How Much Do You Know?

Dear Kimberly,

Do you read blogs? I mean other than this one. I do. People are always posting links to blogs on Facebook, and sometimes they’re worth reading. Sometimes I read them because I’m curious. Sometimes I read them to stay in the loop or get an idea. Sometimes I read them because I have a sneaking suspicion I already know what they’ll say. 

I read a blog that was linked to Facebook this week called “15 Things Jesus Didn’t Say.” The name of the blog post and the picture used in the link caught my attention.  I wondered if it wouldn’t be another one of the abundant posts today that use verses out of context. Since that was my expectation, I wasn’t surprised when I began reading.

Here’s the link to the original post, but I’ll copy the content of it here. There was no introduction or conclusion, nothing but the title and these 15 “isms” that Jesus supposedly didn’t say. Take a look...

15 things Jesus Didn’t Say:

“For God was so disgusted with the world and you that he gave his one and only Son.”

“I have come to bring you a new religion.”

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have correct theology.”

“If anyone would come after me, let him disparage all other religions and their followers.”

“If you love me, you will regularly attend a church of your choice… within reason.”

“Blessed are the tithers for they shall be called the children of God.”

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in Heaven after the earth goes up in flames and destroyed.”

“You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor,’ which means the people with whom you attend church and relate to in your Christian sub-culture.”

“In my Father’s house there are a limited number of rooms. But no worries, there is plenty of room in Hell.”

“The kingdom of God has come!… Well, not exactly. I mean, not completely. Let’s face it, the really-real kingdom comes after we die. Hang in there. It won’t be long.”

“And you will know the truth and the truth will make you superior to all the other simpletons who never learned Greek or Hebrew.”

“You are the light of the world… well… in a sinful-filthy-scum kind of way.”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you a checklist of things to do and not do in order to remain in God’s favor.”

“For God so loved the world… you know like theoretically… as in, God loves the big ‘W’-world. But when it come to you specifically, that are quite a few things that would need to change for God to actually and specifically love… or even like… YOU.”

“He appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days and spoke about how to incorporate his life and teaching as a 501(c)3, and go into all the earth to build mega-churches in his name.”

I want to use this post as an example of how much authority this kind of “argument” appears to give the one using it. It’s dangerous, but can be effective. People who don’t know the bible or the God of bible well are susceptible to reading a post like this and saying, “you know, that’s right! Those words never came out of Jesus’ mouth!” Just because someone appeals to the life and teachings of Jesus doesn’t automatically make what they say true. We have to use our critical thinking skills to sift their words.

Every word of the bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3), and the point is that his principles are clear, even in cases where we don’t have exact words from Jesus’ mouth. It’s always going to be more valuable and beneficial for you to study what the bible does teach rather than coming up with things it doesn’t. 

It’s a good test to read through posts like this one and see how many errors you can pick out. Can you see any false ideas that are presented here? Can you counter any of these statements with scripture that exists? Do you know any principles that are being ignored and rendered less important because Jesus doesn’t appear to have directly spoken them? 

This is your foundation. If you don’t know the bible, you’re susceptible. Take this as an opportunity to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV). 

Love,

Meredith

Things Revealed

Dear Kimberly,

A couple months ago I found myself in a theological conversation with someone who didn’t adamantly disagree with me, but who also didn’t agree enthusiastically. While I can’t remember the exact words or topics that led us to this one, I do remember one question in particular:

“So where does mystery begin?”

Here was my answer:

“Where the bible ends.”

I don’t know how much of it you’ve encountered, but it’s actually a really popular idea to claim that something God or bible related is a mystery that we can never hope to understand. You know what I want to say to that? “I’m sorry you don’t understand, but just because you don’t doesn’t mean that I can’t.”

The reasons behind this are, sadly, often reinforced by the church, the family, and long-practiced “Christian” traditional thought. A person reads the bible, thinks what they've read disagrees with something else they read in the bible, knows there cannot be any contradiction in scripture, but since they think what they’ve read looks like a contradiction the whole thing must be some great, cosmic mystery, only understandable by a god who is also mostly a mystery to them. Yeah, not a very promising view of Christianity and if true, it doesn’t leave much hope for Christians. 

I’ll let you in on a little secret: not only are there no contradictions in scripture, there are also no apparent contradictions or “paradoxes,” as they’re called. None at all. You know why? Because God doesn’t go around saying he’s the only one who can make sense of something that would otherwise be a contradiction. 

A contradiction equals nothing. The phrase “square circle” (I’m borrowing from Cheung’s Systematic Theology) is a contradiction; by definition, something that is a square is not a circle, and vice versa. It is, in fact, nonsense; it is nothing. It is this way with all contradictions, so it is very odd that people would claim to have have found “apparent contradictions” in the bible. What they mean is that they think something in the bible can't make sense and if it weren't in the bible, they would call it a contradiction. But since it is in the bible, and since they are a Christian, they know better than to use the "c" word.

The problem is not a problem of the bible being too difficult or too “lofty” to understand. Rather, it is one of people either not understanding or not agreeing with what it says, and to cry “mystery!” is the only excuse they can make. They think they’re being really humble, you know...they think that by admitting that the bible is too wonderful a book written by a god to great to be known they sound pious and holy. Unfortunately, by making such a claim they display their ignorance. 

