by Robert M. Smith
One of the fondest
memories that flood my mind, as I reflect on my first few elementary
school years in small-town Canada, is that of going to the public
library. As I learned to read in those early years I was very much like
an eager young explorer scooping up volume after volume of fascinating
subjects; rummaging and scavenging through these books picking up every
scrap of new information I could find. There was a time when an “old”
book – its hard cover a little frayed, its pages a little tanned and the
whole thing brittle; groaning and creaking as it was pried open,
exposing the wealth within – had more of an attraction to me than an
excursion through the woods or a trip to a favourite fishing hole. I had
realized at a very young age that, through the use of books, the entire
world was available to me and that intellectual knowledge was power.
Certainly the school systems that we, North Americans, revere emphasize
and instill this belief in students, teachers and parents. A good
education, particularly a good advanced education, appears to be
the number one goal of most well-adjusted and pensive youths in this
hemisphere. And when one stops to consider the potential good that a
higher education can provide a young person, as well as the good to the
communities and countries within which he/she lives, one must truly
applaud and support any dedication toward that end. As a society and as
contributing members of that society, a responsible use of the freedoms
and resources available is to be expected from any rational individual
who exercises even a modicum of foresight. The needs of this global
village are numerous and serve it we must, with as much aplomb and vigor
as possible. That is indeed part of the Divine charge that we had been
given from the very beginning (Gen 1:28-30; 2:15; 3:23).
So, in keeping with
what we had learned, when our children were small, my wife and I would
purchase games that challenged them mentally. We still have a few of
those wonderful games in our basement, though they have become old and
dusty from lack of use now that the children have grown and are on their
own. “Yahtze” and “MatheMix” as well as “Trivial Pursuit”, “Mastermind”
and “Bible Pursuit” were demanding while also easy to play … and I
believe that those two aspects are the main ingredients to the most
successful games on the market. But though stimulating and certainly
quite useful as “mental exercise”, these games did not and do not make
geniuses out of ordinary citizens. They encouraged discipline of thought
and character; they might have even fueled a data-bank or two from time
to time; but transformation of this kind was and is beyond their
capacity.
Although I can
extol the benefits of games and systems that pique our intellectual
development there comes a time when intellectual endeavors are limited.
And that time comes when a higher level of existence is present in the
human condition. How definitive is this? Let Oswald Chambers reveal that
to you: “Our true life is not intellect or morality or bodily eating or
drinking; our true life is our relationship to Jesus Christ. If once we
recognize that and take care to be identified with Him in the crises of
life, God will look after all the rest. If we try to draw our
inspiration from elsewhere we will die in the attempt.”[1]
I learned this
lesson the hard way many years ago when, as a young man of 26 years and
fresh out of Bible School, I was the spiritual director in a northern
Ontario Christian camp. During my second stint of teaching at Northland
Bible Camp in the summer of 1976 word got out that I was quite effective
and intriguing as a young preacher. So a small, local chapel in Matheson
decided to enlist my services for one Sunday evening meeting. The camp
used one of the school buses at its disposal to truck all of the boys
and their counselors to this little chapel along with me. The little
building was filled to near-capacity. But there was one major problem
brewing long before that meeting started: me! You see, in order to get
ready for this speaking engagement I felt, erroneously as it turned out,
that I would have to deliver a very sharp, intelligent, challenging and
inspiring message. As one who already knew quite a bit about nature and
even cosmology, I decided to plug some impressive statistics and
observations into this sermon; if there was going to be a single word
used to describe it, I determined that that word was going to be
“intellectual”. I knew that I had the “smarts” and the experience as a
preacher – even at that point in time – to accomplish this task. I had
not, however, taken into account what God wanted. He wasn’t looking for
a sermon that brought glory to me for the sharp mind and the dedication
that I possessed; He wasn’t looking for those in attendance to respond
in admiration over this new, young preacher; He did not desire to have
my ego stroked by any congregation. None of this had occurred to me …
but it was about to do so in due time.
