THEIR EYES WERE OPENED
...And they were naked
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
As an avid fan of the Andy Griffith Show , I have seen every episode more times than I care to admit. Truthfully, I prefer to watch the old black and white episodes (the first “in color” episode was broadcast in 1965). I guess the reason I like the black and white versions is because its, well, its old TV and old TV is suppose to be in black and white. But, then again, it may be that “black and white” reflects what we, as a country, was about then. Everything back then was black and white,. There was no middle ground. Emma, the jay walking old spinster of Mayberry, was a criminal just as surely as the pickpocket and jewel thief who was inadvertently awarded the Key to Mayberry. At least that’s the way it was in Barney’s eyes. The “Pre-color” days, I suppose, reflects the “Age of Innocence” we hear so much about. Television, music, just about every facet of life was a little more innocent than it is now.
Remember Americas most famous redhead, Lucy Richardo? Well, if it hadn’t been for the numerous references to her flaming red hair, and prior to “I Love Lucy” being filmed in color, we’d all have thought her hair was gray. We’d have never known the “bubble gum machine” on top of Andys squad car was “red“, rather than then the modern day “blue“, if it hadn’t been for color television. Color television opened our eyes to a great number of things. That’s good in some ways, but, in other ways, not so good. With “color” we began to see things differently. We began to see things how they really are.
In the early days of Pentecostalism, we didn’t question what our church leaders said. We didn’t question doctrine, standards, and theology. We saw things in black and white. Right was right, wrong was wrong. It was that simple. Like the first humans of creation, we were naked before God and unashamed, because we didn’t question what we were taught. We walked with God in the cool of the day and life was simpler. but now? Well, our veiws about what is right and what is wrong has been colorized- blended until its difficult to know anymore just what is right and what is wrong.
In the early days, we were taught to trust our government. We didn’t question what the President and/or Congress did. American democracy was right. Communism was wrong. Black and white. That’s how things were. But things began to change in the 60’s, socially, politically and even spiritually. The president of the United States was shot to death in 1963... and rumors of a governmental conspiracy and cover-up were shouted from the rooftops. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll began to reshape Americas youth into a rebellious, rowdy bunch that thumbed their noses at everything we held sacred. America changed. We lost our innocense. Our eyes were opened. Instead of returning to the godliness we once knew, we sewed together our own standards of what is right and what is wrong. Like Adam discovering Eves nakedness and being ashamed, we fail to look how we have drifted from our “first love” and we are ashamed of the nakedness of others whose doctrines and manner of life we disagree with. We shame them for their departure from “truth” without discovering that we, ourselves, like the angels that
“kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation…” ( Jud 1:6) in the Presence of God, have become “vagabonds“, spoiling for a fight not with spiritual wickedness, or principalities, but with each other.
In the early days of the Pentecostalism in America, there were no Trinitarian/Oneness divides. There were no conservative, moderate or liberal camps. No PAJC/PCI fences. They were just Christians. Hungry Christians who had heard the call to “Come and Dine“. They were thirsty for the new wine and, because they knelt together at the same pool to drink, they were gloriously filled with the Presence of God that knows no division. They became, at least for a brief season, exactly what Jesus prayed for them to become in
John 17. They became one in Christ. They had retuned to Pentecost.
There are a great number of things being touted as Pentecostal doctrine today. It shames me to see ministers advocating extra biblical teachings and doctrine. I’m reminded of a time when a wild vine was shredded into the pot, and the entire mixture, both the good and the bad, was declared to be
“death in the pot”. (2nd Kings 4). It is as impossible now, as it was then, to separate the good from the bad. It takes a holy cleansing from God to separate the tares from the wheat, the sheep from the goats. It takes the Holy Fire from God’s altar that fell at Pentecost. It takes the washing of the water by the Word. Those who think they are rich in their false doctrines will one day see just how
“wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” they really are.
(Rev. 3:17).
We can’t drop a little meal in this melting pot of Pentecostalism like Elisha and remove all the harmful doctrine that’s been shredded among us. All I can do is keep myself pure “…even as He is pure”. (
1 John 3:3). And I suppose that begins with me discovering my own spiritual nakedness before I shame someone for theirs.
OA- 9/10
Linear Mode
