Once an indignant parishioner approached me, “Why don’t we forbid unbelievers from partaking of Holy Communion because they are unknowingly bringing judgment upon themselves?” Yes, imagine, in the last days, a person stands before God and hears, “You rejected my Son…but what really fries me is that you ate communion one Sunday!” Yes, I see your point; we can’t have that. When the film, “The Last Temptation of Jesus” was to be released, evangelical Christians flew into a laver. One leader offered to purchase the movie for millions of dollars so that it could be destroyed and never viewed publicly. Of course, all this moral outrage served to create a truckload of free publicity which boosted ticket sales and gave others one more excuse to write-off the church. Where I grew up, we used to have an expression to someone who lost his cool, “Don’t have a cow, man.” In these cases, we might say, “Don’t have a sacred cow.”

We’re all susceptible to sacred cows now and then. We become upset that what we deem valuable or God-given is being lightly regarded. So, how do we respond when it appears that what we hold as sacred is being violated?

Let’s be wary of emotional outbursts. Perhaps we believe we’re guarding God but isn’t He is big enough to take care of Himself? (Yes, Jesus got angry but only on the one occasion) Someone once protested with such vigour that “a little prayer won’t save an evil person” as if somehow, the wrong people might end up in heaven. I think God has it in hand. When we lash out, what listeners often perceive in us is not conviction but insecurity. In our reaction, we may be communicating a fragility of faith that suggests, “Don’t examine too closely what we believe because it can’t hold up to the scrutiny”. If people are going to engage our faith, we have to leave them room to move and question it. Jesus gave honest inquirers a great deal of space.

Also, are we more preoccupied with protecting God or freeing people to investigate matters of faith? Let’s be wary of frontloading our faith by demanding that people affirm certain beliefs before they’ve had ample opportunity to doubt and probe. It’s about honouring people in their search. If someone says to me, “How can I read the Bible if I don’t believe it’s God’s Word?” I reply, “Then, don’t. Just read it and make up your own mind.” Don’t expect people to embrace a knowledge of the Holy before encountering the Holy One. As Psalm 34 reminds, “Taste and see that God is good.”