19
Nov
2008
HUMAN SOLUTIONS TO HUMAN ERRORS?
Men often make mistakes in handling God’s word. It often happens among men in positions of leadership. What should Christians do in response to that situation? Has God made any provision for course corrections in such a case? The mistakes are made because the thinking of men is fallible. Shall we look to the same source that produced the mistakes to find corrections?
The Bible repudiates both the idea of just accepting whatever is being said and the idea of looking to human ingenuity for corrections. It points instead to an objective standard. “Earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3) “Test everything. Hold fast to what is good.” (1 Thess. 5:21) “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, receive him not into your house nor greet him.” (2 John 9) So we must do some measuring. But what is the criteria by which to do the measuring? What should be the source of corrective instructions? The Biblical mandate to test everything by the original which was delivered by the apostles, is based on the fact that man’s mind is as far beneath the mind of God as the earth is below the heavens. (Is. 55:8)
The criterion God has provided for His people is given in writing. Through the apostle He said that the scriptures “are profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished to every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16) To the Ephesians Paul said, “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” (4:14) Given the fact that God has provided the measurement standard, and given the fact that man’s mind is vastly inferior to God’s, it makes no sense to exchange one erroneous human theory for another human theory. Yet it seems this is exactly what men are often inclined to do.
In the 16th century the Catholic Church officially declared its traditions, i.e. human thinking, to be equal in authority to the scriptures. (Council of Trent) Several of their ideas contradict scripture statements. The protestant “reformation” movement denounced this and started a movement with the motto “The scriptures only.” But then they soon elevated their own theories, organized their own “councils,” and wrote their own creeds. In the end they replaced one man made concept with another, which was equally erroneous. They did not do it God’s way, although they claimed to.
Ironically, this same thing has been happening among people of the church of Christ. In the 20th century there were mistakes among our leading men. Rude judgmentalism was too common. Several of our own traditions were put in place as terms of fellowship. The interpretations of certain leading men came to be looked upon as more of an authority standard than the scriptures. Division prevailed and factions formed.
Every now and then some brethren arise professing to have the solution to these problems. But it turns out that what they have is another human concept, which is just as erroneous and badly off course as the one they are trying to fix. Right now some brethren decided to correct the distortions in the church by throwing out the whole idea of a “church.” They have formed a theology that has people meeting in small groups in homes as the only “scriptural” way. They cite the perverted “clergy” system and suggest that the answer to that is to do away with ministers altogether. This theology calls itself “reformation,” but in fact it is not reformation, it is amputation. It is throwing out the baby with the bath water. They do not correct the church, they delete it.
Other brethren are trying to address the problem of not much outward enthusiasm in our worship. They see it as a coldness all the way around. They are preaching that we should “fix” that by having “the Holy Spirit” operating directly on us. They claim that the Holy Spirit does that today, which is false and is even worse than a lack of enthusiasm. At least the “cold” ones are trying to be honest with the facts, including the fact that the special “signs and wonders” ceased “when that which is perfect has come.” (1 Cor. 13:10) Some are claiming that the supernatural gifts Jesus gave the apostles are available to us today. Of course they insist that no one should be expected to prove anything. Read 2 Thess. 2 and you will find that such an idea opens the door to the very method Paul said Satan will use to deceive. But many folks are going for it as though they have no word from God on the matter.
Many detest legalism. They think the answer to it is liberalism. The fact is it is not an answer to anything. Perversion does not make the real thing invalid. The fact that our leaders made some bad decisions, does not make denominationalism right and the restoration ideal wrong. It is not a matter of WHO is right but WHAT is right. Human theology is what led us off course in the first place. Human theology does not fix problems, it makes them worse. The only right thing to do on any question or issue, is to look in the Bible and find out what the will of God is on that issue.
No one “has it right” until they say what God has said. The reference in 2 Thessalonians 2 is to “those who perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.” That means open mindedness. An honest mistake will likely receive mercy by the grace of God. But an unwillingness to know is another matter. The Bible says that causes people to perish. Please don’t go that way. Don’t apply human solutions to correct human mistakes. Apply Bible solutions, the mind of Christ.