Oh yeah? Prove it!

I had a fantastic discussion with a bright young man this weekend that really gt me thinking about how I approach some parts of my life.  His answer to why he felt okay with doing something was that no one had been able to show him that the Bible told him not to.  I found the statement to be extremely profound on multiple levels.

Initially, I was put into a place where I was trying to rack my brain about places in the Bible that pertained to this young man's choice and how I could use these versus to give a hand.  I also was a bit disturbed to come to the realization that I probably did not have the full capability to give him enough versus to help him make a decision.  That brought on some feelings in me about how much Bible I am reading myself.

But, as I let the whole scenario sink in, the true revelation of the situation came to me.  That realization was that all people are inherently flawed.  I know this is not a new concept and I acknowledge that it has been covered many times, in many churches, across the country.  It was only when I allowed myself to go deeper that I came to know how that might be the answer in this situation.  If people are flawed, then why would we rely on them to solely give us God's intentions for our lives?  Is it their responsibility to give this information?  And, if so, how accurate will it be?  I do NOT contend that someone teaching the Word of God is going to be bad and/or wrong.  However, I will contend that the living, breathing Word of God is meant to be taught by the Spirit, ad well as human teachers.

In the end, I need to be seeking what God wants for me.  As much as I wanted to give him the answer, the more I was compelled to tell him to go find it for himself.

I think God is kind of funny that way.  Any revelation that I receive usually comes out of my mouth to someone else before it comes to me.  Almost as if God is putting the other person there for me and tricking me into believing that I am the one helping.  I think we as Christians can become a little lazy and dependent upon the teaching of others and we tend to lose our own natural skepticism and curiosity.  We should then rely more on what we find and what the Spirit reveals to us to help us make those tough decisions.