After some singing
and a few announcements I was introduced to the congregation. I had not
sought the Lord’s direction or His assistance in delivering this message
… I figured that I could “take it from here”! As usual, I studied well
and I had brief notes to guide me through the sermon. I also had enough
confidence to “sink a ship” – as they say; it was, however, confidence
in the wrong thing … or certainly in the wrong person. God, on the other
hand, was going to give me one of those lessons of a lifetime. And He
was gracious enough to implement it on a relatively small stage instead
of a big one.
I took the platform
and started with a couple of opening remarks and when I looked down at
my notes, though I knew most of them by heart, I could not read a single
word! I was certain that I had written these things in English but they
suddenly looked more like Greek to me! The shock rendered me helpless
and dumbfounded in an instant. I tried to continue with a couple of
comments but it did not take long before I finally relented. Begging the
pardon of the congregation, I handed the meeting back to a surprised and
equally confused chairman who conducted an impromptu hymn sing. The ride
back to the camp was a most uncomfortable one but that discomfort was a
blessing to me. God was in the process of reshaping my perspectives and
He now had my undivided attention. It was time to receive instruction
from the Lord about the meaning of preaching and Who was supposed to be
in control of it. C.S. Lewis described that moment so well for me and
all who feel the humanistic tug toward intellectual pursuits without
God’s prior endorsement should appreciate this insight as well:
“As the author of the
Theologia Germanica says, we may come to love knowledge – our
knowing – more than the thing known: to delight not in the exercise of
our talents but in the fact that they are ours, or even in the
reputation they bring us. Every success in the scholar’s life increases
this danger. If it becomes irresistible, he must give up his scholarly
work. The time for plucking out the right eye has arrived.”[2]
Though the vast
majority of Christians in North America suffer through the
self-administered affliction of spiritual mediocrity, there are some who
dedicate themselves to becoming – in the jargon of the military – the
best that they can be. I did not append that last statement with “for
the Lord” because, although that is regularly used as the rationale
behind theological educations and endeavors, there is often another. The
esteem and self-satisfaction of intellectual attainment rides beneath
the placid surface of “serving the Lord” like an undertow, ready and
able to drag even the best of spiritual swimmers out to their demise,
let alone some of the younger, impressionable saints who fancy
themselves as the next Ravi Zacharias or Francis Schaeffer. I know of a
young man who seeks after huge, indecipherable words to brandish before
saint and sinner alike. Clarity and comprehension are evidently not the
goals of his obsession; but I cannot mention him without mentioning
myself as a guilty party in this, with my writing as my vehicle. It is
always perilous when the beauty of words and the elegance of thought
take precedence over the truth of God and even God, Himself. To
individuals like us there is always the deep and dangerous desire of
being classified among the elite thinkers of our day … like the
notoriety that accompanies a trophy or a championship, intellectualism
reinforces personal pride. The Pharisees once epitomized this same
longing. Thus this attitude must be fought all the way to the grave for
God, according to His Word, does not require intellectuals (1 Cor
1:18-31) and we had better get that through our thick, evangelical
skulls before we become utterly useless to Him.
Of all the warnings
in the Bible none are more personal and none are more serious than those
aimed at our penchant for knowledge. Although there are many references
throughout the New Testament regarding the spiritual minefield that
special knowledge can become Paul’s “pastoral epistles” are, perhaps,
the best at covering the whole gamut of the problem. As he is nearing
the end of his life on earth Paul was anxious to impart some spiritual
guidance to two of his favourite young students: Timothy and Titus. And
in the midst of the spiritual wisdom that he passes along to these young
men, is some potent language about the trouble that an undue focus on
knowledge can become within the church. These young men were going to be
a significant part of the next generation of leaders in the church so
Paul felt it imperative to write down a few things that they ought to
keep their eyes on. Within only a few pages of your New Testament there
are a dozen cautions, each with their own particular slant on the
affliction. Listing them with an accompanying paraphrase should
certainly be helpful in detecting one of Paul’s major concerns:
1 Tim 1:6-7
|
by straying from
the instruction of the New Testament some have become fruitless; some men
wanted to be considered “teachers of the Law” but understood nothing
|
1 Tim 4:1-3
|
the influence of
deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons … hypocrisy of liars …
seared consciences … forbidding marriage … promoting abstinence … all in
the “later times”
|
1 Tim 4:7
|
have nothing to do with worldly fables
|
1 Tim 6:3-5
|
advocates of
different doctrine – conceited, understands nothing, interested only in
controversy and disputes over words which cause strife and evil
suspicions. Those trying to use godliness as a means of gain.
