"Hear, O Israel. The Lord is our God, the
Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I
am commanding
you today in your heart."
- Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 6 -
"Teacher, which commandment
in the law is the greatest? He said to him, 'You shall love
the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This
is the
greatest and first commandment.... ' "
-
Matthew 22: 36 - 38 -
Catch the difference? One word changed for another: mind for might.
Deuteronomy, according to scholarly opinion, was written during the
latter part of the 7th Century BC. The 'Second Law', as presented to
the spiritually and socially transforming Jews, was a 'no-debate'
legal platform. One either obeyed it, or one didn't. It was only
until centuries later when Jewish minds really got into thinking
about the Law, its interpretation, and how it was to be applied to
everyday spiritual and social life. One must not forget that the Ten
Commandments contain the first three dictums that deal directly with
God, and the remaining seven deal with familial, social and legal
issues. So, it was only a matter of time before human legalism would
enter the picture and disputations began.
The clearest example of Scripture telling of the change from absolute,
unquestioning obedience to God's Law, to an atmosphere of
accommodation and debate is presented in Isaiah 1: 18,
"Come now, let us reason together, says the
Lord...." (Geneva Bible) and from the New Revised Standard
Version:
"Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord...."
In the Greek Septuagint (Ptolemaic Greek interpretation of the Hebrew
Scriptures) dielegcqvmen
(dielegchithomen) is interpreted as let us
discuss, reason. And the Hebrew Tanakh (Holy Scriptures) has
it as:
"Come, let us reach an understanding, says the
Lord." It is insightful how the NRSV came up with the
hard-edge word, 'argue' instead of using 'reason' - probably because
the modern day interpreters of the NRSV are all too aware of how
human emotions become heated as a 'discussion' over law, political
issues, and social matters gets underway amongst many people.
Insightfulness is worth good currency in some situations, but I feel
the NRSV erred with its rendering the word 'argue'. That smacks too
closely to the influences of Socratic disputation - back in the days
when 'argue' was understood differently as meaningful debate and
reason. But today, argue means one thing within the general public's
understanding, and that meaning is an ugly confrontation where
within a matter of seconds, all logic and decorum are abandoned and
replaced by visceral vituperation and ego-driven one-upmanship.
Jesus was intimately aware of the legalistic, argumentative mind of
the people of his time. After all, the Pharisees, Scribes and
Sadducees were continually chasing him around so as to engage him in
tricky, legal questions and arguments. He knew that his disciples
would be confronted with the same situations and he also knew that
it would take a sharp mind to out-fox the adversaries. If there be
any doubts about this point, one only has to read the letters of
Paul. Make special note of Romans 12: 2-3 -
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace
given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself
more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober
judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has
assigned." The process and time required to develop the sober
judgment to 'discern the will of God' is not something that happens
instantly. We all must mature and season in our faith journey in
Christ. Too often the seed of faith falls on hard ground, quickly
and enthusiastically sprouts, but without a growing root system of
one's maturing in God, the sprout withers and dies. The root system
of faith is patience - patience in allowing God's plan for each and
every one of us to unfold in its own time. It is not something to
worry about. Just let the Holy Spirit do his work in you.
'Yes' we can approach God intellectually, for did not Abraham do so in
his debating with the Lord to stay the execution of the inhabitants
of Sodom? (Genesis 18: 20 - 33). With faith as their underpinning,
at the core of their centers, the intelligent minds of the disciples
would always be anchored in Christ, being crafty enough to disarm
the adversary with the simple and profound wisdom that comes from
God.
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©Copyright 2009 - Donald Neal McKay -
The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP
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