Sometimes, either intentionally or unintentionally, people can say or do things that “step on toes” with people. The phrase “stepping on toes” has been defined as “To insult, offend, or upset someone, especially by getting involved in something that is their responsibility.” Due to its divine nature, the Word of God sometimes steps on our toes as well.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12 (NET Bible)

I want to look at the good ways that God’s Word steps on toes by using an acrostic:

T– Traditions

O – Opinions

E – Emotions

S – Sentimentality

Traditions – Many times during Christ’s earthly ministry, He rebuked the religious leaders for usint their traditions to nullify the commands of the Law.  He made it clear that their traditions were not equivalent to the Word of God, and that they had no authority to enforce them as such.

“Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.” – Mark 7:13 (NET)

This is a tendency all people can easily fall into. In an effort to prevent violating the law of God, we put up our own list of rules to keep us from crossing that line. While this may seem helpful at first, it slowly becomes an assumption that our rules = the Word of God.  We cannot allow this to happen!  Sticking with the Word of God alone can help to prevent this.  There will be times when we read the Word and it will contradict traditions handing down through church history. In such cases, the Word takes precedence, and our tradition must be tossed aside. This can be uncomfortable, especially if one has lived their life thinking that something is a command of God, only to find out it was unbiblical. But we must allow the Word to do its surgical work and cut the traditions out of our religious practices.

Opinions – This is common in our day, when a person or a religious body “updates” the commands of Scripture in order to be more relevant or to conform to modern thinking. This is spiritual pride at its worst, as men and women believe their own opinions to be superior to those of the Lord.  It is the exaltation of human opinion that has facilitated the introduction of unbiblical practices such as female pastors, acceptance of homosexuality, and using the world’s music, among other things. But if we are to be obedient to the Word of God, our personal opinions must take a back seat to the Word. In fact, it is a sign that we have not been “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Instead, we need to follow the admonition of 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

Emotions – There are times that the Word of God will provoke an emotional response in us. Sometimes this is a good thing, such as when “godly sorrow” leads us to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). At other times, it will lead us to a deeper love of God and of the other members of the Body of Christ. But what we need to guard against is an emotional response to the clear commands of Scripture that would cause us to be disobedient, or to misinterpret the Word. While we were created with emotions, they are not a safe method of biblical interpretation. If we follow the Word only when it fits our emotions, we are making our emotions superior in authority to the Scriptures. That is an unsafe and unreliable was to handle the Word.  It was an emotional response to the truth that caused the Jewish leaders to plot to kill Jesus!

Sentimentality – “Sentimentality” is defined as an emotional attachment to practices based on nostalgia.  In the Church, it manifests as an attachment to doing things “because that’s the way we used to do it” instead of by the Word. Many people have rejected the truth of the New Testament because of an attachment to the way they did worship as a child in a denomination that was using tradition as a source of truth. They miss the organ preludes, or the choir, or the christening of babies and are unwilling to give those up to embrace New Testament Christianity. While the message of the Gospel does not change, it can be communicated by different means in different cultures. Missionaries can fall prey to this by trying to create American Christians instead of simply Christians. Our nostalgia for the past should never hold us back from following the teaching of Scripture or of communicating the Gospel in meaningful, yet biblical, ways to other cultures!

So when we are reading the Word, take it into your heart and incorporate it into your life, even when it steps on your T.O.E.S.! For in the end, your TOES may need to be set aside if they prevent you from being a true disciple of Jesus!