|
1 Tim 6:20-21
|
avoid worldly and
empty chatter; avoid arguments over what is falsely called “knowledge”
|
2 Tim 2:14-18
|
don’t wrangle over
words – it’s useless and leads to ruin; handle the word of truth
accurately; avoid worldly and empty chatter – leads to ungodliness;
|
2 Tim 2:23
|
refuse foolish and
ignorant speculations – they produce quarrels
|
2 Tim 3:5-7
|
a form of
godliness but no power – avoid such persons; they are always learning but
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
|
2 Tim 4:3-4
|
there will come a
time when some will not endure sound doctrine; they will seek and
accumulate teachers who agree with their own desires; will turn from truth
and turn to myths
|
Titus 1:10-11
|
rebellious men and
empty talkers and deceivers – of the circumcision party; teaching for
sordid gain
|
Titus 1:14-16
|
teaching Jewish
myths and commandments of men; nothing is pure – their minds and
consciences are defiled; their deeds show that they are worthless
|
Titus 3:9-11
|
avoid
controversies, genealogies, strife and disputes about the Law; reject a
factious man – he’s perverted and self-condemned
|
There are quite a
few “threads” of thought that run through those references and we shall
address some of them but I would like to point out the very heart of the
issue before we go any further. There is always one central portion of
Scripture for each and every issue raised by Scripture and herein is no
exception. 2 Timothy 3:7 is the key to understanding an intellectual
dilemma that can cripple a church gathering. As Christians, our purpose
in coming together – besides the commandment to love one another and
besides the fellowshipping and worshipping and praying – is to come to a
“knowledge of the truth”. For more augmentation of this thought simply
turn to the passage regarding the purpose of the church and church
leadership – Ephesians 4:11-16. Christ-like maturity is the fulfillment
of a knowledge of the truth. And Jesus pointed out other aspects of this
during His prayer to God the Father on the night He was betrayed:
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (Jn 17:17 NASB).
Believers are set apart [that is what “sanctified” means] from all other
people on earth because of, not only their adherence to but, their
complete immersion in the truth of God. The essence of His prayer is
that God the Father will do the sanctifying, not us … and that the way
He shall do it is through His “word”. We realize that Jesus is known as
“the Word” and that we are indeed set apart from this world by faith in
the salvation He provides. But the context indicates that the Scriptures
are intended here. Just three verses prior – verse 14 – Jesus draws this
distinction when stating “I have given them Your word” (Jn 17:14 NASB).
In Luke’s gospel we have it amplified all the more: “Now He said
to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and
the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their
minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is
written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the
third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be
proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’”
(Lk 24:44-47 NASB).
The primacy of the
Bible in the sanctification of the believer is a Divine appointment that
is not to be tampered with. Toying with the Scriptures follows a pattern
established by the devil in Genesis 3:1 [“Indeed, has God said?”] and
therefore reaps the condemnation seen above. Elsewhere the Apostle Paul,
in a much neglected verse that was originally intended to rectify the
vast array of inadequacies and iniquities rampant in the Corinthian
church, complements the words of our Lord Jesus by writing this: “… in
us [Paul and Apollos] you may learn not to exceed [or “go beyond” in
other versions] what is written,” (1 Cor 4:6 NASB). Interference and
corruption are the danger zones encroached by intellectualism and God
does not take such things lightly. For this reason faith far exceeds
mental proficiency on God’s list of priorities: “Pascal was perhaps the
most learned man of his time. Yet he put aside learning as a cul-de-sac
and turned to faith. I was thinking, as I prepared these notes, that in
old age faith seems to be the most marvelous possession anyone can have.
