PUSH BUTTONS

The Baby & The Bathwater

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15

In this age of creators, inventors, startups with products and product designers, one of the things we can agree on is that everything created or designed was created for a reason, a purpose. This purpose sets the boundaries of what they do and why they do it (which is also a definition of what they do not do). In addition, most (well, at least the good ones 😅) creations/inventions/products come with manuals, FAQs, or some material to guide their use, and it is in the best interest of the users of these creations to study said material and align with it. Failure to do so would often result in misuse (leading to damages) or underuse (not benefiting from all the features) which both deviate from the purpose of said creation.

As created beings and disciples of Christ, the Bible is our manual, the material to guide our daily living, the source of our ideologies and beliefs, the root of our culture, and the guide for our use.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.— Psalm 119:105

It is our duty to study and meditate on the Bible so we do not err on misuse…

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. — Psalm 119:11

…nor err on the side of underuse.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. — Hosea 4:6

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. — Ecclesiastes 10:15

The Bible/Word of God is living and powerful, inexhaustible and contains profound truths about many things pertaining to life, applicable in various contexts. The infinite nature of the Bible makes it somewhat impossible for one person in isolation (and I daresay even in communion) to understand the entire gamut within one lifetime — “we know in part and speak in part” — and this is one of the reasons believers are instructed not to neglect the gathering of believers because iron sharpens iron; we grow by that which every joint supplies until we come into the unity of faith.

Seeing as we grow not just by personal study but also by interactions in believing communities, it becomes crucial to ensure that we build knowledge, ideologies and practices according to God’s design, according to the manual. Ensuring that no other foundation is laid other than Christ and taking heed to the manner of material we build with (1 Corinthians 3:11–12), so we do not end up with a “Frankenstein Monster” impression of the guideline, ideologies and practices. The Bible is written by many authors but inspired by One Spirit, and as such, the teachings therein are cohesive, non-contradictory, balanced and complete. It is our responsibility to prove everything using the Word of God/the Bible as a yardstick to judge everything.

It is relatively easy to identify whole truths and empty fallacies that present themselves as such at face value. However, it becomes trickier when there are half-truths, unbalanced doctrine or excesses — and this, more often than not, is the tactic of deception (see Temptation of Jesus, Conversation between Eve and the Serpent, Conversation between the Old and New Prophets). Based on predispositions, the tendency at this point is to throw the baby (the truth portion) with the bathwater (the excesses) or accept the baby and bathwater — none of which are ideal. At this point, it becomes crucial to divide baby from bathwater rightly.

When someone plays Beethoven poorly, who do you blame? Beethoven? Or the person playing? — Dr Frank Turek.

It’s a no-brainer! You wouldn’t blame Beethoven; you would blame the player. What’s more, you would not throw the entire Beethoven piece away; the baby (the original Beethoven piece) and the bathwater (the unskilled player’s rendition). You would not write off the musical work or Beethoven as a musical composer. Understandably if you did not know the original music, you could make the wrong assumption (with the fallible proof of experience) that Beethoven was a poor musical composer, which is quite far from the truth — and this is why it is essential to study.

Similarly, when there are demonstrations or practices by “Christians” that appear to have “excesses” or “extremes”, it would be an error to, because of that experience, cast aside the entire foundational Christian principle. It would also not be proper to take the baby (the Christian principle) with the bathwater (the excess); instead, you rightly divide with the Word of God.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.— Hebrews 4:12

Imagine getting a big bag of dollars and Monopoly Money. Regarding the entire bag as Monopoly money would have you lose out on the dollar, and similarly, regarding the whole bag as dollars would have you lugging around a load — and mind you, you have no idea what the percentage makeup of the dollars is. The ideal thing would be to sort through, remove the Monopoly Money and keep the dollars — but one would need to know what dollars look like for this to be possible. Without this knowledge, the only option available is a generalization, which is guesswork!

It is by hasty or generalized reactions to half-truths and excesses (either casting it aside in its entirety or accepting extremities) that certain Christian practices and values have been downplayed to the detriment of the wholistic and balanced growth of believers and have, in turn, led to unbalanced doctrine and excesses. This hast generalization especially plays out in trans-generational or trans-denominational communication/transfer of Christian beliefs, and certain values are fast becoming relics of the past to the detriment of the holistic and complete development of the believer and body.

As we go into the week, I urge us to dig deep, taking the time to study so that we may be able to rightly divide. And based on the Word of God, have the patience to investigate, visit the site of the event in scripture, “go and confirm”, and prove all things that we may rightly divide and hold fast to that which is good.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. — 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Itoro Nehemiah

@_it0r0

Push Buttons is a weekly devotional of The Powerpoint Tribe.