UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES TRANSFORMS

Is the Word of God a talisman which magically brings us into relationship with the Savior, apart from any understanding of it? Psychologist and professed Christian, David Benner, rejects Scriptural teachings (doctrines) 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 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)

According to Paul, understanding God equates with “riches” and “treasures.” 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 to all forms of temptation. 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 Benner if it is not understood? It is like a map that is merely admired for its colors and lines and not for its truth value. 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 [any object] 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 Benner, Jesus revealed that the knowledge of God was central to His ministry (John 15:15) and prayed:

·       “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." (John 17:26 NIV)

The knowledge of God is an invitation to the love of God and to partake in His gift of life:

·       And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

The Bible is also the Spirit’s instruction book, given to guide us through every corridor of life:

• 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)

Consequently, the Bible has become my flashlight illuminating the dark and obscure pathways of life. 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 to navigate the tight spots.