Thoughts on Thinking

I am beginning to realize that I don't like thinking. I want people to give me new information in sound bites that can be easily categorized as fact or opinion. I am convinced this is a by-product of years of uncritical t.v. viewing. I spent numerous hours as a preteen and teenager mindlessly absorbing what was on the tube, unaware that I was silently being shaped by the "facts" I digested.

As a result I have had to unlearn a lot of things. Even as I learn new things, I am unlearning others. Thinking requires a lot of work. Evaluating opinions has never been an easy task for me. I was culturally conditioned to believe all opinions are equally valid, because they are personal. However, as I have continued to study Scriptures, I have learned that not all opinions are true or valid.

When we come to Scripture we need to understand it doesn't contain God's opinion. It contains truth, truth upon which we are to build our lives. God's commands and doctrines are the things that should drive our opinions. From the Scriptures come valid opinions, based in real "facts." And while in some areas of Scripture, their is room for diverging opinion and interpretation, the majority of Scripture is undeniably clear.

We must come to the Scriptures in humility. Never exalting our in own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6), but seeking the Lord's wisdom (James 1:5). We must submit ourselves to the Word, or more accurately to the One who breathed out the Word (see 2 Tim. 3:16). As for those who believe the Bible to outdated, culturally bound, uninspired, unimportant, etc., what can be said? If the Scripture is not inspired (breathed out by God--thus without error), if it is bound to some ancient culture (thus outdated), if it unimportant, then why pursue morality at all? Why press forward toward the biblical ethic? Or if a person has abandoned the "outdated" moral attitudes of the Scriptures, why worry about the love of God? If the moral prescriptions from God are of no modern value, then why would one suppose that the character descriptions of God are of modern value?

No, the Scriptures are true and trustworthy. They not only teach us about God, but about how his creation is to respond to him. There isn't wiggle room in that, even though some would claim I am being intolerant (I appreciate their tolerance). Despite my natural inclination toward not thinking, I am forced to think a lot now. It is labor, but its a labor of love. My King has called me to grow in the grace and knowledge of him. He has called me to love him with all my mind (heart, soul, and strength, as well).

I have to think, because so many of Satan's schemes are really mind games. Subtle, clever, evil attempts to make me think more like him, and less like God. I continue to study the Word, prayerfully seeking wisdom and guidance, in order to adjust my thinking. I try to test every so-called fact to see if it stands up to the Word of God. I keep learning, sometimes unlearning in the process, and continue to press toward a more biblical understanding of life and doctrine. Thinking is part of being in Christ, because Christianity is not a mindless religion. I hope this post gets you thinking. I'm off to think some more myself.