"Loopholes"

“Loopholes”

When Karen and I closed on our first house purchase in 1989 we had to sign endless documents to complete the transaction. When we sold this property about seven years later it seemed as though there were more forms to deal with. When I asked our realtor about this he said it was true because people had found loopholes and additional safeguards were needed. Since then we’ve bought and sold three houses and the amount of documentation has grown each time, presumably for the same reason.

Karen and I were talking about this over supper recently and realized that what’s true in real estate matters also happens in sports, business and law. Coaches, attorneys and others have found ways around existing standards making adjustments and additions necessary. This has led to much confusion as seen in the backlog of court and IRS cases.

Wikipedia defines loophole as “An ambiguity or inadequacy in a system…which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system”. Human standards are flawed because they’re established by imperfect people like me and are thus subject to change and/or improvement to deal with shortcomings and oversights. This can be an endless process as it’s unlikely that anything humanly produced will ever reach perfection.

Here’s where God’s Word differs from any other record, written or otherwise. It “…never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21) and it’s “…God-breathed….” (2 Timothy 3:16). Since “The law of the Lord is perfect….” (Psalm 19:7) it can’t be improved upon or changed. In Jesus’ day the legalists had developed all kinds of loopholes to “explain away” their behavior to the point He told them, “…You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Matthew 15:6). And this trend hasn’t abated in the ensuing 2000 years.

Rather than looking for loopholes (aka excuses or rationalizations) let’s see God’s Word as “…established…to last forever.” (Psalm 119:152) and “…not merely listen to (it…but)…Do what it says.” (James 1:22).

(For more on this theme see the previous articles “No Need for Amendments” and “Coining Words”)

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan