There is a most interesting positioning of letters in the February 26, 2005, Arkansas Democrat Gazette Voices column. On first blush the three didn’t seem to have anything in common, but upon further reflection as I chomped on toast and bacon for breakfast, the letters gave me food for thought, in that their position relative to each other reminded me of a sandwich.

The first writer lamented that some shows on TV were not fit to see and wondered who could change things for the better. The second letter was written from a biblical content point of view, suggesting that things can be made different by following Jesus Christ, while the third believed that Christians were the cause of the worldly problems, saying that narrow beliefs were stifling, and that there was more than one way to enlightenment and salvation, apparently equating enlightenment with other than God’s way of light.

First, the writer who wondered what could be done to make things better deserves attention. The government is clamping down on the TV industry because those who run it are peddling filth and smut in the name of entertainment, trying to hide under the free speech of the First Amendment. The word “damn” in Gone With the Wind stepped across the line and the entertainment industry has been stepping across ever since. What began as drop is now a flood of obscenity inundating the air waves. 

The third writer said he was a Christian, and from the tone of his letter he seemed to place himself among the enlightened, who knows more truth than the rest of us. Whatever the other ways to enlightenment and salvation may be, he didn’t reveal them. Maybe they are too deep and weighty for us mere mortals who believe in Jesus Christ to fully understand. At any rate, he took a very dim view of the narrow belief of Jesus.

The first writer needs to look to the fact that we individuals can make a difference by following the principles and morals found in God’s teachings. In Luke 6:39 is found the words of Jesus, “And he spake a parable unto them, 'Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?'" The government is blind to God’s ways and since many wonder who can change it if government can’t, then blindness afflicts more than the government bodies.

The third writer needs to tell everyone where he found his source of enlightenment, if it isn’t from the Bible, and where he found salvation along with it. Two verses in Matthew 5:13-14 fit this situation nicely, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The writer said many paths and the Bible says the path is narrow. Who is correct, Jesus or the enlightened writer?

The second writer went to the heart of the issue. He wrote in essence that since God has been removed from the major areas of public life, our society has been going downhill, wallowing in perversity ever since, and I can add it is happening at a frightening speed daily. To paraphrase his words, he says God’s way in Christ is the only way. And now the words of Jesus in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’” Matthew 5 is now in focus with Jesus being that narrow way. Also we find in John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’” Now we know that He is enlightenment and salvation for life. The second writer has it right.  

© 03-3-2005 DEC