In yesterday’s podcast, I related a story about a couple of self-proclaimed intellectuals leading a group discussion, and my thoughts about the scene that followed. Of course, anybody who knows me will understand that if I put the words “self-proclaimed” in front of something, it means that I’m not buying the “something.” I know quite a few people who could easily be classified as “intellectual” but so far, I’ve not encountered one who feels the need to announce it in public, just as I have met a number of rich people, and have never heard one tell anybody they are rich. I have also met a number of people who claim to be rich, and quite a few have written me checks that weren’t honored by the bank!

People who are intellectual are not bad people, and are actually quite valuable to society, and to the Body of Christ. The same is true for academics and academic disciplines. I just want to be clear on this point.  There are limits, however.

When it comes to the academic study of God’s Word, the process can yield amazing insight and valuable information that might not be gleaned without serious and scholarly study and investigation, and I would never wish to be thought to be a critic of academic methods. Yet academic methods can only go so far in gaining an understanding of the Word or of Truth, for they are designed to do neither of these.  We can identify Biblical teaching on Truth, we can build systematic theologies of Biblical truth, but they cannot introduce us to Truth, for Truth is found in the Person of Jesus Christ. We can identify Biblical teachings concerning the Word, and construct systematic theologies about the Word, but like the Truth, the Word is a Person. Here, let me illustrate:

I know many things about Jesus Christ; I have studied systematic theologies about Jesus Christ, but knowing about Jesus Christ is not the same thing as knowing Jesus Christ. I know more about Abraham Lincoln than I do about Jesus Christ. This should not be surprising, for there is more primary sources concerning Abraham Lincoln; we have many more details about Him, but I will never know Mr. Lincoln. Now if there were a way for me to meet Mr. Lincoln, you can rest assured that I would jump at the chance! Oh yes, that would be the coolest thing ever… but it isn’t going to happen, I’m sorry to say. Understand this, even if I could meet Abraham Lincoln, he could never forgive my sins and give me eternal life, for he was just a man like me.  On the other hand, when we meet Jesus Christ, we not only meet the Word and the Truth, we meet the Life as well.  As you can no doubt see, this is not the same thing as learning about Jesus; it is meeting Him.

Intellectualism is a wonderful attribute; a gift actually. Academics are great tools for study and learning, and to be encouraged, but as with all tools, they can only do what they are designed to do, and they can never replace meeting Jesus face-to-face. The key to meeting Him is found in our relationship with Him, for it is there where our questions cn be dealt with, can be answered… or not. As our relationships with Jesus Christ grow and mature over time, so does our understanding of the great issues of life. We find answers as we grow in our relationships, as we are able to handle those answers, not necessarily when we demand them.

Do you recall what happened in the Garden of Eden when Eve had her famous little chat with the serpent? It seems that there were answers made available to questions she might not even have had yet, but she was supposed to steer clear of that kind of stuff. The serpent told her that she could have those answers anyway, and become just like God herself, and so she went for it; Adam followed her lead, and as I recall the story, there were problems after that. How many times we like to think that had we been there, we would have done things differently. If that is really true, then do we demand that God reveal things to us that He knows we aren’t prepared to handle?

A more crucial question is this one: If God declines our demand, will we seek out the serpent to help us find a short cut?