As the semester winds down, I've found some time for nonacademic reading (though final exams have begun to erode that particular liberty).

 

In that reading, I've noticed an awful habit of mine: I tend to read suspiciously. I don't mean that I crawl in a corner somewhere or obscure the cover of my book -- I mean that I regard what I read (at times) with perhaps too critical an eye.

It happened recently, in reading a book on theology. I'll omit specifics. Suffice to say I arrived at a section discussing something of a "hot-button" issue (there are a few of those in theology!), and the author appeared to take a side opposite the view to which I'd become accustomed. 

I say "appeared" not as a filler. The author was not advocating anything untrue, nor anything with which I would even actually disagree. But there was a single "signal word" of sorts that caught my attention and immediately caused me to raise my guard. I was now shields-up, ready to disregard anything that followed with which I might disagree.

What's followed, so far, is sound, Scripturally-backed doctrine. This is not to be disregarded, obviously -- least of all in favor of my own opinion.

As Christians, we're called to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God", as it says in 1 John 4. It is not wrong to be discerning and cautious -- to the contrary, it's good. We're told to be wary of anyone, even "an angel from heaven" preaching a gospel contrary to that which was given to us ([Galatians 1:6-10][2]). 

 

But we -- I, really -- must not be unwilling to hear the truth. Sometimes God's messenger is like Micaiah -- and I am [not to be Ahab][3]. The Word of the Lord is not always that which fits nicely with my understanding. I must conform to Scripture, not the other way around. 

 

Equally disturbing in myself is the tendency I've noted to hold unquestioning the views of those I've (at times subconsciously) deemed "trustworthy". It is good to seek the counsel of godly men, especially those who have been given greater wisdom than I have, but their word is not to be taken as necessarily the same as God's Word. God alone is the ultimate source of all truth; there can be no other contenders for that title. He has revealed that truth to us in Scripture, and so Scripture should be my final standard for truth.

If the gospel being preached is consistent with Scripture (not my opinions on Scripture, but on what Scripture actually says), then it is my duty as a disciple of Christ to heed it, to obey it, and to apply it.

[2]: http://www.esvbible.org/Galatians 1:6-10/ [3]: http://www.esvbible.org/1 Kings 22/