Revelation: Scripture vs. Mysticism Part 2 (No Mind Numbed Robots!)
(For Part 1: Tossing the Baby Out With the Bathwater see here.)
Plenty of Christians begin their stories today with the phrase: “God told me to…” This is a hugely problematic way of thinking for a couple of reasons.
1. It implies (and is often intended to mean) that God is almost audibly talking to them. He can do such a thing but it is far from the normal way for God to instruct people.
2. It is a way for people to make their beliefs, plans or actions unquestionable. You may think they should not be doing what they are doing or planning, but how do you dare question God?
Throughout scripture and history it seems that God wants for His children to think for themselves. Yes, He wants to use them and yes, He wants them to live as He desires, but He does not want robots responding to instruction. He wants free beings voluntarily operating in His love and with the intelligence with which they have been created.
As Nero Wolf often tells his right hand man Archie, when there are no explicit instructions: “Use your intelligence guided by experience.”
In the Bible, God has given humanity every revelation they need to know Him and to know how they should live under His authority and with each other. He can and does work directly in people’s lives even giving specific instructions at times, but that is an exception. We need far less God-told-me-to’s and much more careful action following lots of familiarity with scripture, prayer and thought.
Part 2: (Be a Berean)
Plenty of Christians begin their stories today with the phrase: “God told me to…” This is a hugely problematic way of thinking for a couple of reasons.
1. It implies (and is often intended to mean) that God is almost audibly talking to them. He can do such a thing but it is far from the normal way for God to instruct people.
2. It is a way for people to make their beliefs, plans or actions unquestionable. You may think they should not be doing what they are doing or planning, but how do you dare question God?
Throughout scripture and history it seems that God wants for His children to think for themselves. Yes, He wants to use them and yes, He wants them to live as He desires, but He does not want robots responding to instruction. He wants free beings voluntarily operating in His love and with the intelligence with which they have been created.
As Nero Wolf often tells his right hand man Archie, when there are no explicit instructions: “Use your intelligence guided by experience.”
In the Bible, God has given humanity every revelation they need to know Him and to know how they should live under His authority and with each other. He can and does work directly in people’s lives even giving specific instructions at times, but that is an exception. We need far less God-told-me-to’s and much more careful action following lots of familiarity with scripture, prayer and thought.
Part 2: (Be a Berean)
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