One of my favorite verses (can you have a favorite?) is Deuteronomy 29:29. It says:

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (NIV)

Now we come back to the conversation I had earlier this year. When I was asked where “mystery” begins, it was only natural that my response should be “where the bible ends,” based on this verse. All that is needed is an understanding of what scripture is. It is, in fact, the word of God. It is revelation. As we discussed last time, it doesn’t make sense to a person who lacks the Spirit, but to a believer, it is comprehensive for this life; it is all we are given, and all we need to know.

I say it is all we need to know because there is obviously infinitely more we could know, if God had chosen to reveal it. This is because God is an infinite God; he has no beginning and no end, and therefore there will always be more we can learn about him, and we will continue to learn more about him all throughout eternity (again, read Cheung’s book!). This is the part of God’s character often referred to as incomprehensibility, supported by passages like Romans 11:33-36:

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

    How unsearchable his judgments,

    and his paths beyond tracing out!

‘Who has known the mind of the Lord?

    Or who has been his counselor?’

‘Who has ever given to God,

    that God should repay them?’

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

    To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (NIV)

This passaged indicates that there is obviously much more to God than we can ever hope to know, but it in no way indicates that we can’t know anything about him, or the rest of scripture. Deuteronomy already told us that the things revealed (those things in the bible) have been given to us. It is only the secret things, the things we are not told, that still belong only to the Lord, and we're supposed to just let those be. 

Do you see the danger we toy with when we claim that something in the bible is a mystery? It’s pretty silly at best, considering that God has already given us “the things revealed.” This is not to say that we automatically understand everything in scripture perfectly; on the contrary, there are many things that I don’t fully understand yet, and couldn’t even begin to explain well. But that’s not because the bible is somehow too mysterious or inadequate for me to grasp, and it certainly doesn't mean that it doesn't make perfect sense to a more mature believer; I just haven’t applied myself to enough study. The sanctification process is a lifelong one...as God grows me, he will continue to teach me. 

So the next time someone tells you we can never know or figure out something that’s in the bible, don’t believe them. I mean, it’s right there. It’s a thing revealed. 

Love,

Meredith

His purpose will stand

Dear Kimberly,

Turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah 55:9-11. Wait wait wait. I sound like a pastor. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that a pastor’s job is to preach and mine is to...think visibly (aka, write stuff). So scratch that. But not all of it. I really do want to look at those verses, but rather than requiring you to B.Y.O.B (bring your own bible) to this little chat, I’ll give you the verses here:

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (NIV). 

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the part about the word not returning empty (or “void” as we usually say), but how familiar are you with the rest of the passage? I heard the “not return void” part recently at a retreat I attended and realized I had no idea where that verse was in the bible. Was it there at all? Did it really mean what it sounded like it meant? I didn’t know any of the surrounding verses...how could I be sure it was even being used correctly?

After Todd did a word search on his iPod, I read the verse in Isaiah. Isaiah. No wonder I had no idea where it was...my OT familiarity is rough. But as I read, I was struck at how wonderful a passage it really is (no surprise, of course. I mean, it is the bible, after all). It says a lot more about God than the one little phrase “will not return void” lets on. Just look at it. 

• It proves the superiority of God over his creation: “My ways are higher than your ways.”
• It proves God knows vastly more than his creation: “My thoughts [are higher] than your thoughts.”
• It proves that his purposes stand: “...it will not return to me void but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

I do kind of want to focus on the last part, because it is from this section that people usually quote. God’s purpose will be accomplished; the thing he desires will be achieved. That is a very comforting thought, and it reflects that God is an incredibly powerful God. No matter what he has determined, it will happen. It must. He is God and he has complete control over all things. Over ALL things. Think about that. It makes verses like this make complete sense:

“I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Is. 45:7, NIV). 

So what is the purpose of God’s word here? He speaks, and we are prospered. He speaks, and we find ourselves in the middle of unimaginable disaster. I use “speak” here figuratively, of course, but the point is that what God has determined for our lives, that he will do. It may look like a blessing, or it may look at a cataclysmic downward spiral. Either way, his purpose will be achieved in our lives. It’s in times like these that the Christian can cling very closely to Romans 8:28. He does work all things out for the good of those who love him, the ones he has called according to his purpose (there’s that word again...). 

I want to give you another verse to think about in regards to this. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians (or “one Corinthians,” as the people here would usually say):

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (v18, NIV). 

If you keep reading in the book (especially the next two chapters, in my opinion) you will see how the Christian is given such an incredible understanding of God’s word, but it is not something he has on his own. The purpose of God’s word to the believer is power. Christians have such amazing power through the word of God, illuminated and taught to us by the Holy Spirit. It’s really quite remarkable. Praise the Lord, he causes us to grow in this power!

But the word of God serves a dual purpose, according to this verse. It not only serves as power for the believer, but it serves as foolishness for the unbeliever. Please, stop right now and go read 2 Corinthians three and four...it’s more than I want to quote here but it’s relevant to this topic. Unbelievers are blinded, the gospel is veiled. They cannot see it until God opens their eyes. His word is to them foolishness, and this is what he intended. His purpose is always achieved. 

Ok, I’ll stop for now. God has a really massive character, so let’s not bite off more than we can chew. Think about this. Think about him. As you do, I pray that God will give you the Spirit of revelation and wisdom, so that you may know him better (Eph. 1: 17b)

Love, 

Meredith