Hard Thinking

It's 8:30 on Friday morning, and I'm writing this column from a classroom in Louisville, Kentucky. I've been here for 3 days, enjoying a refresher course for alumni of Southern Seminary. I use the word "enjoying" deliberately, because it's been a delight - nourishing to my soul, challenging for my mind, and strengthening for my faith. I'd like to write a column or two in future weeks about specific lessons and/or benefits I've gleaned. But what's most on my mind this morning is just the brute reality of the hard thinking that diligent Bible study requires. The question "Why?" occurs to me. Why did God make some parts of the Bible so complex? I mean, even the Apostle Peter admitted: “There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand...” (2 Pt 3:16). If Peter talks that way, maybe it's OK to admit that some of the Bible is tough to understand! But why?

First, it highlights His wisdom and our dependence when we are forced to pause, ponder, and pray. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” (Pro 25:2). Hard parts in the Bible are a constant reminder that we don’t know it all, but He does.

Second, it helps us identify the truths we should feel the most strongly about, since we can reasonably assume that what God made most clear is of greatest importance. Is Jesus really God? No doubt. Bank your life (and death) on it. What music style does God prefer? Well, I doubt it’s country, but let’s not fight about it, right?

Third, it’s a built-in reminder, even while studying the truth, of the importance of love for other Christians. If all Scripture were equally clear, all Christians would presumably believe the same things. But then who would notice our love for each other? Disagreement gives us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that what holds us together is not our common ideology or value system; it's the compelling power of our glorious Savior!

The moral? Pray for God's help to know the truth. Stand up for what matters most; be gentle about the rest. And love, love, love. These are the lessons God has for us, woven right into the fabric of His sometimes hard-to-understand word. Happy hard thinking!