When God Communicates: Subjective or Objective?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve read something similar to this a few times: Scripture is objective; but any other communication from God is subjective. This post is not directed at anyone in particular. Instead, as I’ve read the above comment a few times, I’ve been thinking about the objectivity and subjectivity of God’s communication.
By the way, I like to say “God communicates” instead of “God speaks”. Usually, the verb “speak” assumes something (audible communication) that is not always present when God communicates. So, when I say, “God communicates”, I mean many different types of communications, including but not limited to Scripture, dreams, visions, impressions, other people.
When God communicates to us, he always communicates objectively. His communication is never subjective. However, our interpretation of God’s communications is always subjective. This includes our interpretation of Scripture – it is always subjective. It is true that some interpretations are less subjective than others, but all interpretations are subjective.
It would be incorrect to say that interpretations of Scripture are always less subjective than interpretations of other communications from God. For example, when God told Abram to leave Haran, Abram did not consider that communication to be subjective. When God communicated with Saul on the road to Damascus, Saul did not consider that communication to be subjective. When God communicated to Peter while Peter was on the roof of Simon’s house in Joppa (the dream with the sheet and animals), Peter did not consider that communication to be subjective. Notice that all of these acts of communication are now part of Scripture, but they were not part of Scripture when they occurred.
(Interestingly, Peter’s dream became normative for everyone. I wonder what would have happened if Peter had thought his dream was more subjective than Scripture and had compared his dream to Scripture. But, this is another issue altogether.)
I am not questioning the importance of Scripture. I do believe that Scripture is extremely important. I believe that Scripture is inspired by God, and I believe that Scripture is inerrant in the original autographs. I believe that Scripture is authoritative. However, there are times when I’ve felt that Scripture has been placed in a position above the living presence of God Himself – and not just Scripture, but our (individual or corporate) interpretation of Scripture.
Our goal should not be to relate properly to Scripture. Our goal should be to relate properly to God. Some may suggest that studying Scripture brings one into a right relationship with God, but remember that the scribes and Pharisees studied Scripture meticulously, as do many scholars today. Studying Scripture does not guarantee that we are hearing God.
God always communicates to us objectively. Perhaps we have not heard him – as others have heard him in the past and as has been recorded for us – because we are not listening to him. Instead, we have replaced him with something else. We have made our interpretation of Scripture objective, and we’ve made God subjective.
Oh, the things we do
Jeff, from “Losing My Religion: Re-Thinking Church“, is asking many of the same questions that I’m asking. Last week, he wrote two posts about the things we do as the church: “Extra-Biblical Christianity (or Stuff We Do That’s Not In The Bible)” and “More Stuff We Do That’s Not In The Bible“.
In his posts and in the comments, you’ll find many activities and concepts that are common among the church today but that cannot be found in Scripture. Similarly, you’ll find other activities and concepts that are found in Scripture, but that are defined or practiced differently today.
As many of my long-time readers know, I’ve dealt with this topic often on my blog. What do we do about ideas and activities that we do that are not in Scripture? Well, some of these things are neutral that have very little, if any, affect on us living as the church. However, some things do affect the church.
If something is prohibited in Scripture, then we should stay away from it. There are only a few things in this category, but we usually forget about them. In fact, we sometimes encourage activities and concepts such as divisiveness and quarreling (which are both prohibited in Scripture) if they help us get what we want.
If something is commanded in Scripture, then we should practice and seek those things. Again, we usually don’t have a problem with this category specifically.
But, what about things that are neither commanded nor prohibited in Scripture. I would suggest that these things are allowable (NOT necessary) as long as they do not hinder something that is commanded in Scripture. I believe that almost all of our modern, traditional church activities fall under this category.
While we are not told much about the church, we are given certain characteristics: deep fellowship and caring, sharing of all things, mutual service and responsibility for one another, everyone using their gifts, mutual discipleship, witnessing to the gospel and serving those outside the church, etc. If any of our activities and concepts are hindering the church’s ability to live out these characteristics, then we should question those activities and concepts very seriously.
By the way, here is another reason to like Jeff: He likes The Princess Bride!