People think of faith as being something that you don’t really believe,
a device in helping you believe simply it. Of course that is quite
wrong. As Pascal says, faith is a gift of God. It is different from the
proof of it. … He says of it, too, that it is the heart which is aware
of God, and not reason. That is what faith is: God perceived intuitively
by the heart, not by reason.”[3]
Human reason leads
one toward speculations and “rabbit trails” that in turn lead nowhere. A
conversation can surely sound “deep” and fascinating but what does it
profit a man to gain the whole philosophical world and yet lose his own
soul? Dissection, under laboratory conditions, has its place but reality
and life are always found outside the lab, not in it. It is most
unfortunate, however, that many Christians are enamored with the lab.
My wife and I took
a little excursion into the United States in November 2004. I had not
been to the USA very often in my lifetime but since Deb had just
recently retired at that time and since I had just finished a speaking
engagement in Toronto, we had both opportunity and incentive. With the
sudden proximity of the border and the constant desire for warm weather
we headed south and found North Carolina. After playing a bit of golf
and doing a lot of sight-seeing that week, we wound our way back to
Canada. Sunday found us coming through Pennsylvania and we wanted to
find a church to attend. I do not recall the exact location but we
spotted a rural church building. It was a Baptist church that served the
entire area for it had two Sunday morning services with a combined
attendance of several hundred. We arrived in time for the second service
and were about to be treated to a most sublime lesson.
Prior to the
pastor’s message that morning we were introduced to a group of young
adults that were visiting also. They had come from some Christian
establishment in the mid-west in order to draw attention to their need
for ongoing support and to thank the good people of Pennsylvania for
their fellowship of the past. This was an extremely unique organization
and they performed an incredibly valuable service: they assisted
mentally-handicapped youths and young adults, some of whom were
unmanageable in their own homes. The staff taught them various skills
and gave them an education … they also directed these young people
toward Christ.
As the meeting
progressed a young gal took the stage and told her story. As articulate
as any preacher I had heard before, this young woman with “downs
syndrome” related how Christ had entered her life and how she longed to
serve Him now. Moments later she was singing for us like an angel,
summing up, in tears, her love for Him. My wife and I went on our way a
while later refreshed and rejoicing that we been counted among those in
attendance that day.
What does all this
mean? For a start it surely means that mental acuity – or a lack thereof
– is of no concern to God; that the heart of this young woman was and is
infinitely more important, more receptive, more intuitive, more
insightful and more inclined towards the things of God than many of
today’s most lauded theologians. But till we’ve comprehended that this
spiritual simplicity is what God is truly after, we shall always stumble
over this observation. Oswald Chambers perceives it thus: “The insight
that relates us to God arises from purity of heart, not from clearness
of intellect. All the education under heaven will never give a man
insight into Jesus Christ’s teaching, only one thing will, and that is a
pure heart, i.e., intentions that go along the right line. Education and
scholarship may enable a man to put things well, but they will never
give him insight. Insight only comes from a pure-heartedness in working
out the will of God. …You cannot teach another what is the will of God.
A knowledge of the will of God comes only by insight into God through
acting on the right intention.”[4]
The second thing
that should be deduced from our ruminations thus far is that
intellectual elitism involves robbery on many levels. We have Scripture
warning us about those who, through the appearance of intellectual
superiority, would utilize such to their own financial advantage. The
Bible also testifies to the spiritual bankruptcy of some that I would
call Christian intellectual extremism: where the wrangling over
words and thoughts lead only to controversy, division, animosity and
error; the intellectual actually robbing himself in the process.
