Argue *to* the truth of your position, not *from* it

My friend Ryan is currently reading C.S. Lewis' collected letters, which is interesting in how it shows Lewis' gradual progress from a die-hard atheist to a believing Christian. Ryan occasionally sends me excerpts from his reading and this one was particularly interesting:

From Letters, Volume 2, p. 150, to his friend and former pupil, a Catholic and now a monk, Dom Bede Griffiths, 26 Dec 1934:

If you are going to argue with me on the point at issue between our churches, it is obvious that you must argue *to* the truth of your position, not *from* it. The opposite procedure only wastes your time and leaves me to reply, moved solely by embarrassment, 'you are a saint, but you are no philosopher!'.

That whole idea - arguing TO your position's correctness, not FROM it - seems to me to be the biggest problem people have in discussing religious disagreements. I've recently spent a lot of time reading/listening to debates on the subject of "salvation at the point of faith or baptism" and I have to say that in every one of them every person seems to me to be arguing FROM their position's correctness.

It is a hard thing to fix, or even recognize - look for it in your own arguments the next time you are discussing theology with someone.

Four "rules" for understanding the Bible

During a recent Bible study my friend Allen Dvorak mentioned three “rules” that he uses to help him understand the Bible. I had not heard them before and they made a lot of sense to me so I thought I'd share them.

1. Observe context. Interpret verses/passages in light of their immediate and general context.

2. Harmonize. Based on the compatibility of every “part” of truth, our understanding of one verse/passage should harmonize with what is taught in other verses/passages which are equally related to the same subject.

3. Interpret the difficult in light of the easier. If you find one verse that appears to mean X, and twenty others that all clearly mean "not X", then the one verse probably doesn't mean X.

I would personally add a fourth, which I believe is by far the hardest:

4. Have an open mind. Ask yourself whether this is really true, or just something that you want to be true. I've been guilty of this but now understand that what I want is irrelevant, all that matters is what God wants. I don't think there is any easy way to counter this; just be aware of it.

Failure

We're all so afraid of failure, but it doesn't have to be bad long term.

If God wanted to say something to you...

If God wanted to tell you something, how would he do it? How would he communicate with you?

Would he put a burning feeling in your heart? Would you "just know"? Would he speak to you with an audible voice? Would you just feel very strongly that you should do something? Would he tell you via the Bible?

For the sake of this post, let's assume it is the Bible.

I heard an interesting question in a debate recently. One person was arguing that the Bible forbade a particular thing and the other person that it was permitted. The interesting question from the first person was this: "If God wanted to declare this as wrong, how else would he state it?" His point was if you don't think that's clear, what words would convince you?

I thought that was a terrific question, with lots of interesting applications. Try it yourself - the next time you are reading the Bible pick a subject and ask yourself "if God wanted to permit or forbid or require this, what words would he use?"

Is the Bible God's word or does it "contain" God's word?

I was listening to a formal debate on whether churches should have women preachers and I found an interesting argument supporting that position:

The Bible isn't God's word, but it contains God's word. Paul wrote what he thought, but he wasn't writing for God. Same with Moses, etc. - they were not writing God's words, but what they wanted to write.

Now I have to say right out that I think that's crazy. Not because I don't think it is true (I don't, but someone isn't wrong just because they don't agree with me) but because if one believes that, then upon what (other than your own preferences) do you base your belief system on? I do admire this lady for one thing: she has the courage to actually state this - I think many people believe it but won't actually say it in public.

I'm not saying that someone is stupid if they believe this. I sure hope that's not the case because I've made this exact argument before. I'm just saying that if you really think about it, you can't hold this position because it doesn't make sense. If it is true the Bible doesn't hold any meaning for us - it is no better than any self-help book that tries to show us how to live better. If you can pick and choose which parts to believe, you can support pretty much anything.

I'm stating flat out that the Bible is either true, or it isn't. It is either God's perfect, consistent, complete word, or it isn't. There is no middle ground. There is no gray area here - it is black and white.

If you side with me here then you and I may disagree on what Paul meant when he said this or that but if the words in the Bible say that what Paul was writing was inspired, we can't just ignore them. Here are a few sample verses that show that the Bible states that Paul is writing inspired doctrine, not his own words: 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 7:10, Ephesians 3:3-5, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, 1 Corinthians 14:37, 2 Peter 3:15-16.

Again, either the Bible is true or it isn't. It says that Paul was inspired and that is either true or it isn't. If it isn't, then we should ignore it all (or perhaps browse it for some common sense "good ideas"). If it is then we should obey it...completely. But it can't be partially true and we can't pretend that it is.