As long as
This is from Dave Black:
As long as there is a strong emphasis on church membership rather than on Christian witness and sacrifice…
As long as the book of Acts is ignored in favor of books on church growth and mission strategy…
As long as worship is something we attend rather than something we do…
As long as the focus is on “missionaries†rather than on the whole people of God…
As long as the gathered church refuses to be the scattered church…
As long as Christians believe that church is a place of solace rather than a place of work…
As long as planning and decision-making is entrusted solely to the leadership…
As long as interest in humanity and the world is replaced by self-interest…
As long as we identify “minister†with clergy status…
As long as the pastor remains “the answer manâ€â€¦
As long as we refuse to acknowledge that the Old Testament distinction between priest and people has come to an end…
As long as we love our churches and our organizations more than we love Jesus…
As long as we go to church in the mood of a spectator and not a participant…
…the church will never be a freed and freeing Body, equipping all believers to be agents of the kingdom of God.
All joking aside
I loved the “joke” that Jonathan from “Missio Dei” told in his post “Guy walks into a bar“. Jump to his blog and read the “joke”.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been frustrated with people who were comfortable arguing over the minutiae of theology, but did not live what they were arguing! Yes, by all means, let’s discuss Scripture and theology, but more than that, let’s live it! I would also suggest that if you are not willing to live something, then don’t argue for it. It just seems so hypocritical.
Walking Together
Until moving to North Carolina to attend seminary, I’ve lived a fairly active life. Because of this, I haven’t needed to set aside time to exercise. However, because of seminary, my lifestyle has become much more sedentary, and as a result I have become less healthy and I’ve gained too much weight.
I decided that since I was not taking classes this summer I would start exercising. Margaret and I started walking in the evenings. But, because there was usually something going on in the evenings, and because it was very hot, we found that we walked much less often than we needed to. So, I started walking early in the mornings. After a few days, Margaret started walking in the mornings with me.
Before Margaret started walking with me – and occasionally now when she has something else to do in the mornings – I find that I can walk by myself at a faster pace, for longer distances, and for longer periods of time. When we walk together, we walk at a slower pace, for shorter distances, and for less time.
It would appear that it would be better for me to walk by myself. And, if I were only concerned with my physical health, it might be better for me to walk by myself. I would get healthier faster by walking every day by myself.
However, life is not just about my health. When Margaret and I walk together, we also talk to one another, and we encourage one another as we walk. In fact, Margaret has told me that she probably would not continue walking if she had to walk alone. She wouldn’t be motivated to walk by herself.
So, while I may be more healthy by walking alone, our family is healthier by us walking together. I suppose, if I were only concerned with my own physical health, I would walk alone anyway. But, I’m also concerned about Margaret’s health, and I’m concerned about our relationship. These concerns override the personal advantage of walking alone. By the way, I also find that I am getting healthier in process.
I suppose there is some spiritual point to my learning this and sharing this with my readers. There’s probably some truth about community and spiritual gifts and mutual edification and growing in maturity together.
Unfortunately, I don’t have to time to dig into those spiritual truths. Its time for me to attend a Bible study. Although, I may not be attending this Bible study for very much longer. The other people who attend this Bible study are not as spiritually mature as me, and they are not moving along as fast as I would like to move along. I think a Bible study with a different format would be better for my own spiritual growth. I’ve been thinking of looking for another Bible study so that these less mature people don’t slow down my own growth.
Life in the meeting
Almost three weeks ago, Jeff from “Until All Have Heard” published a blog post called “More Than a Meeting“. The post is very good, but one line in particular continues to bounce around in my brain. Why? Because in just a few words Jeff has managed to capture what I have been trying to say in this blog. Here’s the line:
To have life within the meeting, you must have life outside the meeting.
That’s it. It is very simple, yet very profound. If you catch what Jeff is talking about, you’ll understand why my interest in the meeting of the church has led me to study many other aspects of living as a follower of Christ, including discipleship, community, unity, fellowship, elders, etc.
You can replace the two instances of the word “life” in Jeff’s statement with many aspects of the Christian’s life and it would still be true and life-changing. Try these terms: teaching, fellowship, discipleship, relationship, faith, worship, leadership, servanthood… There are so many.
The church meeting is not everything. Instead, the life of the church within the meeting is a reflection of the life (or lack of life) of the church outside the meeting. I’ll end with Jeff’s statement one more time:
To have life within the meeting, you must have life outside the meeting.
When the end becomes the means
As followers of Jesus Christ – Christians, if you will – we have one end, one goal; and that goal is God himself. He is our hope, our satisfaction, our peace, our joy… and so much more. Our life is in Christ; our service is through the Holy Spirit to God’s glory; our message is Jesus Christ, and him crucified, reconciling the word to God. God is our end, our goal.
When we seek God, he alone should be our goal. When we serve God, he alone should be our master. When we draw near to God, we should do so for the single purpose of God himself. He is our reward, our treasure, our portion, our inheritance.
