When Scripture Demolishes Your Theology
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | Braddock writes in, "Pastor John,
00:00:08.320 | "in episode number 450,
00:00:09.560 | "you talked about God's preordination.
00:00:12.340 | "In that episode, you also mentioned
00:00:13.660 | "that in your early 20s, you were almost tormented
00:00:16.740 | "by theological questions and difficulties
00:00:19.180 | "to the extent to where you would lay your head down
00:00:22.200 | "on your desk and weep for hours.
00:00:25.580 | "What advice would you give to a 23-year-old
00:00:27.500 | "who is in this exact same position now?"
00:00:31.640 | - I wanna give empathy before I give advice. (laughs)
00:00:34.640 | I have memories and I'm laughing,
00:00:36.720 | but good night, it was hard.
00:00:39.440 | I think the best thing I can do for Braddock
00:00:43.000 | from where I stand, I mean, I don't know what he's unsure of.
00:00:46.640 | I don't know what he's wrestling with.
00:00:47.720 | I don't know how central or how marginal
00:00:51.160 | or how total his struggles are.
00:00:54.840 | So since I don't know all that,
00:00:56.420 | I think the best thing I can do is to encourage him
00:01:01.420 | that the distress of confusion in the mind of God's child
00:01:06.600 | will not last.
00:01:10.440 | It is part of a natural process of growth.
00:01:17.520 | Sometimes growth from less understanding
00:01:20.880 | to more understanding is very incremental
00:01:23.920 | and almost indiscernible.
00:01:26.880 | And other times it is fast and massively disruptive
00:01:31.880 | and therefore painful.
00:01:35.500 | I recall when I was 14, this is an analogy,
00:01:40.140 | I grew so fast that my shins hurt.
00:01:44.220 | I grew past my mother, I grew past my father.
00:01:47.460 | It was exciting.
00:01:49.000 | It's like growth is exciting.
00:01:51.460 | Growth in your mind is exciting,
00:01:52.820 | growth in your body is exciting, and it was painful.
00:01:56.020 | There were days I couldn't walk.
00:01:57.580 | We went to the doctor and he said,
00:01:58.660 | "It's growing pains, it's growing pains."
00:02:01.500 | Well, I don't like these growing pains.
00:02:03.980 | When will they go away?
00:02:05.420 | That's an analogy.
00:02:06.980 | Or here's another picture.
00:02:08.100 | This I think is more helpful.
00:02:09.880 | The human mind is designed by God for coherence and order
00:02:15.780 | where things fit together
00:02:21.580 | and they don't absolutely contradict each other.
00:02:24.100 | God is not a God of confusion.
00:02:26.700 | And when I read the Bible, I see the apostles,
00:02:31.220 | for example, arguing.
00:02:32.940 | I see the prophets arguing in ways that show
00:02:36.960 | they assume the human mind in the image of God
00:02:41.040 | will not tolerate absolute contradiction.
00:02:43.960 | Things need to fit together in some sense
00:02:47.180 | of order or coherence.
00:02:49.180 | Yes is not no.
00:02:50.380 | No is not yes.
00:02:52.300 | So the mind is bent on putting things together
00:02:55.980 | as best it can, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
00:03:00.760 | Or if I knew my puzzles better,
00:03:01.860 | I could come up with a better example about this.
00:03:04.400 | But I have in my mind that if one of these pieces
00:03:07.260 | is taken out because you see the Bible teaching now
00:03:12.260 | something different than that piece that was put in there,
00:03:15.340 | that puzzle piece of knowledge was put in your brain
00:03:18.820 | when you were 10 and now you're reading your Bible
00:03:22.180 | and you say, "That's not a Bible piece."
00:03:25.420 | And it comes out, what happens?
00:03:28.900 | Well, the other pieces become, they move a little bit.
00:03:33.900 | They move a little bit because you might have to jostle
00:03:37.100 | 15 pieces to put the new Bible piece back in.
00:03:42.100 | And here's what I think makes us frightened and weeping.
00:03:46.700 | It feels as though all of those 15 pieces might be wrong.
00:03:51.460 | They move, they shifted out of the position that they had.
00:03:56.060 | The thing that was giving them coherence
00:03:58.260 | just suddenly is gone.
00:04:00.500 | And now we wonder, "Good night,
00:04:02.580 | have I got to dismantle my whole mind?
00:04:05.220 | I don't even know if I can handle all the pieces
00:04:08.180 | of my mind going out."
00:04:10.060 | That's probably not true.
00:04:12.020 | It's that the pieces are moving,
00:04:13.700 | trying to find their place again in the coherence.
00:04:17.180 | And the more true pieces you put in,
00:04:21.620 | it may take some time,
00:04:23.020 | but when those other pieces settle
00:04:25.100 | into their God appointed niche, it is so good.
00:04:29.940 | It's not only a peaceful feeling like,
00:04:32.860 | "Oh, this is right.
00:04:35.820 | This is right.
00:04:36.660 | This fits my soul.
00:04:37.940 | This fits the world."
00:04:39.300 | But you've now got, continue the analogy
00:04:41.980 | of the jigsaw puzzle, you got a picture.
