“What were you thinking? Or were you even thinking?” “Did you think before you did this?” Most of us have heard one of these statements or something similar from our parents or said them to our children at one time or another. Sad truth is that lots of people never learn how to think. Often children only memorize facts, but are never trained in methods of evaluating the facts. When new students enrolled in our college, the first thing we administered was a ‘critical thinking’ evaluation. We discovered the majority possessed few critical thinking skills.
The denominational Bible College I attended had an unstated underlying philosophy: This is what you are to believe and it is a sin to question it. Not until I attended graduate school at a university that taught students critical thinking, did I grasp that the Bible College was indoctrinating students and not teaching them how to study the Bible objectively. Through the years, I’ve taught numerous students who attended churches where pastors also didn’t want people to think but rather demanded the congregation accept what they taught without question. This constitutes a form of manipulation. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1). But examine everything carefully (1 Thess 5:21). Examine is also translated, test, analyze, and prove.
Ok! I’m not down on the church or pastors. However, I do see the urgent need of critical thinking Christians. We are facing complex issues in our time that requires people who are equipped to defend Christian beliefs based on a solid foundation of scripture. I was surprised how many articles I found while researching for this that propagated the teaching that no one should ever question the teaching of a pastor. In addition, I discovered several articles stating that Christians should not be critical thinkers. Critical thinking is not being critical and negative. One simple definition calls it ‘evaluative thinking’ for determining what is true and what is false.
As never before in the history of the church, we are living in an age when Satan has launched an all-out war for the minds of people—Secular humanism, political correctness, Naturalistic worldview, tolerance for all religions except Christianity, false prophets within the church, etc. We only have to consider the number of pastors, church leaders, and entire denominations that have forsaken the clear Biblical teaching on marriage and sexual immorality. Sophistry is a word you may seldom hear, but the concept surrounds us every day. Dictionaries define it: the use of subtle reasoning or arguments that sound correct but are based on false premises. Just take note of TV commercials. “Ok, but that’s the secular world,” you say. It is the same method, which false teachers and prophets utilize for convincing hearers of false doctrine.
We can never over emphasize the Biblical teaching on the importance of believers using their minds. Note a few of the numerous verses. Jesus said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND (Mat 22:37, Mar 12:30, Luk 10:27, Deut 6:5);’ Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom 12:2); Being renewed to a true knowledge (Col 3:10); be renewed in the spirit of your mind (Eph 4:23). Luke wrote of the Berean church, Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). Eagerness means a ready (willing) mind. Examined is also translated scrutinize, investigate, determine, question, and judge. Luke gives the purpose of this examination, to see if what Paul said was true.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives insight about how we win over Satan’s battle for our mind. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. v5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Co 10:4, 5). The key words for us are speculations, knowledge, thought. Speculations mean reckoning, reasoning, and imagination. Thought indicates intellect and mind. The spiritual battle for the mind that society and the world are facing requires believers with the ability to think and use their minds for Christ. Wars are not won by passive tactics or ignoring the enemy. The results of this battle are eternal. Parents, pastors, Bible colleges must go beyond telling disciples that something is wrong; we must teach them how to think critically through situations and determine for themselves it is wrong and why it violates the Bible’s teaching.
Sustaining Word for the Week: God gave you a brain, use it. Don’t be deceived by subtle clever arguments based on false premises. Evaluate all teaching based on Biblical truth.