So, why do I hear so much language lately that seems to indicate that God has ceased being our end, and instead seems to indicate that God is but a means to an end.
In evangelism, we do not seek God, but bigger numbers. In finances, we do not seek God, but bigger budgets. In planning, we do not seek God, but more efficient programs. In missions, we do not seek God, but more converts. In social actions, we do not seek God, but better communities. In discipleship, we do not seek God, but better people and relationships. We want God’s help and God’s blessing, but we desire more than God himself.
Don’t misunderstand me, as we seek God and understand who he is and spend time in his presence and walk in his Spirit, we often realize many of the “blessings” above. But, these must not be our goals. When we seek God and something else, we usually end up with neither. Seek God and God alone, and allow him to choose what’s best and good for us – even if that means fewer numbers, smaller budgets, less programs, less converts, failing communities, and broken relationships.
Losing Focus
Just over a year ago, I wrote a series called “Connecting the Dots“. The premise of this series is that Scripture gives us certain points of reference that are similar to the “dots” of a “connect-the-dots” picture. Over the last year, I’ve seen more and more examples where people are losing focus of the “dots” – that is, the scriptural reference points – and are focusing instead on the pattern they’ve chosen to “connect the dots”.
When I took geometry in high school, I learned that two points can define a line. In fact, given the coordinates of those two points, it is possible to construct an algebraic equation that defines one particular line and every point on that line.
Once we mastered lines, our teacher led us into even more exciting territory: curves. Suddenly, two points were no longer enough to define a curve. Instead, as the curves became more and more complicated, more and more points of reference were needed.
When we read Scripture, we find points of reference concerning various topics. If we started with a clean slate (that is, without presuppositions and biases), we could mark off these points of reference much like drawing dots on graph paper. Eventually, we might find a pattern emerge. Since we don’t start with a clean slate – that is, we all have presuppositions and biases – we often begin looking for points of reference in Scripture with a pattern in mind. Regardless of how we reach a pattern, eventually we will notice a pattern in the “dots”.
In fact, it might even be possible to connect some of the dots so that the pattern becomes more visible and clear – much like connecting the stars in the signs of the zodiac so that the image of the bull or the crab or the twins becomes easier to see. I think that something interesting happens when we begin to connect the dots in order to make the pattern more clear: we slowly begin to lose focus on the the points of reference and begin to focus on our pattern instead. In fact, when we find additional points of reference that fall outside the boundaries or within the lines of our pattern, we either draw these points lighter (de-emphasize them), explain them away as anomalies in the data (ignore them), or move them slightly so that they better reflect our pattern (re-interpret them).
Of course, adjusting the dots to match our pattern creates a great image, but also misses the “point”. The pattern is not the goal. The image is man-made – artificial. When we begin to de-emphasize, ignore, or reinterpret Scripture to match our nice pattern, the “dots” – points of reference in Scripture – cease to have any value at all, other than a contrived value that we have placed on them. Suddenly, we’ve become the master craftsman, choosing which points are important and which points are unnecessary. We’ve become the judge and arbitrator, not only with Scripture, but with others who have connected the same points in a different manner, probably giving emphasis to points that we de-emphasize, including points that we ignore, and disagreeing with our reinterpretations. We hold people to the standard of our inferences and extrapolations, not to Scripture itself.
Then, we find ourselves in the mess that we are in today. Each person holding their blurred drawing as if it was a masterpiece, and failing to notice that the points of reference from Scripture have faded into the background so far that they are almost invisible. But, since we can point to occasional correlation with Scripture, we call our little “connect the dot” drawing “biblical”, which means, of course, that everyone else’s drawing must be “unbiblical”. What arrogance!
I admit freely that I still carry around many beliefs and practices that are based more on a picture that was handed to me than they are based on Scripture. I admit that I often argue more about how to connect the dots than I try to help people live in the dots, trusting God through his Spirit to help them (and me!) connect the dots as he desires. I admit that often my “picture” has become blurred to the point that the dots are barely visible.
But, I recognize my condition. And, because I recognize that my vision is faulty and that in many ways I have lost focus, I hold my image with much more humility now. And, as hard as it is, I try to look beyond the lines that once appeared so dark and clear and precise in order to find the dots. I want to live in the dots, and trust God’s Spirit to teach me and guide me as I walk between the dots.
