Cutting up the "baby"
An old proverb warns against "throwing out the baby with the
bathwater". (In societies where almost everyone has a bathtub and running water,
and where the bathwater drains out of the tub at the flip of a switch, the
reader may have to reflect on this proverb just a bit!) The point, of course, is
to distinguish between primary and secondary matters, and to treat each
accordingly.
A well-known Bible story deals with a baby also. Once the wise
king Solomon was called upon to judge a case involving two women and one baby
(1Ki 3:16-28). It seems that one mother had accidentally smothered her baby,
and, discovering this, had switched her dead baby with the living baby of her
neighbor. Now both mothers stood before the king, each claiming that the
remaining live baby was hers.
"Then said the king, 'The one saith, This is my son that
liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the
dead, and my son is the living... Bring me a sword.' And they brought a sword
before the king. And the king said, 'Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, and half to the other.' Then spake the woman whose the living
child was unto the king, for she yearned upon her son, and she said, 'O my lord,
give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.' But the other said, 'Let it
be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.' Then the king answered and said,
'Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.'
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared
the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment" (1Ki
3:23-28).
The wise king understood clearly that the true mother would
desire more than anything that her baby live, even if it were in the hands of
another woman. Its life was infinitely more precious than anyone else's
"property rights"! But the impostor (to satisfy her pride, or her injured
feelings, or out of sheer spite?) said, "Divide it!"
Sometimes (almost always!) "dividing the baby" will have
disastrous results, for everyone concerned. New and young converts to the truth
are characterized in Scriptures as "babes" (Mat 1:25; Luk 10:21; Rom 2:20; 1Co
3:1; Heb 5:13; 1Pe 2:2), easily influenced and even manipulated by their elders
-- their fathers and "mothers".
Ecclesial controversies may have (or may seem to have) an
invigorating effect on some "elders" and "parents". It can be exhilarating to
"stand firm for the truth", regardless of the circumstances, to fight for
purity, to defend one's fellowship stand, to attack the faith of others, etc,
etc. But the same controversies can be very damaging, even perhaps fatal, to the
"babes" in the truth who (not really by their own choice) become a party to
them.
So this exhortation is especially to the older, experienced
brother and sister: Be careful how you "fight" for the truth. Be careful that
any "charges" you bring against others are true, and fair, and fairly stated --
not colored by prejudice or pride or anger. Be careful how you treat others who
may be part on the One Body as well as you.
And be very careful before you do anything that could be
construed by the wise King and Judge as "cutting up the baby"! Because... the
"baby" belongs to him!
