TWO UNHELPFUL QUESTIONS
Dear Friends,
A week ago, Louise and I took a couple of days off and went to Montreal. One day we walked across Mount Royal to visit the St. Joseph’s Oratory. I sat praying for a while, and after prayer, I looked at the large statue that they have at the front, depicting Jesus dying on the cross. The only way to see it, is to look up, which is, of course, the only Christian way of looking at Him and His death upon the cross. Something fundamentally different is signified, if you look down on Him and His death upon the cross.
I mention this because there are two well meaning questions which you are often told to ask when you read the Bible. You are supposed to ask these questions when you are reading the Bible in your daily devotions, in your small group Bible Study, or in your preparation to teach or preach the Bible.
The advice is well meaning, but I think it is subtly harmful to you. The questions are: “So what?” and “Now what?”
The questions are well meaning. They assume that you have read and studied the Bible to understand the text. The questions are posed, so that the the Bible will change how you live. The advice to ask these two questions flows out of the biblical conviction that you are to be both a hearer of the word and a doer of the word. (James 1:22-25)
Now I am not saying that this always happens to you, but there is a subtle temptation in these questions. Or maybe it is that the questions allow a subtle drift in your heart. They can feed into your deep-seated, and usually unconscious, desire to look down on Christ crucified rather than up to Him. To stand in judgment on His word, rather than recognizing how His word stands in judgment of you. In your flesh, God is always on trial, with you as the one who makes the laws, accuses Him by your laws, judges Him by your laws, assumes Him guilty of breaking your laws, and is sceptical that He can mount a defense. You see, in your flesh. He is the condemned and guilty one on trial, not you.
Think again about the question, “So what?” You can ask this in a curious way, but usually when you ask this question in other contexts it is dismissive, not submissive. You are sceptical, not believing. You have judged the words, not been convicted by them.
Think again about the question, “Now what?” Once again, you can ask this in a curious way, but in other contexts you are usually expressing exasperation, not being convicted. You are being dismissive, not submissive. You are being superior, not humbled. You are being sceptical, not curious. You have judged the words and found them wanting. You have not felt the words confront you, leading you to cry out for mercy.
Is there a better question?
No question is perfect. Because of the world, the flesh, and the devil, your heart can be very creative in crossing over from being convicted by God’s word to convicting God's word. There is a better question from the Bible, but it was made familiar to many as the title of an important book by Francis Schaeffer, “How Should We Then Live.” It comes from Ezekiel 33:10-11, “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying, “Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’” Say to them, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’” (NIV).
Schaeffer's quote comes from the KJV, which uses the word "should" while modern versions use the word "can.” There is no need to get into a discussion of the original language and how best to translate the text into modern English. For Ezekiel's original hearers, the question is profound - given your sin, how then can you live? I think the question, "How then should you live?" is appropriate, if you have received the Gospel and know that it is only by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone that you live. Jesus Christ died on the cross suffering the doom that you deserve, and giving to you a destiny that only He deserved. So now the question for you is not “How then can I live?” Christ has provided the means for you to live. As His child by adoption and grace, when you read the Bible, you can pray that His Word will impress itself upon you in all the height and depth, the width and breadth, of who you are and how you live. You can and should cry out to Him saying, “Lord, I have been saved. I am being saved. I will be saved. In light of what I have just read in Your word written, How should I then live? How should we then live?”
George+