Following God individually and corporately
One of the passages of Scripture that I find very interesting and revealing is found in Acts 13:
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping [serving] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:1-4 ESV)
There are many things that we can learn about the church in Antioch from this passage. We see a great ethnic diversity among the people mentioned. We see their desire to serve God and one another. But, in this post, I would like to see what this passage teaches us about the individual and corporate aspects of following God.
The church in Jerusalem had sent Barnabas to Antioch because they had heard that Hellenists were now part of the church in Antioch (Acts 11:22). Barnabas recognized the grace of God at work in Antioch, and began to encourage the church there (11:23). Barnabas next went to Tarsus to find Saul (Paul) and bring him back to Antioch where they remained for a year (11:25-26). When we hear from Barnabas and Saul (Paul) again, they are returning to Antioch from a trip to Jerusalem, and they are bringing John Mark with them (12:25). This brings us up to Acts 13.
Saul (Paul), Barnabas, and others were serving God and other by prophesying and preaching among the believers in Antioch. At some point, God reveals that his desire for Saul (Paul) and Barnabas was for them to leave Antioch in order to take the Gospel into other areas of the Roman empire. After praying and fasting, the church in Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul (Paul) on their way as God had directed.
Notice that God’s directions for Barnabas and Saul (Paul) was personal to them. At this time, he did not send off Simeon, Lucius, Manean, or others, although they were all faithfully serving God and his people in Antioch. There was an individual aspect to God’s direction to Barnabas and Saul (Paul).
But, there was also a corporate aspect to God’s sending of Saul (Paul) and Barnabas. Notice that the church in Antioch – not just Barnabas and Saul (Paul) – prayed and fasted concerning this decision. The church in Antioch also laid hands on them and sent them off as God had directed. In fact, at least in this passage, Scripture says more about this corporate aspect than it says about the individual aspect.
In response to God’s love and indwelling Spirit, each of us should respond to God by listening to him as he communicates with us. When he directs us one way or another, we walk in the directions that he points, trusting him for each step. If no one walks with us, we still follow God wherever he directs us. However, many times, God does not appoint us to walk alone. Instead, he both provides others to walk with us, and he also provides a corporate response to our faithfulness and obedience.
As God directs us individually, and as we share that direction with our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church responds by coming along side, praying, sending, providing, supporting, encouraging, equipping, sending. Sometimes, God may direct others within the church to walk with us as well. He may use our obedience as a catalyst to encourage others to listen to him and follow him as well.
Working together – individually and corporately – the way we find Barnabas and Saul (Paul) and the church in Antioch working together – we find that we are not sending ourselves, and the church is not sending us, but it is actually God through his Holy Spirit who is sending us.
Living "out there"
Yesterday, in my post called “And day by day“, I recalled how were are learning to share our lives with brothers and sisters in Christ “day by day”. In other words, “church” is not a location or a weekly event to us. “Church” is a family. God has adopted us into his family, and we are now brothers and sisters with all of his children – “brother” and “sister” are not just titles, they point to actual relationship.
But, as I ended my post yesterday, I explained that lately I have recognized that something is missing from our lives. What is missing? We are missing the “in the world” part. Jesus said that we are to be “in the world” but not “of the world”. We need to live “out there” among the people who have not been reconciled to God yet. We need to live among the least and the lost. We need to learn how to love and serve and practice hospitality toward those who are not brothers and sisters in Christ.
Don’t get me wrong… this is not a new realization in my life. This realization happens regularly to remind us not to get too comfortable living among the saints – as important as that is. Just as Jesus came for the “lost sheep”, he sends us “out there” as well.
A couple of years ago, when we moved from seminary housing to a real, live house, we tried to build relationships with some of our neighbors. We’re continuing to try to build those relationships, but it has been very slow. We’re learning to be patient and trust God to work in their lives. We are waiting on God to give us opportunities (which he has) to love and serve our neighbors.
We’ve also recently served our community through the Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society. It was a great way to offer hope and help to hurting people. We met alot of people and plan to continue supporting this cause.
But, lately I’ve been thinking that God has another way for us to be “out there”. I don’t want to share details at this point. We have an acquaintance (not a friend yet) who has access to a group of people that may need to see a real, tangible demonstration of God’s love. In the next few days, I’m hoping to talk to our friend and see if God may be leading us both in the same direction. I’ll keep you posted.
If God is doing what I think he may be doing, then this will probably require some changes for us. And, it will be costly. It won’t cost us much financially, but it may cost us time and energy. We may have to change our schedule… give up a few comforts. But, God is worth any cost, as are the people involved.