According to a
well-known American philosopher, "A man full of faith is simply one
who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic
thought" [H.L. Mencken]; another one said, "What has religion to do
with facts? Nothing" [Robert Green Ingersoll]; and "Star Trek"
creator and producer, Gene Roddenberry, said, "For most people,
religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning
brain." This is what the world thinks about people like you and me,
who believe in God, that Jesus Christ was real, that He was indeed
the Son of God, and that he came down to earth from heaven and died
for our sins. According to these men, we are mindless idiots who are
incapable of reasoned thought and wouldn't know the difference
between black and white, up from down, or left from right. Keep in
mind, though, that God has said something about these men, too
(cf. Psa. 14:1). The world, as it is, will never see eye to eye
with God, and they never will (1 Cor. 1:20-31; 3:19).
You might be
surprised to learn, though, that some professing believers do not
think much more of you than these philosophers! A recent sad event
involving a formerly-sound brother in Christ exemplifies the
attitude of some who believe we should alter the doctrine of Jesus
Christ to appease the denominations; during the course of events
that led to his abandonment of the truth, he and his cohorts accused
any who stand for truth as those unwilling to think, who blindly
followed "tradition", and who are incapable of reading God's word,
weighing it against other passages, and coming to a sound, reasoned
conclusion without the help of someone else. Some have plainly
stated that anyone who believes and teaches something that happens
to agree with the conclusions of many men who have preceded them is
guilty of teaching "tradition" rather than Scripture - accusations
that are more insinuation than actual facts.
The attempts are but
mere smoke and mirrors and the old "dog and pony show" that is
thrown up to deflect criticism of what they are actually teaching.
No character assassinations are needed to "ruin" them; they are
committing spiritual suicide when they purposefully leave behind the
principles and commands of our Lord for a false hope of some other
doctrines our Lord did not teach. May God be merciful enough to
allow them time to come to their senses and escape the snare of the
devil before it is too late.
Contained within
several of these men's accusations is the charge that "we" [those in
the church] are not thinking, but merely following someone else who
did the thinking for us. The attempt is to paint the picture of what
we follow as "traditions of men" unworthy of belief and, once
successful in that, they then try to convince us that they are the
only ones who have really been "thinking" and what they teach is a
"new approach" to the Bible that is very much unlike what "we" are
doing. [I.e., "My way is right and yours is wrong."] It seems much
of their effort is made to convince us this is the case, because
their writings sure are not convincing. A short read of some of
these men's writings shows logical and Scriptural errors galore,
with quite a few assumptions, presumptions, and arrogance thrown in
to top it off. I'd caution all to be very wary of any man who says
everything you ever learned is wrong and, at the same time, argues
that everything he says is right! One does not have to resort to
derogatory insinuations about someone else's doctrine if he really
has truth; truth is strong enough to stand on its own.
But let us not simply
pass over these slanderous accusations of this supposed lack of
thinking. Maybe you are not insulted by that, but I am and you
should be!
First of all, I think
it is a sad view of brethren to accuse the church, as a whole, of
being unwilling and incapable of thinking on their own.
Second, I just do not
believe it is true to say that everything we believe and teach is
the doctrine and traditions of men; I daresay very little, if any,
of what we do is "tradition" and much of what I do see as
"traditional practices" fall in the realm of indifferent matters
that I have never in my life heard brethren make out to be more than
a local practice or just something that the brethren in one
particular location do in a particular way. That fact is, the things
these men are trying to label as "tradition" are really based on
reasoned study, interpretation, and application of Scripture, and
the only way they have around that is to slander and falsely accuse
adherents of ignorance and arrogance. That method will forever be
used by false teachers who have no leg on which their doctrines can
stand.
But God does expect
us to think. When Jesus commanded the apostles to go preach the
gospel to every creature, He followed that up by saying, "He who
believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe
will be condemned" (Mark 16:15,16). Jesus expected that
those who heard the gospel could use their brains and weigh the
evidence presented by the apostles and come to a logical and sound
conclusion. He expected it, for He said we will be either saved or
condemned based on our response to it! John wrote about the miracles
of Jesus and plainly stated that it was enough evidence to convince
us Jesus was the Christ (John 20:30,31); friends and
brethren, it takes some thinking to read those things and come to
that conclusion, but it can be done! God is not so harsh that He
would give us incomprehensible words and then demand that we use our
brains to figure out what could not be solved or understood. God
expects us to think!
God also tells us, "Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are
of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world"
(1 John 4:1). God expects us to not blindly accept and
believe everything that comes along, but that we should "test"
the spirits of men to see whether they are of God or of the world.
Jesus said earlier, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or
figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a
bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can
a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you
will know them" (Matt. 7:15-20). Is it coincidental that
the very next thing Jesus says is, "Not everyone who says to Me,
'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father in heaven" (v. 21)? I think not!
You see, Jesus
expects us to be able to look at what a man is doing and what he is
teaching and make a sound and reasonable judgment as to whether it
is of God or not. Jesus expects that we will be able to tell the
difference between truth and error and we will be judged for having
done [or not done] just that. But how will we be able to judge
rightly? Will it always be clear and evident? No, sadly, many times
it will not be so easy to distinguish between truth and error, but
not because we cannot know and understand truth! Oftentimes, it is
our own lack of desire to know the truth that stands in the way of
understanding spiritual truths. Sometimes we get mentally lazy and
do not study to comprehend or for the purpose of personal
application. It is then that we place ourselves in grave danger of
being led astray, but it does not have to be so. It should not be
so, for God expects us to think, to reason, and to understand.
It is a sad fact that
some men have forgotten the standard by which truth and error will
be judged, though. Some, seeking to promote themselves or their
false doctrines, have sought out "new" ways of looking at the
Scripture [new interpretations and new applications], and some have
plainly abandoned the Scriptures altogether.
I urge you to stick
with the word of God, friends and brethren, because it is there that
you will find truth and salvation. Hide it in your heart [your
mind], study it, live it, apply it, and teach it boldly.
