When confronted by the Pharisees, Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of man-made rules.
“God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ … but you say ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, ‘whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple’—does not have to honor his father and mother. You have revoked God’s word because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men” Matthew 15:4-9.
We must engage the Word of God. We are to READ the word, STUDY the word, TEACH the word, MEMORIZE the word.
But we are not to ADD to the word.
“Do not add to what I command you, and do not subtract from it” Deuteronomy 4:2.
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll” Revelation 22:18.
The Jewish elders added to the word when they took one rule and expanded it into dozens more. The Catholic church has done the same by making tradition and statements from the Pope equal to scripture. But what about you and me? Do American evangelicals add to God’s word? We do. There are those among us who add a variety of non-Biblical notions to their preaching and teaching.
One way we add to the word of God is when we preach that the Church has replaced Israel, and that all of the promises God made to the Hebrew people now fall on the church. This doctrine of “Replacement Theology” is not Biblical.
American Christians further add to the word when we say that as Columbus discovered the New World, he was actually discovering God’s new Promised Land. These two unbiblical ideas lead almost automatically to a third: Christian Nationalism, the attempt to re-make America as a sort-of Christian theocracy, an explicitly Christian nation.
These ideas may be rooted in good intentions. Replacement Theology is based on scripture, but is ultimately a misreading. The idea that America is the new Promised Land is based not on scripture but history and metaphor: pilgrims leaving for the colonies began as early as 1600 to speak of this as a “Promised Land” for those being persecuted. And Christian Nationalism at its most benign is simply people who want a Christian nation, with Christian values, and where Christianity is welcome in government offices and public schools.
But scripture does not say the Church replaced Israel. Scripture does not say America is the New Promised Land.
And Christian Nationalism departs from scripture, seeking today what some mistakenly sought 2,000 years ago: to make Jesus an earthly king.
America’s founding documents—the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence—are not scripture. However, the Christian Nationalist decision to bind those documents inside a King James Bible and sell it as the “God Bless the USA Bible”[1], though seemingly harmless, elevates those words of man to the level of the word of God. Publishing those documents inside a Bible suggests they were “God-breathed”or inspired by God just as the scripture was. That is adding something to scripture.
I love our nation. I praise its founding and the brilliance of the Founders while I teach college classes nearly every week of every semester. No one is a bigger fan of the Constitution than I. But the best works of man are merely that: works of man. I believe the founders sought God, and I believe He gave them great wisdom. Our Constitution has been described as “the oldest national charter still in continuous use.” It is a work of genius.
But the Constitution is NOT scripture.
Again: we are to read, study, memorize, and teach the scripture. But God will punish those who add to His word.
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men” Matthew 15:4-9.
God, may we so revere Your word that we would not dare add to it, take from it, or speak of it as though it were just another work of literature or history.
ΑΩ
[1] Lee Greenwood first began selling the “God Bless the USA” Bible in 2021 to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. On March 27, 2024, Trump began selling a revised version (with more documents inside and the American flag on the cover) for $59.00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noezEB6BKno A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to fund Trump’s legal expenses as he battles some 90 criminal charges against him https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/trump-god-bless-usa-bible-lee-greenwood-reviews-paper-moon-o-brother-where-art-thou.html.
Household Words: 