Tossed by the Wind

Earlier this year I was given a verse that was supposed to be picked specifically for me.  It was Ephesians 4:14-16 which reads:

14 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.  15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ.  16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 To be entirely honest with you I had no clue what the heck this verse meant, and had no clue what it was supposed to mean to me outside of the fact that it speaks of love.  In fact, to this very day I am still not entirely sure what all of this verse means or why it was picked for me.  I do think that I have some understanding of it now especially the first two verses.

Verses 14 and 15 are fairly clear I feel.  It actually plays on an idea from a book I had to read over the summer for college, which is horribly ironic because much of the book attacked the idea of faith.  In this book the author, Carl Sagan, makes a constantly repeated (quite unnecessarily I might add) to humanity to think critically about what they are told and to not just accept things.  This is a very important idea and one that really all should practice.  People these days are cunning, they can quote things to make them say anything.  For instance, did you know that the bible says "So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work." (Ecclesiastes 2:24).  Essentially we are being told that we are to only worry about eating and drinking (which likely is referring to alcohol) all our days.  This verse is essentially confirming that the way college students live (well the vast majority of them) is the correct way to live. 


What I didn't tell you is that verse 24 continues on to say "Then I realized that this pleasure is from the hand of God" which drastically changes the entire meaning of the verse.  It shifts from live without a care to enjoy life because God has given you many great things, and in verse twenty five the transformation is complete.  It states "For who can enjoy anything apart from Him" demonstrating that we still need to remain true to God and continue our relationship with him in order for eating and drinking to be beneficial (which could provide an extraordinary solution to the average college kid's life.... but that's for another time...).  


Anyway, now that I proved a point, here's how I would carry out practicing this idea of skeptical thinking.

1. Make sure they give you a bible verse to back it up
• If they do not then its very likely that they don't actually know what they are talking about however you should still go to step 3 just to make sure that God was using someone who is new in the faith and not entirely familiar with his word yet.
2. If they do go and check out the verses that they used.  
• Make sure they gave you the full verse and check out the surrounding context of the verse.  Does the verse still have the same meaning the speaker (or writer, or whoever) gave it when its placed with its neighboring scripture?  If the verse doesn't mean the same thing and is an integral part of their argument then you should really start to question whether the speaker was being truthful however if its only a minor basis for their argument then you should still check out step three.
3. Finally, (and you really ought to do this first most of the time but oh well) look for yourself
• Go to the bible, do your own research, pray about it.  Ask and you will receive.  I am quite confident that if you come and really search for the truth God will reveal it to you.  This is a bit tedious but can really help you ensure that what you are being taught is true. 

So that is my personal method for checking the validity of something that I don't think is true, however I must caution you that there is a difference between feeling that something isn't true and not wanting something to be true.  Not only can others deceive you into doing things that you shouldn't, you can also deceive yourself into not doing things that you should.  Remember, check all the verses, and the context of each verse, not just the verses that make what you want to be true true,

Finally, on to the last verse.  I'm entirely sure what this is supposed to mean, perhaps God is planning on using it for something in my future but anyway all that I can get from it (and in this case the surrounding context isn't much help either) is that the church is referenced as the body before with Jesus the head of the church.  Therefore the verse is saying that when the members of the church act in love the body of Christ will grow and spread, which I whole heartedly agree with however for some reason I still feel as if there is something more to it.  I just have no clue what it is at this moment.



Until next time,
Godspeed

p.s. for anyone who is interested I posted videos of the cru worship band from last week, you can find them on my youtube profile at http://www.youtube.com/user/aliounis?feature=mhsn