UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES TRANSFORMS

UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES TRANSFORMS

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Is the Word of God a talisman which magically brings us into relationship with the Savior apart from any understanding? This seems to be Bono’s “take” on the Word:

∑       I don’t read it as a historical book. I don’t read it as, “Well, that’s good advice.” I let it speak to me in other ways. They call it the rhema. It’s a hard word to translate from Greek, but it sort of means it changes in the moment you’re in. It seems to do that for me.” (Jann S. Wenner, “The Rolling Stone Interview: Bono.” Rolling Stone, November 3, 2005, http://www.jannswenner.com/Archives/Bono.aspx)

For Bono, Scripture doesn’t communicate transformative unchanging truths. Instead, it seems that it is just something to be experienced apart from any understanding.

Psychologist and professed Christian, David Benner, also rejects the truths of God in favor of an alternative spirituality. He writes:

• Equating faith with beliefs truncates and trivializes spirituality by reducing it to a mental process. Thoughts are, quite simply, a poor substitute for relationship. Some Christians speak much of a personal relationship with God but assume that this is based on holding right beliefs. Is it any wonder that this attempt to reduce Ultimate Mystery [God] to theological propositions so often results in the principle personal relationship being between a person and his or her own thoughts? Cherishing thoughts about God replaces cherishing God; knowing about the Divine replaces knowing the Divine. Whenever the Wholly Other is thought to be contained in one’s beliefs and opinions, divine transcendence is seriously compromised and personal relationship with the Spirit minimized. (Soulful Spirituality, 6)

For Benner, cherishing God is accomplished through a personal experience of God and not through knowing and understanding this mysterious God through His Word. He believes that any attempt to mentally know and understand God is idolatrous. However, the entire Bible is about understanding God:

∑       Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV)

If there is anything that we can boast about, it is our understanding of God. Paul likened this understanding to riches and treasures, and he therefore prayed:

∑       that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

In His parable of the Soils and Seeds, Jesus taught that fruitfulness was a matter of understanding the Word:

∑       As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:23)

Paul taught that satanic deception reigns when we fail to love the truth of His Word:

∑       …Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved…God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, 14)

It is God’s truth that protects us from satanic deception, which reigns when we discard His truth. How? Without God’s truths, we are vulnerable. I had been highly impressed by the Ouija Board and was absolutely convinced that we were contacting benign and evolved spirit beings. When asked, they provided the names and address of neighbors who had burglarized my parents. Having ignored the teachings of the Bible, I refused to even consider the possibility that these spirits might be evil, and therefore, I was determined to seek revenge on these perpetrators. Fortunately, months later, the police nabbed the real perps.

Paul explained that a Bible not understood, was a Bible of no use:

∑       Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in [incomprehensible] tongues [languages], how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? (1 Corinthians 14:6)

Unless the revelation could be understood, it was useless. For what possible use could the Bible serve Bono or Benner if it is not understood? It is like a map that is merely admired for its colors and lines. While Benner insists that the Christian has to undergo a change of mind to achieve “awareness,” he advocates unbiblical mind-altering means:

∑       Feel it, smell it, look at it from as many angles as possible.  Notice how heavy or light it is, how hard or soft. Don’t analyze it as a scientist. Just allow it to capture your interest and hold your attention. Gaze at it in wonder and curiosity, and allow yourself to see it as if for the very first time. (99)

Contrary to both Bono and Benner, Jesus revealed that the knowledge of God was central to His ministry (John 15:15) and prayed:

∑       I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

The knowledge of God is an open door to the love of God. The Bible is an instruction book to give us the knowledge of God by the Holy Spirit:

• All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

How does this work? There are endless examples which emerge every moment. The first time I had entered a church and was accosted by the greeters, I was overwhelmed by the conviction that they were all hypocrites. However, after studying the Bible for a while, I became aware that we are all sinners, although some are recovering sinners.

This awareness also enabled me to face my own sins more honestly. After all, we are all sinners in desperate need of the Savior. It also enabled me to accept my dear wife’s weaknesses and moral failures, as I continue to learn that I have many more of my own.

Every day, I need the correction of the Word of God. It has not only enabled me to navigate my life more fruitfully, it has also enlightened me so that I can grow in my relationship with God.

Benner had written that “Thoughts are, quite simply, a poor substitute for relationship” with God. Rather, our thoughts (beliefs) are key. Before Jesus had taken possession of my life, I compensated for the bad feelings I had about myself by convincing myself that I was a superior human being. Consequently, I also believed that God had chosen me because I was more spiritual and worthy than others. Therefore, I looked down on them. Had God left me with my delusions, I would have received His many blessings as something I deserved and this would have reinforced my arrogance. However, such a belief would have wrecked my relationship with both God and others and would have produced many other bad consequences.

Later, I was comforted to learn, from the Scriptures, that He had to first humble me so that He could lift me up (Luke 14:11; 18:14), and this has helped me to accept my suffering and to wait patiently for my Savior, as He performed His psychic surgery. Thanks to His Word, I now understand that I need regular humbling to become the man He wants me to be (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).