Misleading Comments from a Pastor?

I read the following article in the opinions section of the newspaper this past Sunday and it made me pretty upset.  Now, when reading the opinion section of any newspaper it is usually enough to get anyone upset, but this one really got to me as the article writer, who is supposed to be a pastor, took some verses from the Bible a bit out of context, I believe to help prove his point.  Another thing that made me upset is that many people will read his comments and not even think to look any further into what he is saying.  Why?  Well, because he is a pastor and he should know what he is talking about and most people will tend to trust what a pastor is saying without looking into things themselves (we must remember to be alert, question everything and look into thing for ourselves with God's Word being the source to help determine what is right or wrong).  Now lets take a look at the article to see what is being shared.

Notice the pastor states that Jesus has something to say about those who deliberately confuse or mislead the young that it would be better to have a milestone hung around their neck and thrown into the sea.  Although some of what he is saying is true; however, the way he is using the verse is out of context to support his complaint.  It would appear that we would agree that lying is a sin (as outlined in the 10 Commandments) and wrong to do to anyone, but here in this verse Jesus is really sharing with his disciples about who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus states one must become like a child and humble themselves in order to obtain the kingdom of Heaven and be the greatest in it (Matthew 18:1-6).  Jesus then goes on to state that if anyone causes the little children to sin that it would be better for that person to have a great millstone tied around their neck and then be thrown into the sea.  The key is the individual leading a young person to sin.  So, what is sin?  In Romans 3:20, we read that sin comes through knowledge of the law (Romans 3:20).  So, what is the law?  The law is the 10 Commandments which is the only law I have read in the Bible that God himself wrote on two tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12).  That's pretty cool, but obviously they are very important if God wanted to write them down with his own finger.  Every other law or commandment God spoke was written down by man (look into this yourself). 

In conclusion, we learn from verse 6 in Matthew that we are not to lead a little one into sin or break any of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17) for that matter.  Unfortunately, the pastor is using something of this world (the Earth and global warming) as the standard (something they feel is a fact) to determine if one is lying or not.  The pastor's push of his article is to state that global warming is true and that if someone has data showing global warming to be false that they are liars and therefore causing a young one to stumble or sin (it is worth stating that there is information stating global warming is not a fact and/or not true).  However, who is to say that those pushing global warming are not those leading the young astray and lying? 

I believe the real focus here is that someone is lying which is a sin for that individual who is lying (whether they are saying global warming is true or not not matter which audience they are speaking to - one or many) and thus, they are breaking one of the 10 Commandments and as a result they deserve eternity in hell to pay for that sin.  That is unless they repent and place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to pay for that sin debt by believing in His death on the cross to pay for their sin debt and his resurrection three days later. 

Then, in regards to people sharing whether global warming is true or not to the little ones, has nothing to do with causing them to sin as noted in the article, for by hearing a proposed lie does not cause one to sin.  An individual sins by lying to someone, but not by listening to someone.   So, unless those sharing information to the little ones is going around enticing them to lie or sin (i.e. kinda like the serpent in the garden of Eden when trying to entice Eve to eat of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), then yes, it would be better for them to have the millstone tied to their neck and then thrown into the sea.  Although, here I would say a great lie would be telling any young one that the Earth is more important than the one who created the Earth (the being God) and making the issue about keeping the world a clean place when ultimately each one of us is far more dirty and in need of more care, for we are quite dirty and need the blood of Jesus Christ to make us as white as snow (although in order to recognize that we, of coarse, need to humble ourselves and become like a little child).  Fixing the sin problem with the blood of Jesus should be the focus and ones primary concern and not whether the Earth will be around long enough to sustain humanity.  God will take care of the Earth as long as he needs to, but time is short and people need Jesus before they die, because if they don't they will end up in hell forever.  Now, that is where time should be spent writing an article.  Pleading for the souls of those who would be lost forever if they would die without Jesus Christ as their Savior.