Not Exactly

NOT EXACTLY Daniel F. Cates

Perhaps you’ve seen the Hertz rental car commercials over the past year or so. If you have then you are familiar with the words from the above title. If you haven’t then I will briefly explain. These commercials show someone, either with a boss or co-workers, trying to rent a car from a company other than Hertz. Invariably there is a long line, or it is raining when they get to the car. The boss, or co-worker, then says something to the effect of, “don’t they have covered parking?” The answer: “Not exactly.” The point: “Didn’t you call Hertz?” Again, “not exactly.”
There are times when not exactly is not good enough. We are familiar with the expression “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” When we are dealing with religious matters we must be exact. We must be sure of what the Bible says and we must relate it accurately. The following items have crossed my desk before, and I think that they may serve to illustrate my point. I don’t know where they originated, but I can say that they were most recently found in the Jacksonville (AL) church of Christ bulletin “Glad Tidings of Good Things.” The items are actually inaccuracies, or bloopers, which were “(supposedly) written by actual Bible College students.” While they serve as humorous examples, they speak of a far greater problem than we might imagine.

“Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients.”
“The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.”
“Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.”
“The First Commandment is to humor thy father and mother.”
“Moses died before he ever reached Canada.” Sadly this is the most accurate statement-DFC
“Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the Battle of Geritol.”
“The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.”
“David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar.”
“He fought with the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.”
“Solomon, one of David’s sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.” I have also heard that he had 700 combines-DFC

    Feel free to repeat after me, “Not exactly.”
    So, what is the point? The point is that all of us must put forth tremendous effort to ensure that when we speak, we speak as the Bible speaks, or more accurately, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” (I Peter 4:11a). According to Strong’s, “oracles” in that passage means utterances. Simply put, we must speak as God Himself speaks.   We will be ineffective as sowers if we do not cast out the proper seed.
    Perhaps Hebrews 5:12 describes the problem illustrated above, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” Remember from whom these items were supposed to have come: College students. Not just college students, but Bible college students. I should know these are not illustrative of all students, but if some cannot get even these simple facts straight, then how hard will it be for them to teach others about obeying the Gospel?
    We need to emphasize, among our young people, the importance of having a good working knowledge of the Bible. Furthermore we need to have impressed upon ourselves the importance of accuracy in relation to Bible Truth.