Trapped by the Right Answer

Most of us want to know what the right answer is. We go through our educational experience being evaluated as to how well we grasp the right answer. The problem arises when there is disagreement as to what is the right answer. In the world we live in there is disagreement on many things. Evolution or creation has been a topic of discussion for most of my life. More recently discussion centers on a variety of moral standards or lack thereof, depending on your perspective. Where do we go for answers to such questions? For those of us who are followers of God and Yeshua our Messiah we can turn to His Word to see what He has to say and find the right answer, according to the Lord.  

Thankfully the answers are there, for the most part, if we are willing to accept them. However, there are things that are not so clear. As I mentioned in my previous blog, “Thoughts from the Beach”, I wrestle with a variety of things that seem less than clear. While here at the beach, I have read John Piper’s book, The Pleasures of God (It is published by Multnomah, if you are interested). The book is a good review and reminder of who God is and how worthy He is of praise and glory. Piper recognizes that all things are not as clear as we might like them to be. He clarifies this point as he begins chapter five. He speaks of the reality that there has been controversy and discussion on most aspects of theology and belief for a very long time. I agree; if you find your way to the oldest writing of the Midrash and Talmud you will find lively discussion on a variety of teaching concerning the Scriptures. So this is nothing new. Piper suggests that this can be a good thing as “we need to seek our food in the markets of controversy” (Piper, The Pleasures of God 121). Wrestling with concepts and understanding the truth is a powerful way to see the depths and riches of God’s revelation to us.

 The trap that we can fall into is not being satisfied until we find the “right” answer. In our culture we need to know what the right answer is. We are uncomfortable with the ambiguity and apparent contradictions we find in God’s Word. We want the wrestling match to end and the solace of knowing what is “right” to be ours to hold, whether it concerns Spiritual gifts, the coming of our Lord, the place of Torah in our lives or the old question of God’s sovereignty versus man’s free will.  For Piper the wrestling match centers on predestination and particular election verses man’s ability to seek God and find Him. Does God choose, and if He does can he still have compassion and desire all to be saved at the same time?

This question is one that appears to be dear to Piper’s heart. He devotes chapter five (as well as a lengthy appendix) to this very thing. Piper tells us, “My aim is to let Scripture stand – to teach what it will and not to tell it what to say” (Piper 146). He goes on to speak to the question of God’s particular election and yet compassion on all as follows, “Scripture leads us precisely to this paradoxical position. I am willing to let the paradox stand even if I can’t explain it” (Piper 146). It appears that Piper sees that there are things in Scripture that we are able to wrestle with and see the paradox and be comfortable with it. Let it be a controversy that drives us into God’s Word and deeply into the depth of One who longs for us to immerse ourselves in the search to know Him and love Him. However, Piper continues, “It appears to me that those who teach against unconditional election are often controlled by nonbiblical logic” (Piper 146). Piper has found the “right” answer so the wrestling match is over. The paradox does not really exist, it just needs to be read through the election lens. The remainder of his book rests in the shadow of this assumption. God is sovereign. God elects. His grace is irresistible. The non-elect cannot come to God.

It leaves me with many questions as Piper addresses the necessity for prayer, and the short comings of the church to pray. For if God has predestined events to the degree Piper suggests, then God will do what he will do, my prayers are an act of worship to a  God who does not, and perhaps cannot respond. He only acts according to a predetermined plan. It leaves me with questions as to obedience, which he explains as an act of love on my part to bring glory to the God who chose me, but that is predetermined as well. The conclusion I see is that God is not responsive. Piper does try to deal with those issues but it always goes back to his discovery of the right answer concerning election.

I see scripture clearly teaching of God’s unconditional choosing of Israel and of me. I also see Him promising that “As many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of God” (Jn 1:12) and promising the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house” (Acts 16:31). God told Jonah to tell the Ninevites, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). No call to repent, and no mention of Yahweh, but the whole city repented and God relented, He changed His mind, He responded to the cries of the people of Nineveh and did not destroy them in forty days. People  made a choice and God responded. I do believe God to be a responsive God. I believe He interacts with me. I believe my prayers can make a difference. I believe God always does what is right so He can rightly respond to me and even change His mind as I respond to Him. There is an intimacy that is more than predestined. I am content to rest in the paradox and even wrestle with it and not demand a “right” answer.

Sometimes right answers trap us and limit our ability to wrestle. Perhaps God intends for us to search and wrestle, even for a life time. When you demand a right answer over things that have been long wrestled with, you may find it with an expense you didn’t intend to pay. Having found it, it seems reasonable to expect and even demand others to accept your “right” answer. This makes us susceptible to dividing the Body of Christ. We may be tempted to brand those with a different point of view as unbiblical rather than as a beloved brother I can wrestle with. I think God is better pleased with my continued wrestling with Him and other children of His than divisively hanging onto my “right” answer at the expense of the love and unity of His Body. What do you think?