I Guess I Need To Read My Bible

I was afraid the small, rickety chair would collapse at any moment. I was pretty sure it was at least as old as I was and it wobbled considerably as I gestured about and shifted my weight back and forth. But, thankfully, and surprisingly, the chair did its job and I was able to finish my conversation without ending up on the floor in a heap. 

The conversation I was having was with an elderly lady who lives nearby – we´ll call her Gabriela. Her adult son was also present – relaxing on a nearby bed, shirtless and looking at his phone. But he was listening in. 

I had asked Gabriela if she had a Bible and she had pulled out a small catholic Bible with small print which she could hardly read. Frustrated, she got up again and pulled out a gigantic, catholic bible. It was illustrated with many pictures, including pictures of the Virgin of Guadalupe and other saints. She explained that many years ago people from the nearby catholic church had knocked on her door and sold it to her. Except they never came back to actually collect the money. She had also never read it.

We opened the big, fat bible to Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Gabriela often repeated the maxim that all churches (religions too?) were basically the same, they just had different ways of doing things. The apostle Paul of course would not agree and he had some particularly strong words in the first chapter of Galatians for those who preached a “different gospel”. When I pointed this out, Gabriela immediately thought of her neighbours – Jehovah’s Witnesses who are constantly inviting her to their “church”. Gabriela told me that she always declines their invitation because they “believe some different things”. 

“Exactly!” I replied. “It´s a different gospel.”

We continued reading several verses from Galatians which clearly present the “true” gospel – “This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will  be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) 

As I stroked the head of a kitten that had poked its head out from under the bed, I again emphasised to Gabriela that there are false gospels. These false gospels do not save and they confuse the true gospel. In like manner, there are false churches which do not preach, teach, and live the true gospel. Looking over at the large crucifix hanging on the wall, I asked her if she thought the Roman Catholic church taught the true gospel – the gospel that we read about in the Bible.

Gabriela thought about it for a while, not sure how to answer. Finally, she said: “I guess I need to read my Bible to find out the answer.”