The New American Standard Version renders it, "so that you may be able to discern what is best." There are good teachings out there and then there are excellent teachings. Our Father's intent is that we would recognize the difference. One is what Hebrews calls "the milk of the word" and the other is the "meat of the word."
The two are not the same. You probably know good teaching from bad teaching but do you know a good truth from an excellent truth? Young's Literal Translation describes it as "proving the things that differ."
Look at the two images above. One is a good painting and the other is an excellent paining. Which would you want to have? I confess that because of my lack of artistic sophistication, I'm not wild about either of them. Take a look at them. Which of the two would you want to own?
The top painting in this blog is called "Iris and Butterfly" and was painted by Claire Bull. The piece is fine art and can be purchased for 450 dollars.
The bottom painting is called "Irises" and was painted by Vincent Van Gogh one year before his death. It became the most expensive painting when it was sold for $53.9 million to Alan Bond in 1987.
That's a big difference that illustrates good and excellent. Thus it is in the realm of biblical truth. There are good teachings that will encourage and help you, but there are also excellent truths that can revolutionize your life. Note that Young's Literal Translation speaks of approving those things that differ. Don't make the mistake of thinking that something different is necessarily wrong. Sometimes when we open our hearts and minds to new things that are different to us, we find ourselves growing in grace in ways we couldn't have imagined. Don't be gullible. Check the Bible for yourself to see if the different teaching you may be exposed to fits with what the Scripture teaches. If not, reject it. If it does then embrace it gladly - even if that means admitting that it's something different than you've believed before. That's the only way to grow in grace.
There are excellent realities to be discovered in Jesus Christ. Let us open ourselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the Scripture so that we may see the masterpieces of Divine revelation!
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Excellent!!!!
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is another lesson here as well. Sometimes there are other influences in art, such as the reputation of the artist and the timing in his life, that affect the monetary value of the piece. The fact that something sells for a higher price does not necessarily make it finer art.
ReplyDeleteIt pays to look behind the scenes when it comes to doctrine as well. Just because something sounds like it solves certain problems or reveals certain mysteries or becomes popular, doesn't make it better. Centuries ago Arius was a very popular teacher who sought a solution to the person of Christ. His answer became the talk of the town and, some suggest, even the stuff of popular songs. But Arius was wrong because he denied that Jesus was God.
I appreciate that you suggest new "realities" should be compared to the teaching of Scripture. But, most of the time, these new ideas are not new at all and the church has already sorted them out through study and dialogue. Direct your people also to good theology texts, ones accepted by the wider evangelical community, to see the broad discussion. Then they have the benefit of determining the real value of the teaching.
If we select our art based on what we like, some of us might be content with black velvet Elvis paintings on our walls. If we select our doctrine based on how the idea affects our lives or settles certain difficult issues, we may find that we are just resurrecting old and ugly ideas that were abandoned by the church years ago.
The blog was intended to be a simple thought about openness to biblical truths that are "new" to us. However, you make a good point. The sad thing about contemporary church culture is that in many corners, Arianism would be accepted simply because it may sound reasonable to some. My practice is to always point people back to the Scripture. I agree that theologians often have much to offer to the discussion of many topics. I think any of us do ourselves a great disservice if the only voices we are exposed to are those who echo each other within the contextual bubble of our existing viewpoints. These days I often cite the Capadocian Fathers, Athanasius, Irenaeus and others whose views have in recent years, for the most part, been out of sight in the modern Evangelical world.
ReplyDeleteWhat if fear of looking stupid or "lacking in discernment" in regards to what constitutes "fine art" leads a person to pass over what their heart says is the painting they prefer, to choosing the picture that was painted by a more famous artist?
ReplyDeletei'm glad God, the greatest artist of all, has created us in His image and he says it is good. all of us. every piece. perhaps we could see each other in this way and stop fearing what others think of us or what paintings we prefer.
Vivian - I agree with your post concerning how we see each other. We are all a masterpiece to Him! (Eph 2:10)
ReplyDeleteHowever, the point I was making in the blog was about recognizing what the Lord is showing us so that we can enjoy an abundant life as opposed to a nominal experience. For instance, knowing we are going to heaven is "good" but knowing our identity in Christ is "masterpiece" knowledge that can transform our lives from day to day.
God give us hungry hearts to humble ourselves under His hand. We will see new in the Word. Identifying with Christ in a total fashion we will come to the realization we are Masterpieces of God and are changed continually through faith in the operation of God and seeing Christ within ourselves and others, & we'll "glorify God in me," as Paul said in Galatians among each other. We are transformed as we behold the new creature not just by having it taught and we learning it inside but from faith to faith and glory to glory in our experience, walk with Him. Great blog!
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