00:04:45.820 | This picture is more beautiful than the other picture.
00:04:49.220 | That other picture always seemed to have the nose
00:04:51.180 | out of place, or it wasn't quite what it ought to be.
00:04:55.420 | God's will is for our growth.
00:05:00.380 | Second Peter 3, 18, "Grow in the grace and knowledge
00:05:04.380 | of our Lord and Savior."
00:05:05.860 | Go on, be about growing in knowledge.
00:05:08.420 | Philippians 1, 9, "My prayer is that your love
00:05:11.660 | may abound more and more with knowledge
00:05:14.180 | and all discernment."
00:05:15.140 | Colossians 1, 10, "Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
00:05:18.780 | fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work,
00:05:21.580 | increasing in the knowledge of God."
00:05:26.060 | But here's the catch.
00:05:27.900 | Those all sound, "Oh, fine.
00:05:29.300 | Yeah, let's just grow.
00:05:30.300 | Let's just add, add, add."
00:05:32.540 | Here comes 2 Corinthians 10, verse five.
00:05:35.580 | Paul says, "We destroy arguments,
00:05:38.940 | and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
00:05:43.700 | and every thought we take captive to obey Christ."
00:05:47.500 | You know, when we read that as Christians, we tend to think,
00:05:49.580 | okay, I got to get in sync with Paul and do that.
00:05:52.220 | I got to do some knowledge imparting,
00:05:54.900 | and I got to destroy some arguments out there in the world.
00:05:57.420 | And we forget that, whoa, that happens to us.
00:06:01.260 | That happens to us.
00:06:03.820 | I mean, I assume that not every opinion in my brain
00:06:09.340 | is a perfect opinion,
00:06:11.620 | and there may be some lofty opinions
00:06:13.780 | that get in there from time to time,
00:06:15.820 | or left over from when I was a kid,
00:06:17.900 | that need to be torn down.
00:06:20.420 | And when that happens, I guarantee you,
00:06:22.820 | that demolition by the apostle hurts.
00:06:26.500 | Just not comfortable to have any of your thoughts,
00:06:30.540 | especially if they're old or cherished or from mom and dad,
00:06:33.620 | torn down by the apostle's teaching.
00:06:37.180 | So just two encouragements.
00:06:39.740 | God does not leave us alone in our thinking.
00:06:43.460 | In putting the pieces back together,
00:06:46.220 | we are not left to ourselves.
00:06:48.920 | 2 Timothy 2:7, "Think over what I say."
00:06:52.740 | So yes, you got to be thinking,
00:06:54.440 | and it's painful to be moving these pieces around
00:06:57.620 | in your brain, but that's what thinking is.
00:06:59.980 | And the next phrase says,
00:07:01.340 | "For the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
00:07:05.620 | In other words, don't begrudge the season of sorrow
00:07:10.140 | and frustration as the pieces are being moved around
00:07:13.540 | in your mind.
00:07:15.140 | That's an evidence that your mind
00:07:17.660 | is not content with confusion,
00:07:20.460 | and that it's a sign that you're made by God
00:07:24.100 | for something more, and God will give you understanding.
00:07:29.100 | He's not going to leave you alone.
00:07:32.500 | And the last encouragement is, "Do what the psalmist did."
00:07:36.620 | Psalm 118, verse five, "Out of my distress,
00:07:39.700 | "I called on the Lord."
00:07:42.500 | I'm sure you're doing that.
00:07:45.180 | "Out of my distress, I called on the Lord.
00:07:47.660 | "The Lord answered me and set me free.
00:07:51.540 | "The Lord is on my side.
00:07:53.540 | "I will not fear.
00:07:54.540 | "What can man do to me?"
00:07:55.620 | Literally, I just checked it in the Hebrew a few minutes ago.
00:07:58.780 | It said, when it says,
00:08:00.460 | "The Lord answered me and set me free,"
00:08:03.660 | literally, it's put me in a broad place.
00:08:08.660 | I'm not trapped anymore.
00:08:12.460 | I'm not pinned down.
00:08:14.060 | I'm not cornered.
00:08:15.180 | I'm not frustrated in my confused position anymore.
00:08:19.100 | He brought me out of my frustration,
00:08:21.940 | gave me a broad place in which to walk,
00:08:24.980 | and this new picture of God in my mind
00:08:29.060 | is a beautiful place.
00:08:31.180 | - Wonderful, thank you, Pastor John.
00:08:34.260 | If you have a question for John Piper,
00:08:35.860 | please send it in to us.
00:08:37.020 | You can do that online through our podcast page
00:08:40.020 | at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:08:43.820 | So what is the key to ministry longevity?
00:08:48.300 | This is an important question leaders face,
00:08:50.740 | and the answer can be found in the life and legacy
00:08:53.180 | of 18th century pastor John Newton,
00:08:56.460 | as John Piper will explain tomorrow.
00:08:58.820 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:08:59.820 | Thank you for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:09:02.740 | (silence)
00:09:04.900 | (silence)
00:09:07.060 | (silence)
00:09:09.220 | [BLANK_AUDIO]