The mind, like every other part of us,
can be deceived. For that reason alone,
a study alone is not sufficient for us to know God. Intellect without a deeper
purpose becomes intellectualism—the worship of knowledge as god. If knowledge is our
ultimate concern, then it is our god, a hindrance to our faith as surely as the
worship of Baal or Dagon.
The problem with and overly
intellectual approach to God that it leads to a kind of deism.
Deism is the belief that God exists, but has nothing to do with his
universe. He set the universe in motion according to immutable laws. He may have even revealed His will though
ancient prophets, but then He stopped becoming
involved with us personally, but instead leaves to discern His solely through
reason. Instead of a personal God, He is
seen as distant and remote.
God in this view is like a dignitary
on a float in a parade. We look to Him and praise Him but from a distance. He
sees us as just part of the crowd. But
the real God of the Bible is not just a distant Law-Giver but Someone who is
personally involved in our lives,
capable of revealing Himself directly to our hearts and minds. We do not simply see Him with the distant
eyes of reason, but He reveals us in our inner hearts and feelings.
Last month, my wife and I bought a new
robot vacuum cleaner. It came with a large, complicated instruction book, which
was a great help to getting it to work properly. Even so, neither of us saw any reason why we
needed to know who wrote the book. It
made no difference if the book was written by a friend or a stranger. The instructions were all we needed, not the
writer.
Sadly, this is true of a lot of
intellectually-oriented believers. They are content to know about Him, but have
no need for a personal relationship with Him. If we only see God though logic,
we do not need a relationship with Him--we only need His laws.
important
to study the Bible with the mind. But we should not stop there. The great teachers of the church have all
been men and women of passionate faith as well as scholarship. It was their goal not only to introduce us to
the Bible, but to challenge us to look for behind the pages to the Person.
Knowledge isn’t faith.
It is a great tool for bringing us closer to God, but it cannot by
itself bring us closer to Him. He is greater
than our mere understanding He is invites us to seek Him in every part of
us, until we come to experience with
every part of our being His full splendor and glory. Then we will find the One who has called us,
not only with the mind, but with our heart as well.
In the next article, we will explore
the question—how do we seek God with passion?
Do you
experience God more as an intellectual concept or an emotional lover? Is your faith more of the head or the
heart? Let me know in the comments
below.
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