"So Jesus told them, My message is not my own; it comes from God who
sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my
teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for them-
selves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor
the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies." John 7:16-18 (NLT)
My wife and I have been having an estate sale for the past 4 days and one of the things I've noted about these sorts of events is, that you meet many interesting (?) people who come to finger everything and maybe buy something. One of these interesting people, a young man who likes to camp out miles from anyone, stands out in my mind. I know this because he expounded on it for what seemed like hours as he finally purchased a few camping items.
I had some Bibles and some small New Testaments on a table with a FREE sign above them. He picked one of the New Testaments, which also included Proverbs, and then regaled me for what seemed like hours about Proverbs being his favorite book of the Bible. This led to a discussion regarding the Bible and it's interpretation by people. Basically, his belief (?) was that it's up to the individual to determine what the Bible says. That we should not have "blind faith" (his words) in the Gospel writers. That they were only human IE: they put their own spin on things.
I attempted to debate the point with him, telling him that the Holy Spirit directed what they wrote and that their "writings" were not their own. All of my efforts were to no avail though and he (finally) took his purchases and the New Testament and left.
My encounter with this young man reminded me of something I once read called "Chilholm's Law." I don't know who Chilholm is, or was, but I'll have to say that he was pretty astute because he said: "If you explain so clearly that nobody can misunderstand ... somebody will."
The truth of this law gets proven over and over, just like my young "lonely camper" friend. People just fail to accept clear communication a lot of the time. Here's a humorous little example: "How did you come to fall in the lake?" the father asked. The son replied, "Oh, I didn't come to fall in the lake. I came to fish!"
That reminded me of a line from an old movie entitled "Cool Hand Luke." The warden of the prison said a line that has been many times repeated. He told the prisoners: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." That was certainly my situation with my young camping/Bible debater. We were definitely communicating, but not on the same level.
Many times, what you said and what people THINK you said are two different things. I think husbands probably understand this principle better than anyone.
Another good example of missed communications is - newspapers. And lately a good example is TV news, as in the recent Boston bombing event. The media often have to retract something that they've said or written because they misinterpreted a communication and thus, mis-communicated to us. When they have to correct something they call it "clarification." And the government calls it a "mis-speak." Never do either of them call it a "lie." Whatever you choose to call it, much of the time it's a "failure to communicate."
Well, how does all of this apply to a scriptural lesson? Here's the way I'm going to apply it. I see "failure to PROPERLY communicate" to have a great effect on how many perceive the Bible. A lot of people think that it's impossible to interpret the Scriptures. You'll hear them say things like; "You interpret it your way and I'll interpret it my way and we'll just agree to disagree."
In a recent editorial I told you what I thought about that "agreeing to disagree" idea. I said that "if I agreed with you, we'll both be wrong." That's still my position on the philosophy of "agreeing to disagree."
Let me just wrap this lesson up as simply as I know how. If you give any credence to the "you interpret the Bible your way and I'll interpret it mine" then there are a couple of things you need to consider. One - Either God COULD NOT communicate His Will to us in a way that we could understand it OR, Two - He WOULD NOT.
In considering what I just said consider this: the first view impugns HIS POWER. The second impugns HIS LOVE. I just don't think that I want to accuse God of either of those two things. Would you?
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians says that "by revelation he was made known the mystery (of the Gospel)" and, that he has written to us so that "you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." (Eph. 3:2-4)
He also told us later in the same letter that his writing of his knowledge, by our reading it, we would "not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." (5:17)
In closing my thoughts today, let me remind you of our prefacing passage: "anyone who wants to do the will of God will know my teaching..." If there is any breakdown in communication, if there's a "failure to communicate" with God - it's OUR FAULT. NOT GOD'S!
As to the manner in which God speaks to us through the written Word, and addressing a closing thought to the interpretation of the Bible, let me just leave you with one last passage. Read with me the words given us by Peter in 2Pet. 1:19-21. (NLT)
"Because of that experience (witnessing the glory and honor given to Jesus by The Father), we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place - until the Day dawns and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophesy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God."
In regards to this topic today, here's my "blind faith" in a nutshell. IF anyone really desires to understand God's message given through His Son - THEY WILL!
Ron Covey
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