ARE OUR ASSESSMENTS SUPERFICIAL

 

Even the great Hebrew prophet was reprimanded by God because of his superficial assessment. God had sent him to the household of Jesus to anoint a new king of Israel. Jesse had lined up his seven sons for Samuel to choose one of them. Samuel had been so impressed by the appearance of Jesse’s oldest son that he was about to anoint him king, until God intervened:

• But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

God did not choose any of these sons. Perplexed, Samuel was left to ask if Jesse had another son.

• Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” (1 Samuel 16:11)

David had been the least likely candidate among all of Jesse’s eight sons, but he was God’s choice!

This leads us to ask ourselves, “How am I to discern God’s will and truths?” Our fundamental resource to determine what to believe and what to discard is the Bible (and there are many reasons to believe that this Book came from God):

• For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Every thought, practice, and philosophy has to be subjected to the scrutiny of the Bible:

• “And when they say to you, ‘Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,’ should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” (Isaiah 8:19-20)

The Bible continually warns that it is to the Word that we must resort. Our Lord will even allowed false prophets to arise in our midst to test our faithfulness to His Word. Therefore, Paul committed the assembly of the Ephesian elders to the Word:

• “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them...And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:28-30, 32)

It is the Word that builds; it is the violation of the Word that destroys. Yet, so many Christians are either abandoning the Word or simply taking from it what appears right to them. However, according to Jesus, we are not at liberty to pick and choose according to appearances and our own feelings:

• And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4)

We have made ourselves into judges of the Word instead of allowing the Word to sit in judgment over us. I have recently been in dialogues about secular psychotherapy with Christians who are its champions and argue that we cannot dismiss it because of a few bad apples and ideas. Judging from their own experiences, they claim that it has helped them and many others. They therefore charge, “How can you deny their help to Christians in need? Where is your compassion!”

I point out to them the many underlying assumptions of secular therapy that violate the Scriptures on the deepest levels, like:

• Trusting in oneself instead of exclusively in God (Psalm 62)
• Building self-esteem instead of humbling ourselves to the truth before God (1 Peter 5)
• Believing that we have the internal resources to live the good life (John 15:4-5)...

Without actually saying it, they believe that I am rigid...just making my case according to the Scriptures and not the human element. However, for the Christian, Scripture must remain the supreme judge. This is what God had consistently impressed upon Israel:

• Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord...Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:5, 7-9)

There is only one way to trust in the Lord. It is to place our trust in what He tells us:

• “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself myself to him...If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:21, 23-24)

All other hopes are fruitless and misleading.