You are intelligent people. Look now and see for yourselves whether what I am about to say is true. (1 Corinthians 10:15)One of the denominations had a slogan a few years ago that said in essence, Don’t leave your brain at home when you go to church.
Their idea was that any faith, any religion, any way of thought that had to be performed without thinking was useless.
And they were right.
God never expected us to do what we do mindlessly.
In fact, there were several people in the New Testament who were plain old intellectuals.
The apostle Paul was highly educated and even taught in an institute of higher learning at one time, the School of Tyrannus.
The author of the third gospel, Luke, was a physician. His writing is extremely detailed.
When I was in seminary and taking Greek, we used the book of John, a simple fisherman, as our lab project to translate from the Greek to the English. We couldn’t use Luke until we got better because he was just too detailed. We had to wait until we got better to tackle it.
In fact, Luke makes no secret of the fact that he wrote the companion books of Luke and Acts as a research paper for one he called Theophilus. He checked everything out and then, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote it down.
For that matter, I believe the Bible is inspired word for word. However, I also believe that the writers wrote it from their own perspective and their own vocabulary, their own thoughts and ideas flowing onto the page. But I also believe they did it by the inspiration and guidance of the Spirit.
The idea of the writers of the New Testament sitting around drinking coffee when they suddenly were seized by the Spirit and when they came to, they had written the book of James is a foolish one.
Even a cursory glance can tell that the books were written by different people from different perspectives. That is because God used their minds to do what he wanted.
Is God so small that he cannot work through us? After all, if God is a God that can speak light into existence, he is a God who can order what is to make it what he wants. His presence in the mind of the writers was what caused his written word.
He used their minds, he used minds down through the years, and he can use your mind. You do not have to come to church as a mindless automaton, ignorant and stupid. You come as you, with all your education, all your successes, all your failings, all your problems, and he uses you.
Anyone who says otherwise is usually trying to excuse the fact that they were too lazy to learn.
You do not have to leave your brain at home when you go to church. God made it too and expects you to use it to his glory. Everything you do is worth thinking about and considering. His word is one that can be understood and accepted.
Think about it. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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