Remember that the “factious man” is a self-condemned man who cannot
assist anyone spiritually – no, not even himself. And finally, a focus
upon our own intellectualism can rob us of the beauty found in others
and in God: narcissistic and myopic to a fault; under the guise of
academic amplification, it remains gluttonous; seeing truth in Scripture
reduced to a mere debating point; God in life, inaccessible and
eventually unnecessary. To grasp this fully we, once again, turn to the
writings of Oswald Chambers: “The man who makes the head the centre
becomes an intellectual being, he does not estimate things at all as the
Bible does. Sin is a mere defect to him, something to be overlooked and
grown out of, and the one thing he despises is enthusiasm. Take the
Apostle Paul, or any of the New Testament saints, the characteristic of
their life is enthusiasm; the heart is first, not second. This is the
antipodes of modern intellectual life. Mere intellectuality leads to
bloodlessness and passionlessness, to stoicism and unreality. The more
merely intellectual a person becomes the more hopelessly useless he is,
until he degenerates into a mere criticizing faculty, passing the
strangest and wildest verdicts on life, on the Bible, and on our Lord.”[5]
So completely like
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, intellectualism
tempts and then ruins in acquisition. It cannot fulfill its promises and
it will eventually leave the intellectual, at the end of his or her
days, empty. It was never meant to be an attribute unto itself. It was
and is always to be an instrument in the hands of God but, like the lust
for power, once man gets his own hands on it – whether Christian or non
Christian matters not – he tends to personalize it and make it his own.
Indeed, it is a form of power over other men and it can be used
ruthlessly. It can also be used selfishly: thought of as a blessing on
the heels of Divine favour; contrary to the phrase of an age-old hymn
[“Jesus loves even me”] it can cause us to feel that “Jesus loves
especially me”! If it reaches this point it has been reduced to an
absurdity, worthy of disdain and denouncement.
The best antidote
for this dilemma? Equal portions of humility and reality. And where
might we find this indispensable instruction? In the very life that
Christ led upon this earth as God incarnate. Our mandate as the church
of God upon earth is to become Christ-like. Passages like Ephesians
4:11-15 and Colossians 3:1-4 tell us outright that Christ is our goal,
life and example as well as our Saviour and Lord:
“And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as
pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of
service, to building up the body of Christ; until we all attain to the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature
man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of
Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here
and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the
truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the
head, even Christ” (Eph 4:11-15
NASB)
“Therefore if you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is
revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
(Col 3:1-4 NASB)
If ours is a
responsibility of “growing up” to become, in essence, miniature replicas
of our Lord and Saviour we must, of necessity, spend as much time as
possible in His presence. The gospel narratives are the best places to
start but we must be sure to pursue “the knowledge of the Son of God”
through all of the New Testament writings. And this, it must be noted,
is a spiritual exercise not an academic one. The “knowledge” referenced
here is experiential, not intellectual.
In closing a simple
and yet oft-overlooked observation must be made with unabashed
reliability and absolute scriptural authority: Christianity, theology,
faith, grace and God are not now – nor shall they ever be – intellectual
points of contention. The world of intellectuals may argue to its
heart’s delight but nothing in this earthly realm shall ever touch
transcendence for, as Tozer indicates, “Knowledge by acquaintance is
always better than mere knowledge by description, and the first does not
presuppose the second nor require it.”[6]
[1] Oswald Chambers, The Complete
Works of Oswald Chambers, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 2000, Page 29
[2] C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory,
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.., New York, 2001, Page 57
[3] Malcolm Muggeridge, The end of
Christendom, W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1980, Page 6
[4] Oswald Chambers, The Complete
Works of Oswald Chambers, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 2000, Page 697
[5] Oswald Chambers, The Complete
Works of Oswald Chambers, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 2000, Page 168
[6] “A. W. Tozer, The Divine Conquest,
Fleming H. Revell Co, Old Tappan, 1950, Page 67