Peter gives us a list of things for which we are to “supplement our faith” to make our “calling and election sure” (1 Peter 1) It’s totally fine to love your KJV, or sing your acapella psalms, or read your Puritans. When those things become the measure by which you look at your faith and the faith of others, you have become bewitched. You are like Ahab sending himself and his whole crew to their doom in the pursuit of something that will never satisfy.

Inspired by RC Sproul, I started reading Moby Dick every year. The book is so rich and full that it has kept me satisfied each time I read it. Moby Dick himself, the white whale, has been used to symbolize many things over the years. As I read it, Ahab’s pursuit of the white whale has made me think of many conversations I’ve read, listened to, and participated in over the years. The conversations are typically over some seemingly controversial issue, and that issue has multiple seemingly correct expressions. For some, they are happy to let those differences remain, as they are “non-essential” differences. Yet for others, the issue is their white whale. They’ll pursue it even if it costs them everything

I once talked to someone who was planting a church. He had a great core group of people excited to see God work in their location. He was a faithful preacher of God’s Word, and he believed that God’s Word was only contained in the King James Version of the Bible. He was fine with the original languages being used, but when it came to the English version, only the King’s Bible would do. This became a central issue in his fledgling church. Sure the gospel was important, but rather than talk about Jesus, talking about why the KJV was important even leaked into his sermons and most issues in the church. Just as Ahab started every gam with, “Have you seen the white whale?” this pastor made sure everyone knew which version of the Bible he used. The church shrunk, and the pastor took his chase to another unsuspecting flock. Unlike Ahab, he’ll have more chances to recruit others to his crusade to catch a non-essential issue.

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