The Role of Rationality

In a courtroom, two lawyers present evidence to the judge and attempt to persuade the judge that their argument is the most convincing one. When the judge makes his verdict he makes it based upon the strength of the case that has been made, but does the judge’s verdict determine what is true? Why is it that the very best lawyers win more cases? Is it because they represent truth more often or is it because they are more persuasive in arguing their case?

I often witness people ‘making their case’ on social media platforms and the jury decides on their ‘verdict’ by the number of likes attributed to each comment. And this is sometimes on crucial issues of doctrine! In the kingdom of God, God has not determined that my rational capabilities be the final verdict on truth. Let me explain.

Although Paul planted the church at Corinth, after a time he found himself defending his ministry there. The accusation made against him was that “his bodily presence [was] weak, and his speech of no account.” (2 Cor 10:10) What had happened was that after he had left, some other speakers had come around who were very accomplished sophists of that culture; a Greek culture that delighted in artful rhetoric and a sculpted physique. These men came with flowery, wise-sounding sermons that sounded like the righteousness of God (2 Cor 11:15) but they were actually preaching another Gospel entirely.

What a sobering thought - that the mighty Paul, a man unparalleled in spiritual stature who has left us with a huge portion of our cherished New Testament, should find himself desperately trying to win back an audience with the young Corinthian church. Paul’s message should have been received on the basis of who he was. After all, as Paul mentions in his first letter, “Though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4:15) Not only was Paul a father in this church, he was an apostle who had been approved by the Twelve in Jerusalem. Surely this should have been enough to win him the respect of the Corinthian church!

In the kingdom of God there is this simple yet profound principle - Who the speaker is determines what authority their words carry. This is an incredibly important kingdom truth which often gets lost in our ‘Comment section culture’. Our natural tendency is to judge the words that a person speaks in order to determine our estimation of the speaker.

A quick review of Scripture will reveal how often this principle is demonstrated. When Moses was sent with a message for Israel he was given signs to perform to confirm that he had been sent as a prophet of I Am. (Ex 4:1-3). The testimony of John the Baptist concerning Jesus was weighty because the people recognized him as a prophet. (Mat 21:26). When his audience would not believe him on account of his words, Jesus himself appealed to who he was, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.” (Mat 14:11) In every instance, it was not their words which caused them to be received as a messenger of God, it was the clear call of God on the man that made their words to be received.

We live in an age which has experienced a radical democratization of information; anyone can be a contributor. Popular pod-casters and bloggers garner a following sometimes in the thousands. What affect has this had on the way in which we receive information? How do we determine how much weight to attribute to an opinion piece? Almost inevitably we default to judging what we hear by the following criterion – Does this information sound reasonable and compelling to me?

Now a good Christian might respond and say, “I weigh everything that I hear by the Word of God.” Granted, this may be true, but then you would still have to say - “According to my knowledge of Scripture, the speaker’s words sounded reasonable and compelling.” So is there anything wrong with this?

Let’s revert back to the way in which Jesus was received; did the Pharisees weigh up the words of Christ by the measure of the Scriptures? Yes, they did. In fact it was because they perceived Jesus as a transgressor of the law that they ultimately rejected him as their messiah! What is the lesson to learn here? Although Scripture is a reliable yardstick to measure words by, our hearts and our minds are inseparably involved in the process and they have been corrupted by sin.

As a culture we have lost faith in institutions. We have lost faith in authority. We are circumspect around those who speak with boldness and conviction. We have been taught to value critical thinking above all else. We are a deeply cynical generation. We feel we have been lied to by the media, sold out by the government and disappointed by the church. So what is there left to put our trust in? When the chips are down, the only thing I really trust is my own judgement. I frequently find that many Christians even trust their own judgement over what the Bible says (after all, wasn’t the Bible written by fallible men?)

But is it sensible for me to trust my own judgement so deeply? The Bible teaches that as a result of our sinfulness, God “gave us over” to a “corrupt mind” (Rom 1:28). Which is why we are exhorted to keep renewing our minds in order to discern God’s will (Rom 12:2). We may find authority deeply untrustworthy but the Bible says the thing which is more deceptive than anything in the whole world is our own hearts! (Jer 17:9) Do we really believe what God says about how untrustworthy our faculties for critical reasoning are?

So if my subjective rationality cannot be trusted, how can I determine what is essentially true?

First of all, we read that,

“Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature... Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:11-14)

These Ephesians 4 gifts given by Christ should not be self appointed ministers! (Acts 13:1-3) There should be a witness by the Holy Spirit and the church before ministers are set apart for these important callings.

Secondly, from time to time the church will need to call its leaders together to meet as a council to decide on important issues of doctrine (Acts 15:28-29). In order to do this, churches need government by a collective of men, not a pope-like figure who makes doctrinal decisions based upon his own inclinations.

Thirdly, we all have a responsibility to study the word of God and to allow ourselves to be transformed by it in order to be able to recognize what is true and what is false (2 Tim 2:15, Eph 6:14, Acts 17:11).

Fourthly, we have a responsibility to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be sensitive to his voice as he bears witness to the truth. (John 16:13)

Fifthly, we need to teach one another according to the word of God as saints (Col 3:16) which requires great humility and a communal lifestyle.

By abandoning any of these God-given checks and balances, we make ourselves vulnerable to deception. What is crucial is that all of our safety lies in the relationships that we have within the church.

So often we judge a message based upon our judgement of the words alone, but Jesus said,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (Mat 7:15,16)

How can we tell if a man has a godly life? It is only if he is personally known within the partnership of churches that we are linked into. If a man has a hugely influential online ministry, how will I put these words of Christ into practice if all I know about him is from his Facebook profile?

Think of it this way, if your loving father had to say, “Here take this candyfloss, its fine for you to eat.” How would this compare with the same words from the lips of a strange man that just walked up to you on the street? Would you eat it? You cannot determine the truth of what someone says by their words alone; who the speaker is determines what authority their words carry in your life.

So how would Paul fare in today’s culture? His physical appearance wouldn’t be much for the cameras to zoom in on and his sermons wouldn’t match up to the listening pleasure of other big name Bible teachers. Chances are his voice would be drowned out by the buzz of a thousand other more click-worthy voices. What a tragedy!

So whose podcast do you prefer – that of the godly man or that of the eloquent man? How do you judge a message for truth? Are you taken in by titles? Did Peter have a Phd? Have we gone back to the Garden where each individual relies upon their rationality to determine good from evil? I would contend that we have. We need to get back to relational Christianity where teachers are known by us and chosen and approved by God.  We need to get back to the kingdom principle that who the speaker is carries more weight with me than whether I like what they are saying or they have ten thousand followers on twitter.