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Handling serpents at the
Pentecostal Church of God. Lejunior, Kentucky
15 September 1946
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Ever been to a snake handling? They were more prevalent in the 20th
century in some holiness churches where some of the church members would prove
their faith in God’s protection by handling venomous snakes.
While this may seem ludicrous, those with a more literal
interpretation may have looked at this Sunday’s reading for justification.
Luke speaks in verse 19 of Jesus giving his disciples the
“authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy; and nothing will hurt you.”
Likewise, Mark’s Gospel states something similar in 16:18
when Jesus refers to future disciples being able to “pick up snakes in their
hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.”
Snakes often represent evil in the Bible starting with Adam
and Eve in Genesis. While God’s people
were on the move to the Promised Land, their own complaining caused venomous
serpents to attack them in the desert as recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. John’s Gospel refers to this in chapter 3
just prior to verse 16 which may be one of the most famous passages in the
Bible.
The apostle Paul suffers no ill effects after being bitten
by a snake in Acts 28:3-6. They name the
reptile as a viper which is venomous.
As we go back to Luke’s account, we see snakes associated
with the “power of the enemy”. What does
it mean for God’s people to have authority over evil? I do not think that it means that we should
participate in flashes of “faith” where we make a show of our belief in God’s
protection.
As interpreters of the Bible, we conclude that handling
venomous snakes in worship would not be in accordance with God’s will as Jesus
reminds us not to put God to the test in multiple Gospel accounts. Rather the venomous snake is a metaphor of
evil. As we are in Christ, evil has no
sway over us. This doesn’t mean that we
won’t suffer on account of evil. The
passion of our Lord quickly sets this thought aside. Rather, it may mean that as we remain in
Christ, we are able to vanquish the sway of evil. We do not fear that evil will unduly
influence us in our actions. In this
way, we trod on the serpents and scorpions that we encounter in life. We put them under foot and our ankles remain
unscathed.
After two solid weeks of church camp, I’m looking forward to
being back in the pulpit on Sunday. One
of the best things about having this emersion in youth culture is that I’m
able to stay young (at heart) and to share this indirectly with the rest of the
congregation. It is important for us to
remain aware of what is happening with the next generations so that we might
better communicate the Good News with them.
This hopefully helps us to hear it in a fresh way as well which keeps us
all young (at heart).
I hope you’ll join us this Sunday in Edmond. Trey and our Worship on Hurd band will be
starting in Guthrie this Sunday at 8:30 as well before heading back here for
the 10:50 service. Please keep this new
venture in your prayers and send us names of any people in Guthrie that you know that
do not regularly attend worship anywhere. We are excited for this new chapter in ministry together!
In Christ,
Sam
Photo by Russell Lee (Public Domain) via Wikimedia Commons.
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