Scheming Swindlers
A shameless rip off of another's shameless rip off:
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.So, do you study to conform yourself to God's way or defend your position?Soren Kierkegaard
Thanks to Greg for the quote.
Comments
Not too sensitive or PC but I think it has a lot of truth to it.
Posted by: beg | May 2, 2006 8:25 PM
Boy if THAT question doesn't cause you to question your innards, nothing will?
I would say that I study mostly to conform to God's ways. Unless I am preparing a lesson of some kind, that will be the case.
New question:
Do I apply what I learn as quickly as I learn it?
There are times when, if I learn something that reveals a character issue, or an ungoldy action or perspective, I baulk. If it is something I really don't want to give up or change, then application is not quickly implemented.
The battle needs to take place inside my heart, and that can sometimes take a little while.
When I came to my senses last October and repented of a bunch of stuff, I made the decision to give the Holy Spirit free range of my heart. Just yesterday I asked myself if I had closed off certain sections of my heart in order not to change (or even see) something I wasn't ready to deal with yet.
For me, that is the heart of the initial question. It deals with why I open my Bible on any given day: To willingly and whole-heartedly read and conform, or to read the scriptures through a filter that will sift out the ones I am not "in the mood" to embrace.
Posted by: Jeff Morris | May 6, 2006 6:18 AM