so as to leave out the human factor.
Still, it would seem that simply from observation and logic we could discover that God wants us to use our minds. He provided them. They are necessary to our survival. Even if we didn’t have scriptural statements to confirm this, it is pretty obvious from nature. But we do, in fact, have scriptural confirmation.
How long, simple-minded folks,
will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in scoffing?
And fools hate knowledge? — Proverbs 1:22 (NRSV)
Now I could spend my time listing texts that back this up further, texts that talk about thinking, wisdom, using our minds, and our choice. They are a strong theme in scripture. But I’m going to assume you either know or can find the texts. I’d just like to call your attention to two texts. The first is from the words of Jesus.
15Watch out for false prophets, who come to you dressed like sheep, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16It’s by their fruit that you’ll recognize them. 17People don’t gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 18A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19That’s why you will recognize them by their fruit. — Matthew 7:15-19 (HN)
This is a sentiment that Paul repeats in Galatians:
7Don’t be deceived! God won’t be mocked! Whatever a person plants is what he’ll harvest! — Galatians 6:7 (HN)
These two texts make it clear that God has not abrogated the law of cause and effect in his kingdom. The law of cause and effect is one that is basic to human thinking. It’s clear that God wants you to think about the consequences of your own actions, not to mention the words and actions of others. What people think, what they say, and what they do does have consequences.
So how can one honor God with one’s mind? Primarily by using it! Let's look at these ways in which we tend to undermine our minds in serving God.
It's sometimes difficult to maintain the relationship of faith, grace and the requirement for human decision making. Paul noted the same problem. My point is certainly not original with me–it’s Biblical! Paul uses most of Galatians 5 and the first several verses of Galatians 6 dealing with the possibility that some would take their salvation as permission to sin. Some would decide that grace meant they could do as they pleased and not suffer the consequences. He makes it clear that’s not what grace is about.
The best antidote to this type of thinking is for us not to regard salvation merely as a ticket to heaven, but as spiritual healing. When we think of it like that, we might find the question rather silly. If the doctor provides you with a cure for your disease, and does not charge you (a true miracle, I know), you have received the free gift of healing. But if you go home and say, “I want the disease, I’m going to get it back,” you may well be able to make yourself sick again. You can’t then complain to the doctor that his free gift failed. You set his gift aside.
Christians sometimes depend on Jesus to save them from sin, while at the same time they indulge themselves in destructive behavior. I’ve done a transformation of the story of Susanna (Daniel 13, from the apocrypha).1 What struck me as I read and worked on presenting that story is that the elders who falsely accuse Susanna do everything possible to lead themselves into sin and eventual destruction. They dwell on their temptation. They hide the fact that they are being tempted. They get as close to sin as they can. When eventually they are caught, everything that follows is inevitable.2
Christians are often like that. “Why won’t God free me from my addictions?” someone asks, at the same time sitting with the object of his addiction readily available. Grace opens the door, grace makes it all possible, but no number of gifts will make you rich if you throw them all away.
We also often see depending on God solely in the supernatural sense. What do I mean by this? Suppose I'm ill. Amongst some Christians if I take medicine I am no longer depending on God. They would say I should have faith and expect God to heal all my diseases. But God is also the creator of the natural world, and works with, not against his natural laws.
The problem is that Christians take actions that will bear one form of fruit while expecting God’s supernatural intervention to produce the type of fruit they desire. You're going to reap what you sow! I am not denying miracles, or asking anyone not to pray for them. I pray for God’s power and God’s action myself. But I also know from scripture that God normally follows the simple law of planting and harvesting, or as Jesus said, of bearing fruit.
God’s supernatural power is not there to provide you with a license to ignore God’s laws, whether moral or natural laws written in the fabric of the universe.
In the same way the inspiration of the scriptures is seen as bypassing the people involved, whether, prophets, secretaries, or readers. It is so much easier to use “God said” for anything in the Bible, so we are often tempted to just say, “God said.” But while there are portions of the Bible that are identified as the words of God, but there are also large portions which are not. I have even heard Job’s friends quoted as what “God said,” and they are soundly condemned by God right in scripture. It takes more work to find out what God is doing when he acts in history or in our own lives than it is simply to find a phrase that says what we want it to, and then to quote it, but it also means that very often we are ignoring what God actually meant, while taking on the appearance of affirming his word.
Those who see miraculous gifts continuing in the church tend to see supernatural church offices, such as prophet or apostle in the same way. If an anointed church leader says it, then one no longer has to think. This attitude enables church leaders who have fallen into sin to continue both in their sin and in church leadership. Members who observed and thought would likely discover wrongdoing. The supernatural sources of knowledge and authority replace the natural ones completely, along with the
God put prophets and teachers in the church for a purpose–to help bring his word to the people. I’m going to be brief about this, but it’s very important! Please think about it! Now that we can all enter the sanctuary with confidence (Hebrews 10:19), we should have as our goal getting everyone to approach God for themselves. The goal is not to teach people to accept what we, as teachers, prophets, or leaders, say, but rather to get them to think for themselves, and to listen to God for themselves.
In the same way the scriptures do not exist to relieve you of the task of thinking and choosing. They are there to feed you, inform you and train you. You will have to exercise your mind if you are going to get an accurate understanding of God's will in your study of scripture.
For the individual, the goal is to approach God individually, and not to depend on the teacher, preacher, or even prophet. It may be harder, but it’s the right goal. This does not mean that you operate apart from the community. There should be accountability, but the best accountability results from everyone using every gift that they have to acquire and apply wisdom and knowledge.
Ignoring God's natural laws and overemphasizing the supernatural continues to produce bad fruit. When we start ignoring the law of cause and effect, laziness replaces the hard work of good thinking, as when we accept something just because we saw it in a book, and it was written by someone holy.
When something is in print it gains a new measure of authority. Some people think that just because it’s in a book it must be true. Many who know that one can’t trust it just because it’s in print, will trust it because it’s in a book written by someone well known. But I have
