wants a leader that is all out for their own.
But here’s the thing that I think…
When we read those verses we think of people, places, things, etc that are blatantly obvious – that shady car salesman like preacher or the lady who asks you to repeat this mantra and close every door 3 times for all the world’s wealth. We fail to think of the ones who simply sugar coat something here or side step this or that. We don’t notice that something is all about them until they’ve done more damage than we would have ever wanted.
It’s funny how we forget that sometimes warnings are for big and small. What is noticeable and what takes more attention should be watched too.
I dunno…just my random thoughts.