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TITLE: Split Hairs
TEXT: Isaiah 5:1-7; 20-21
PROPOSITION: We split hairs, redefine words, and look for loopholes.
QUESTION: How?
KEY WORD: Groups
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 5:1-4
INTRODUCTION:
- President Clinton “It depends on what “is” is.”
- Splitting hairs is a common problem today.
- We bend the rules, redefine words, and look for loopholes.
An identifiable group of our society who believe there are no absolutes.
Nothing is ALWAYS right or wrong. (Situation ethics)
Nothing is absolutely true or false.
Nothing is absolutely right or wrong.
George Barna poll - 70% of people 18-33 “absolute truth does not exist”
They have a new concept of personal responsibility
What I do in my private life is not your business.
Private character and public character are not related.
Character and integrity have nothing to do with my private life.
Many live by the rule of pragmatism.
If I do good work, provide leadership, produce good results, do my job well ---
If I help others, benefit society --- nothing else matters.
If I can do my job - how I live is irrelevant.
This thinking has drifted into the church
Argued about one cup vs. many cups, classes, visual aids
We are contentious about translations, eating in the building
Lying, stealing, gossip, adultery, hypocrisy, ungodly lifestyles
Study our text - Isaiah 5
God's question - Plant a vineyard, right soil, protected, watered - useless grapes
What else could I have done? (4)
Israel and Judah - You are the vineyard; tear down fence; let weeds grow (5-7)
Application for today
God expects us to be righteous, godly, not splitting hairs
Study - Isaiah 5:20-23 - Redefined the words, found a loophole, split hairs
God can remove the fence, let lay in waste, allow the thorns and briers to grow
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