Proper Motives in Study

Every Christmas my Puritan collection grows. It is a great time for acquiring new books to plumb the depths of the riches of theology and the Christian tradition. I just ordered a Louis Berkhof systematic theology to join the fray with the others on the shelf, and actually it may be time to add another Ikea bookshelf to my office while I am at it! Reading and thinking about the Word of God is one of the most fascinating things anyone can do. There is no bottom to the depth of what is contained in the Scriptures and it is exciting for me to jump into something so wonderfully over my head.

Yet I have cause to remind myself from time to time what the point of it all is. The study of God and His Word is a most worthwhile experience, but it cannot be divorced from its ends. And its ends are not intellectual, entertaining, or self-advancing--but very spiritually practical.

Some Negative Examples

It is not surprising that the Bible has examples of many unbelievers who were fascinated in knowledge and the preaching of dramatic men. Darkness is opposed to light and I will grant most of the Biblical testimony provides examples of the hot opposition between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Nevertheless there is at times a more subtle craftiness at work in the hearts of men: where the obvious power and depth of knowledge contained in the corpus of Christian teaching are seen as appealing, and are erroneously sought as ends in themselves.

This may be what prompted Herod Antipas to continue to listen to John the Baptist, even after the man had the prophet imprisoned for speaking against him (Mark 6:20). To hear that John preach must have been quite the experience: just listening to the boldness and wrestling with his confrontations. But strong rhetoric and resounding messages in themselves did not change Herod’s heart—as showed by his eventual execution of John.

John 6 illustrates a similar story as the crowds flocked to the charismatic miracle worker. Jesus was popular and justifiably so! Everywhere He went the supernatural was manifesting itself: people were being healed, taught, and even receiving miraculously multiplied food. From a human standpoint what could have been more intriguing than watching and listening to Jesus when He was on the earth? But Jesus was not interested in freeloaders who came to him to satisfy their itch for entertainment. He preferred a quality of steadfastness over mere quantity in his followers—and resorted to some “hard sayings” to have that winnowing effect. 

The same can be said of Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7 who invited Jesus to his home for dinner: surely Simon is interested in Jesus for no other reason than He is so very interesting! Could you imagine having Jesus over for dinner? Think of all the questions you could ask, doctrines you could peruse, subtleties you could have smoothed out! I myself would probably have had a Bible open and ready to go with a list of questions to ask the Son of God. Perhaps that was Simon’s intent, but Simon’s peer to peer conduct was put to shame by a disreputable women’s repentant heart. She loved much because she was forgiven much and Simon seemingly had nothing to forgive. 

One further example of wrong motives in true religion is a different Simon, Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8. He saw the real power of the Holy Spirit in the apostles and could tell it was superior to his own. Verse 13 tells us that Simon himself believed and was baptized—and eventually followed Philip everywhere. All good! But the why is revealed a few verses later and shows his worldly priorities never corrected. All the religion was a ploy to gain this power for himself and perhaps establish a more successful money making show than he had before. When he attempted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit Peter rebuked him: “may your money perish with you…your heart is not right before God.”

Doers of the Word

What is the right reason to listen to true doctrine and teaching? The Psalmist says “Teach me your ways that I may walk in your truth” (Psalm 86:11) and “Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33). James says “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Paul writes, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:9-10). And Jesus concludes his sermon on the mount by saying: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24).

Puritan Thomas Manton said on the scope of knowledge: “Come with a fixed resolution to obey, and refer all to practice. Knowledge is the means, doing is the end.” The end of knowledge is obedience, to put the information into practice. Now practice has both a vertical and horizontal dimension: it will cause us to praise and love the Lord greater, and also love and serve those around us.

I have need to frequently check my own motives in study and reading. Am I doing this for the right reasons? Is beholding the glory of God the real driving factor in reading of His majesty, or am I merely fascinated with the content? Is there a lurking desire to be smarter or “more right” than others, that will allow me to show off my superior knowledge when opportunity presents itself? Or am I treating this whole thing as some sort of self-improvement exercise, which will ultimately give me a differential advantage over the competition for recognition and more clicks on the blog? This is the same use of spiritual means towards a worldly end displayed by those negative examples above—and deserves strongest caution possible.

There is a Godward orientation that needs to present in our study of theology and our pursuit of knowledge--an innately spiritual dimension. When we venture into the subject matter we are entering hallowed ground. Our study must not be mere study in the normal sense of the term, where we compile more data to our brains in a session, stop, and resume downloading next time around; it is not an analytical or scientific exercise. In order for it to be truly transformative and trickle from our heads down into our hearts and hands we need the Lord to be with us, both illuminating our minds but softening our hearts in tandem. You could say our theology must be done on our knees, from which we petition heaven that these great truths take root in our hearts. It is only with this divine assistance that our growth in knowledge will lead to greater worship and obedience—and thereby be pleasing to God.

**

Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.

Psalm 119:33-36