by J. Randal Matheny

The Arctic rockcod (trematomus, below) lives in cold waters and lives within a four degree variation of temperature, between -2 Cº and +2 Cº. Outside of this range, the fish dies.

On the other hand, the pupfish (Cyprinodon), found in some desert lakes, can survive a difference of 10º to 40ºC with no variation in its behavior. That, for Fahrenheit heads, is a difference of between 50 to 100 degrees.

One species has little tolerance to temperature changes, another can handle extreme fluctuations. There are special terms for these types. The term stenothermic refers to organisms having or tolerating a small range of temperature; eurythermic refers to organisms having or tolerating a wide range of temperature. The prefix steno- means narrow; the prefix eury- means wide.

Other ecological conditions give rise to other technical words: The salmon, for example, is euryhaline, able to exist in waters widely varying in salt content; it can live in both the salty ocean and in fresh-water rivers. Most fish, however, are stenohaline, needing a stable salt content to survive.

Time for a spiritual application.

I'm not an expert at creating new words, but Christians should be stenodidactic, that is, they have a narrow tolerance for what can be taught. They believe and teach a narrow range of truth. (Steno- = narrow; didactic fr. didakein, to teach.) Jesus speaks of the narrow (stenos) gate and the narrow way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). His teaching was hard for many to swallow (John 6:66), but he did not soften his words or broaden his approach for those who wanted a more tolerant view.

The word of God praises the stenodidactics. As Paul wrote, "Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you" (1 Corinthians 11:2).

In spite of that, some people prefer to be eurydidactic (remember: eury- means broad). They tolerate a wide range of beliefs and doctrines. They are happy to believe and teach one thing and let you believe and teach another. But Scripture does not look favorably on such tolerance.

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, his is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" (Galatians 1.8-9).

In the area of relationships, the situation changes. The love, patience, forgiveness, and acceptance which members of the body of Christ should show one another indicate that Christians should be eurycardiac (eury- means wide; -cardiac you already know: heart).

Paul chides the Corinthians for having a narrow heart -- they don't have room in their hearts for him (1 Corinthians 6:11-13). Twice he uses the Greek verb "stenochoreo" (note the prefix), meaning "to cramp, crowd, confine, restrict," to speak of their unwillingness to accept his love and concern.

Some people will be, however, stenocardiac. They insist on being critical, condemnatory, harsh, unwilling to bear others' burdens, authoritarian, and manipulative. They don't understand what it means to be "tender-hearted" to one another (Ephesians 4:32). The stenocardiacs look at others with a disapproving frown and a pointing finger.

Eurycardiacs don't necessarily give up the narrow way, but they do look upon others with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ.

To sum up, Christians should be narrow-minded in the truth of the gospel and broad-hearted in their relationships with their fellow man. Like the temperature-intolerant rockcod, the disciple will not and cannot tolerate teaching outside the "range" of Christ's words; the result is death. And like the adaptable pupfish, the disciple thrives in the "extreme temperature differences" of human relationships.

May it truly be so of each one.

*I am indebted to a speech of Dr. Eugenio Mussak, given 26 May in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the applicability of the ecological terms to other areas of concern; his, to business and human resources; mine, to the spiritual realm. His material can also be accessed, in Portuguese, at his website: www.eugeniomussak.com.br