11 Mar Pastors’ Update
Last Sunday our message at Revival Church was about praying for our nation in the light of Brexit.
The question raised was what do we know about the EU and how aware were we of the Christian story of this nation? You’ll have to listen to the audio to discover what was said. You can do so by clicking here. But the challenge was this.
We live, like never before, in an age where we are assailed with information 24/7. We have constant and instant access to opinion upon opinion. But who is making our mind up, not only on Brexit but on anything?
For those of us who are Christians we need to ask ourselves who is determining what we believe about doctrine and theology? Do we simply lap up everything our favourite preacher or teacher has to say or do we check it against the Bible?
That’s not to say we don’t build up a relationship of trust with someone but if something comes along that we’re not quite sure about do we simply say, oh they must be right because they’re Joe Bloggs, or do we do our homework and root and own a teaching.
No trustworthy teacher sets out to get things explicitly wrong but we’re all human and it’s healthy to do our own personal groundwork. That extends to reading the Bible.
Whilst the Bible is true and to be trusted it’s a fact that translations vary because translators had different slants or understandings on what they were rendering.
A good practice is to arm ourselves with a Hebrew and Greek to English interlinear Bible – you can access them online for free – to cross-check the full and rich meaning of the Bible. It’s a really rewarding exercise as well as very necessary.
When we buy a home we’d be unwise if we didn’t do plenty of groundwork.
If we go for a job interview it’s imperative that we research the company we’re hoping to work for.
If we plan to spend the rest of our life with the man or woman of our dreams we would be unwise to say yes to them on the strength of a first date.
The Bible tells us that those of us who are Christians have the mind of Christ and we know all things.
That doesn’t mean we somehow have the complete store of a knowledge in our spirits but it does mean we are have a wisdom, discernment, knowledge and understanding from God which we can apply to all situations, be that Brexit or otherwise.
Our thinking and understanding is meant to be of a higher order but that only comes about when we use what is at our disposal. As Christians we need to train ourselves in processing all things – be it Brexit or the Bible – with the Holy Spirit tools God has given us.
Andy and Jane Robb
Senior Pastors