WHEN WE ASK THE WRONG QUESTIONS

Do you ever feel secure or justified by the fact that someone is unable to tell you that something you are doing or want to do is wrong? There are two fundamental problems with this approach:

Wrong person

Consulting spiritually minded friends, family, elders, preachers and other resources can be helpful. But we must remind ourselves that they are not the final authority on anything. Asking others is an extension of asking God. Their job is to "speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11) by helping us see things in Scripture we have missed in our personal study and understand things we have misconstrued.

To act in faith we must understand that what we are doing or want to do is from God's word. Others can't study it out or grasp the details for us. Anything other than personal understanding from personal Bible study places our faith in men rather than in God, even if the men are right. Also, the response of others is at times tainted with ignorance, prejudices, experiences, likes, dislikes, or the desire to please and not hurt the feelings of others. So, when others say they see nothing wrong with something, it still is not permission to act. Confidence can only be found in knowing God's will from Scripture, not what others say (no matter who they are or how many there are of them).

Wrong Question

Asking whether something can be proven to be wrong may be a starting point, but it isn't an adequate ending point. When the scripture says, "Test all things, hold fast to what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21), it gives us what we're supposed to be looking for. We aren't just looking for what tests out to be bad, we are looking for what is proven to be good. We are only permitted to "hold fast" - believe, act, continue to do - what we know is good. It isn't enough to say, "I'm not convinced it's wrong and so I'll do it." We have to be able to show from God's word, "I know it's right and so I'll hold to it."

Asking, "is it wrong?" is not necessarily the same as asking, "Is it right?" We may not have clear statements in Scripture saying that something is wrong (especially for modem forms of some actions), yet if we also can't be certain it is good in the eyes of God we must not act. We must be "fully convinced" in our own minds (Romans 14:5) that it is right before acting. This kind of certainty does not come from the "It doesn't say not to" argument - it only comes from knowing what God things about it as revealed in His word (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).

David Diestelkamp

(Mike sent me this and asked I use it - RC)