I’m going to try a new feature at Get Anchored: I’ll post a question I’ve been asked, and my stab at an answer. Agree or disagree at the Facebook fan page for Get Anchored, and drop me a line with your own questions.
First up: the purpose of parables. Amy writes: "Alright, I've got one for you. In Community Bible Study we've talked a lot about the fact that Jesus used parables so that those whose hearts are ready and open will understand his message. We've also talked about how those who didn't understand still had hardened hearts. So, now for the question: What if a Christian has difficulty understanding the message of a particular parable? Is it evidence that the person is not completely open to God's teaching or still resistant to it in some way?"
The question comes from Luke 8. In verse 10 Jesus tells his disciples the reason why he often spoke in parables:
"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
" 'though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'
Amy asks if a Christian struggles to understand the meaning of a parable, is that a sign that he or she is resistant to it in some way.
Probably not. Of course, as believers we can resist what the Bible has to say on a subject and remain in spiritual immaturity. But when Jesus quoted from Isaiah (6:9), it wasn’t to set up a formula by which we could measure our spiritual maturity as believers. He was explaining the more fundamental issue of why people don’t put their trust in him at all.
Here’s the fuller text that Jesus was quoting from in Isaiah 6. Keep in mind that this comes right after that exalted vision of Isaiah’s call to ministry in the heavenly temple. When we’re teaching this beautiful passage, we often stop at his exclamation: “Here am I! Send me!” But notice how God sends him with these words (verses 9-10):
He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
Isaiah was given a frustrating call as a man of God. He lived in a time of spiritual rebellion and apathy, and God said, “Isaiah, I’m sending you to preach to a people who aren’t going to respond to you.” How’s that for a ministry vision! Would that fire you up for your life’s work?
But Jesus said that’s the way it always has been: When we try to make a difference in our world, particularly when we try to make a difference for the glory of God, our words will repel some even as they attract others.
So, Jesus was quoting these words to explain the fundamental problem of unbelief, not to give believers a tool to measure our spiritual maturity.
I should go on to say something else about this text, though these comments go beyond Amy’s question. Like most Bible passages that deal with this subject, notice that there is a mingling together of two profound truths: human responsibility and divine sovereignty. Do we turn to the Lord, or does the Lord turn us to himself? The answer is yes!
On the one hand, if anyone comes to Christ it’s because that person thinks through the facts, discusses the issues with others, reads books or listens to sermons, and finally it’s because that person made the decision to come to Christ. That’s true for our growth in Christ, too: as a believer, I grow in Christ when I make a decision to study, to discipline myself, to stick to the task even when it gets tough. In short, I must choose to come to Christ and grow in Christ. In our text, Jesus says that people who don’t do anything with the spiritual truths he teaches will soon not feel any impulse toward spiritual things at all. And he says that those who grasp spiritual truth and build their lives upon it will gain even more spiritual insight. So, he says the burden is on us.
But on the other hand, the Bible is clear that none of us will make any progress if the Lord isn’t leading us. The Bible says that before you came to Christ you were spiritually deaf, spiritually blind, and spiritually dead—other than that you were OK! We came to Christ because God enabled us to do so! And that’s true for any spiritual maturity you’ve enjoyed as a believer: whatever growth you’ve enjoyed, whatever knowledge you’ve gained, it’s because of God. In Luke 8, he speaks of spiritual truth “given” to some people. That’s the activity of God.
So, do we turn to the Lord, or does the Lord turn us to himself? The answer is yes! As believers, is it up to us to develop in the Lord or does the Lord develop us? The answer is yes!
Now, when I reflect on that reality, it makes me patient and humble as I do the work of a difference-maker. All I do—my encouragement and explanation and warning and service and sacrifice—I’ll do all of this and in the end some will grow spiritually and others will resist. But in the end, God will evaluate my life on what I did and said, not on how people responded to it.
That’s true for you, too. Maybe you’ve been teaching in the youth ministry, and you feel like you’re beating your head against the wall. All year you’ve prepared your lesson and taught it every week, you’ve tried to get to know your class, you’ve prayed for them—and you feel like you’re losing them and you’re thinking, “I’m not cut out for this.” Jesus says, “Be patient when you face resistance. It happens to everyone who’s trying to make a difference. Keep doing the right things and leave the results to me.”
Or maybe you’re a heart-broken parent. Parents are difference-makers. Maybe you’ve set a good example in your home, you’ve taught God’s instructions for life as best you could, you made sure you had your family in church—but now you’ve got adult sons and daughters who are making all the wrong choices. Jesus says, “Be patient when you face resistance. You have no idea how I’m using all your years of parenting even to this day.”
We’re simply an instrument in the hand of God, an actor playing a bit part in an epic drama. We don’t direct the drama, God does, and we simply play the part assigned to us.
____________
Amy, thanks for the first question in this new feature, “Good Question!” Agree or disagree at the Facebook fan page for Get Anchored, and submit your own question. It can be a question on Bible interpretation, theology, church practice—anything!
No comments:
Post a Comment