Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

Dale Pollard

Blankets have served as objects which provide security for children. They’re used on winter nights while you cozy up on the couch by the fire. You can probably think of that preferred blanket at your house. It’s the blanket that has warmed you for many years.  It’s a shame that such a wonderful thing is used to describe statements that are often harmful.

Blanket statements are usually unfair. In fact, they have a high potential of making the one using such statements seem pretty ignorant. It’s the posts on social media that begin with, “Everybody/anybody/all people that…”, which can create heated debates. All preachers talk too much. Everyone in the church is a hypocrite. Anybody that votes Democrat/Republican is not going to heaven. Everybody who believes the earth is flat is an idiot. The outcome of statements, stereotyping, or isolating a certain group of people has hardly ever accomplished anything of spiritual value. With that being said, there are many blanket statements made by Jesus that are accurate and invaluable. What makes Jesus the exception? God is never wrong.

In 1885, The New York Times gave a chilling report. A man simply known as “Jenkins” had been accidentally buried alive. His family was mortified. Documented cases of accidental live burials have been made as late as 2015. Being buried alive is a common phobia, even though it is exceedingly rare. With that being said, the fact that medical science has declared the living as dead in the 21st century is still shocking. God never makes a mistake, but humans have a track record of errors dating back to the garden. When God makes a blanket statement, He is never wrong or out of place.

Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Son of God states that He is the only Way and He’s the only Truth. Some men have an issue with those wonderful words of Jesus. If He is the only truth,  then anything that contradicts His teachings is wrong, even if we disagree. The earth is round, and yelling at it all day just because we believe it’s flat doesn’t change reality. Jesus made some very bold claims in scripture because we serve a bold God. God is Truth, and the truth is He wants you to live with Him for eternity.