“Test everything”

In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, there’s a line regarding the priest Myriel, who ‘was fated to undergo the lot of every newcomer to a little town where there were many mouths that speak, but few heads that think.’ The undisciplined mind becomes a lazy mind. And that’s dangerous because it easily succumbs to the culture and influences around it. Little of value is ever learned through one-way monologue, be it a sermon or a lecture. There are many eloquent speakers today who are relentless in offering their opinions on just about every issue, who weave a spell of thought that relieves the individual of exploring things for themselves.

In the Book of Acts we read that the Bereans “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). Asking, Why? How? Who says so?’ is not an act of rebellion, it is Godly wisdom! One walks around today knowing full well that an inappropriate response to a political comment, a doctrinal issue or a matter of social policy can lose you friends, a reputation, or even a job. The Godly mind, however, resists this cookie-cutter approach to thought. It weighs every question and asks if Scripture speaks directly or indirectly to the matter. It examines it in the light of history; how have God’s people faced this before? It measures the matter in terms of its ability to reflect the redeeming love of Christ.

Never be ashamed of questioning.

Peter Morphew
Chaplain