July 18, 2014

Press One

Once in a while I’ll have a weak moment and respond to a political robocall. I suppose in the back of my mind I think participating in such a poll gives me somewhat of a voice on the political landscape. In a recent survey I went through the litany of political candidate preference questions — press 1 for very positive, 2 for somewhat positive, 3 for no opinion, 4 for somewhat negative, and 5 for very negative. Then, taking a strange turn the question was, “How likely are you to lease a car in the next year?” Press 1 for …” I still have no idea if I participated in a political poll, a marketing survey, or a combination of the two. Sometimes we approach biblical instruction in the same manner as taking a survey — we don’t want to be obedient to the Word, we simply want to weigh in and give our opinion.

1 comment:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----I don’t think Romans 14 can be over-rated. It basically says everyone in the Lord should have his own “opinion”, and should leave others in the Lord to theirs. It bases this on that very fortunate condition of each new creation in the Lord being personally and directly subject to the Lord’s mastership. And it does not say we each can have our own conclusions and opinions; it directs each of us to have them - “fully convinced in his own mind” about things. That’s pretty amazing.
-----But not to work a good analogy to death, in as much as an engine would not run without a timing chain, it would not run without a timing chain cover, either. All the engine’s oil would discharge before you drove across town. Engines seize up without oil.
-----So the Word provides a very good cover for the chain. John’s gospel prominently holds up Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, stressing It’s truth for leading us into truth. The Bible stresses truth between us, “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace,” (Zech 8:16) and, “Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” (Eph 4:25)
-----The truth is an interesting thing. There is technically only one version of it, else truth itself would be a fallacious confusion. Yet Paul says two people of opposite views should each be convinced in their own minds. One or the other must be wrong. They can not both be right. So is Paul saying it is ok to be wrong?
-----Not really. He said we see dimly. He wrote that all men are false. He is not saying it is ok to be wrong. He means we’re in this state of being wrong. It is a matter of fact, but not a fact to which we are inevitably chained. We will escape it into perfection at the redemption of our bodies for our redeemed spirits now joined to His Spirit of truth. And this conjunction of spirits can express across our hearts and minds, turning them towards truth, too.
-----The pop-advise today centers around following your heart. But I think the Holy Spirit directed Paul to specifically write, “Let every one be fully convinced in his own MIND [emphasis mine].” It’s different. The heart is a relational device - drawing to or pushing away, warming up or chilling down, holding this or dumping that. The mind is a logical device. It figures. It searches. It discovers. It tests. It concludes. With the heart drawing towards the truth the mind searches for insight, understanding, and wisdom. Continuous searching leads to continuous finding producing continuous change from one degree of glory to the next. From this glory we speak the truth to one another, not our opinions.
-----The drift of Paul’s instructions to Timothy and Titus concerning the appointment of elders does not waft towards business acumen and success or other popularities, but it flows towards minds effected by more truth than opinions and hearts inclined to the Spirit more than the self. These are men who’ve come to know what doing good to one another is and what outdoing one another in showing honor entails. The Spirit meant them to lead others across ideas of truth for more properly convincing minds away from mere opinions. They form the cover over the general fallacies of man keeping the lubricating oil of love within the engine.

Love you all,
Steve Corey