Well, of course we can - and we do, all the time. What I mean is that we can't do that and be consistent or intellectually honest. What we want to do (what I've absolutely done, to my shame) is pick the things we like, focus on those, and ignore the rest. As C.S. Lewis says, that's what allows two people to both claim to be Christians while arguing for completely opposite things. I think one of the most serious (and common) mistakes is this: we create a Jesus who agrees with us, then we worship that Jesus.

I've done that for years, but have recently decided to stop. Either the Bible is God's word or it isn't. I've decided that it is, and that means that I've got to live by what it says. Even if I sometimes don't like it. Because here's the thing - it doesn't matter what I want, or what I like, all that matters is what God wants. His job is to define that, my job is to do it. I may not understand all that the Bible says, but I understand enough to know that I've not been following it. And I can't look Jesus in the eye and justify my past behavior - and let's be honest, if we can't do that, we're in deep trouble.

Bronner Burgess

Many of you have probably heard about the death of Bronner Burgess. It is incredible is how his family has kept their focus on God through it all, and has shown us how God can get us through anything.

Click here, here, and here to see the 3 parts of Rick speaking at his son's funeral.

Overcoming Resistance

To paraphrase Jim Croce, when the procrastinators all get together at night they call me boss. Here is an excellent article on that called Overcoming Resistance.

Putting God First in Your Life

We've all heard (and probably said) that we want to "put God first" in our lives. But what does that really mean? Must I sell everything and become an impoverished missionary? Or at least be a full time minister? Attend church 23 times per week?

If God is really first in my life, then I'd think I'd be spending a lot of time trying to figure out how He wants me to live. I'd be reading the Bible every day. I'd be praying for help...often. I'd examine my beliefs and ask myself the really hard question: is this what I want to believe, or is this what the Bible says? (That's been a particularly hard one for me.)

And when I figured out what the Bible does say - to whatever extent - I'd hope that I had the courage to live in the manner I understood God was revealing to me. This can be tough as you can find a church to sanction just about any belief. Just because the people around you approve of what you are doing doesn't necessarily mean it is right.

The bottom line is that I don't want to be the kind of person Jesus was talking about when he quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

Ask yourself if you are doing everything you can to discern God's will. And as you do, live your life according to that will.

Reading the Bible vs. Reading Religious Books

I was talking to my friend Ryan last night about the comparable levels of people's knowledge of the Bible and he said that he thought the problem was that people read lots of books about the Bible instead of reading the Bible. Now he's got more knowledge of the Bible in his little finger than I'll acquire in the next decade so his comment rattled around in my head all night.

Those of you who know me know how I admire C.S. Lewis. I think every Christian or aspiring Christian should read Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce.

However, we have to put these resources and people in their proper perspective: they can often have interesting, and sometimes very helpful things to say, but they aren't God, and their books aren't the Bible. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 (ESV):

10I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Ryan is also a big C.S. Lewis fan and he and I have joked "I follow Lewis", and the kernel of truth that is in most such statements clarified the danger for us.

A similar danger can be found in following our preachers in whatever they say. However wise they may be, remember that they are people just like you and can and often will be fallible. So what's my point? Just this:

Pay attention to your preacher, read helpful books about scripture, but always remember that it is better to be like the Bereans (Acts 17, ESV):

11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

If you will read the Bible every single day for the rest of your life, even if only briefly, you'll gain more knowledge more quickly than you can imagine. The key is consistency - every day, no matter what. Not so you can check it off your list and say you do it, but so that the Holy Spirit will show you the truth. My experience is that it works like this.

A goal writing experience

When I was working at WireSpeed (1995-2000) I took a course on time management & organization. As part of that course I wrote down goals for each part of my life. I'm not sure what happened then, but basically I filed them away and forgot them.

Several years later I was listening to a Brian Tracy CD on goal setting and he urged his listeners to try this experiment: Write out your goals on January 1, seal them in an envelope and forget them for the rest of the year. Open them on December 31 and you'll find that you've accomplished most of them. His point was that the act of just writing them down once (forget about tracking them or making detailed plans) was incredibly powerful. I was a bit skeptical, but I mentally filed that away and moved on.

A few months later I was going through some old boxes and I found those old goals I had written years before. As I read through them Brian Tracy's comments came shooting up from my memory as I was having a hard time believing my eyes: I had achieved almost everything I had written on that paper.

Since then I've become a big believer in written goals. I have a document on my PC at home with a paragraph for each part of my life (Family, Health, Service to others, Personal Development, Spiritual, Fun, Business). Each of those paragraphs are written in the present tense, as though they are already true (whether they are or not...yet).

Each month I open this document and read and rewrite each goal. It is amazing to watch each one become more and more true over time. You don't have to have detailed step by step plans for each 5 minutes between here and your end goal - I'm sure that's great for anyone who can actually do that - all you have to do is write them down - do that and you'll be ahead of almost everyone you know. If you really want to go wild, rewrite them monthly like I do. Then sit back and be amazed at how quickly you archive them.