And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.
Interestingly they answered that they could not answer.
- The chief priests
- The scribes
- The elders
These were the people in Israel one would have thought had the answers. The Bible makes it very clear why they could not provide one. They were worried about the consequences of their answer. They reasoned among themselves what would be the repercussions of whatever answer they gave and so chose to give no answer.
I think this problem plagues more preachers than we imagine. We may have an answer from the Bible, but we are keenly aware that whatever answer we give will come with consequences.
There is an answer the inquirer is not mature enough to embrace
Paul addresses this issue in Romans and the subject of meat. Though I might know a thing is biblically true, I need to be aware that not all believers have this same level of understanding.
There is an answer the inquirer does not want to hear
Proverbs, I believe, teaches us to let the inquirer dip out the counsel rather than our just pouring it all over them. If they are not reachable, hold your tongue.
There is an answer that is our opinion and not strictly biblical
And in those cases, we ought to admit it and be flexible if not teachable ourselves.
The best way to address each of these issues is by avoiding one on one counseling and teaching and insist instead on the inquirer getting their answers from the public preaching. If they are not listening there, they will not receive what we might give privately.
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824
For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.
If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.
For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.
My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org
No comments:
Post a Comment