You are Telling a lie... Doing it big! Luke who says: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, his sisters and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple .– Luke 14:26 At first glance, the Bible seems to encourage hatred among immediate family members. Despite some strange cults, do you know of any churches that have a "hate your family" rule? Does the Bible teach that you must dislike or separate from your parents, siblings, children, or spouse in order to be a part of the Church? Obviously not! Why not? Because we know that hating family members is not the heart of God. We know his character and his love for family. We also know many other scriptures that contradict such an absurd concept. For example, we are exhorted to provide for our families, especially those in our own household (1 Timothy 5:8). All Jesus says in that verse from Luke is: Don't let your family, or anyone else, for that matter, be idols to you. Don't put them above God in your life, because the enemy could use them to stumble you. That's all it says. Your love and devotion for Him must come first and above all else. We never hear of a house of God that requires its members to hate their families. Maybe some crazy sect would do it, but no sane Christian church would promote such a thing. Why not? Because we know that is not the heart of God! Our problem is that the enemy has been able to influence and undermine our interpretative filters. Since the fall, Satan has distorted our thinking. Tragically, the enemy has sold us a pack of lies, and because we believe these lies to be the truth, we read a verse like “women must be silent in church,” and actually entertain it as if…..half of the paper.. ....teach them and be true to the entire context of the discussion in 1 Corinthians. Either Paul meant what he said literally and women are not to make a single sound when the church gathers, or he was using hyperbole to address false teaching. Paul was using humor and exaggeration to poke fun at an obviously ridiculous belief. I have actually heard otherwise brilliant men say that Paul only meant that women are to be submissive to men in the church. But sadly, even today, this verse is often used to prevent women from being pastors, teachers, and elders (1 Timothy 2:12). You can't have it both ways! Either women are not to have a leadership role in the church, or God is the God of loving inclusion, as Paul so beautifully demonstrates in 1 Corinthians 13. We will examine the topic of elders further in book #1. 8 of this series, Nobility's Rule.