by Aaron Davis
John 14:10–12 (NIV)
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Mark 16:17–18 (NIV)
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
But I question if perhaps many of these cessationist explanations of scripture are derived based more upon times when their experiences didn’t match their expectation of what was written than the will or intent of God. Maybe it’s not the meanings in the words of Jesus that have changed but rather in the faith, belief, or understanding of we who receive or deny them today. I can say quite confidently that if you give ten new believers a Bible and ask them to read the New Testament, not one of them will derive a theory on cessationism based upon biblical text. That kind of thing has to be taught.
So then, is it possible that we have developed more faith in someone’s teachings on why we shouldn’t believe than in Christ’s teachings of what we should? And if so, where does that leave us in the pursuit of that understanding?
I recently read this quotation, which I have paraphrased a bit for clarity, but it seems to reiterate how we so often, as a church, get this wrong:
While He (God) never contradicts His word, He is very comfortable contradicting our understanding of it. Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture. But we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know . . .
There is a great difference between the way Jesus did ministry and the way it is typically done today. He was completely dependent on what the Father was doing and saying. He illustrated this lifestyle after His Holy Spirit baptism. He followed the Holy Spirit’s leading, even when it seemed unreasonable, which it often did.
The church has all too often lived according to the intellectual approach to the Scriptures . . . We have programs and institutions that in no way require the Spirit of God to survive. In fact, much of what we call ministry has no safeguard in it to ensure that He is even present. When our focus is not on the presence of God, we end up doing the best we can for God. Our intentions may be noble, but they are powerless in effect.40
GREATER THAN OR LESS THAN
As established in the previous chapter, the kingdom of God, Jesus’ primary message, was the reestablishment of God’s kingdom through our dominion in this realm. Nearly every documented event and every lesson taught by Jesus was to bring clarity to what the kingdom of God should look like when it is established and manifested. When Jesus did things, He did them as an example to those in attendance with Him. Then in John 14:12 (referred to earlier in this chapter), He goes on to say, “Greater things will those who believe in Him do.”
When I consider the “kingdom of God” message and subsequent displays of power in the life of Jesus, I see what seems to be an intentional example conveyed by Jesus, because He knew that His life would be the catalyst and living example for the reestablishment of God’s kingdom with and through man. He would be teaching and showing the people who God always intended them to be before sin hijacked their destiny. If this is the case, not only do we learn from the teachings of Jesus the importance of loving God and loving our neighbor, which are believed to be foundational teachings of Jesus’ kingdom message, but also what it should look like when we walk in the fulfillment of that kingdom when Jesus says, “These signs should follow those who believe” (see Mark 16).
USING YOUR AUTHORITY TO TRANSFORM YOUR REALITY
If this is the case, then when Jesus, in Mark 11, curses a fig tree and it withers up and dies by the next morning, maybe Jesus didn’t curse the fig tree because he was mad that the tree didn’t have fruit on it, as some assume. Perhaps instead He was methodically setting up an example to teach His disciples a lesson on the kingdom of God and displaying what it looks like when man directs and releases faith in the authority that God intended for him to walk in.
Mark 11:12–14, 20–25 (NIV)
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Courts
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ”May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it . . .
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ”Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
I find it curious that Jesus addresses faith and belief again in this example while speaking to Peter and His disciples. Apparently, according to Jesus here, not only is salvation established through some undefined relationship to faith and belief within the kingdom of God, but so also is the conceivably impossible act of speaking to a mountain and having it cast into the sea. I find it equally interesting that the words Jesus uses in this example are “truly I tell you,” and “if anyone says.”
These words indicate two things—that Jesus is emphasizing the truth of what he is saying and that truth being that anyone (not just the disciples) can exhibit this kingdom principle. It’s as if there is an unwritten kingdom law being explained by Jesus. The lesson of the law was exampled in simplicity with the fig tree and expounded upon with the mountain. But both dependent on the same kingdom principle of faith that also substantiates and solidifies one’s salvation.
If Jesus meant what He said in this passage and what He said is truth that anyone can operate within this law if they meet the faith verses doubt and willingness to declare requirement, then I have to ask, is Jesus presenting a case of presently untapped potential for we who are in this kingdom of God?
If so, it would seem that the fig tree and the mountain are both physical examples and metaphors and there are unknown laws that connect physics to the spirit realm through what seems to be a faith conduit.
And if that is the case, then maybe there is a Quantum Christianity parallel between the place where physicists realized that there were previously unknown forms of energy, and the act of exploring the possibilities.
ON THE EDGE OF UNDERSTANDING
I’ve heard it said that “faith explores what revelation provides (or reveals).” Like the physicists who believed that there was more to quantify and sought to understand what was later defined as Quantum Physics, I wonder if we are on the verge of parallel understanding of Quantum Kingdom or Quantum Christianity principles. It’s not that they never existed before, only that we are just now in the place in history when the right timing, the willingness to question, and the ability to explore have all met on the same plane. This possibility doesn’t change the foundations of our faith but could expand our possibilities beyond our previous limitations as we give ourselves permission to explore them.
As long as
we are remotely comfortable or content for things to be what they are, it is unlikely that they will ever change. For Einstein and the other early twentieth-century physicists, believing there may be more was enough to cause them to pursue what that looked like. I wonder if the current state of Christianity is in a conundrum of sorts in direct parallel to the experientially based belief systems that have been fostered for generations.
If this is a possibility, then we are faced with a dilemma, much like Balaam and many others in the Bible, who had to concede that God was willing and able to operate outside the box of our previous understanding of Him. And if this is so, then concessions will have to be made to acknowledge that just because we’ve never experienced or understood something, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We may just be experiencing the beginning of previously unexplored potential.
From a biblical perspective, the word repent is most simply defined: to change one’s mind. Is it possible that maybe the greatest sin mankind has ever committed is to have underestimated God? If so, what would repentance look like from this “type” of sin?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Is It Possible?
“You can never solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that created the problem in the first place.”
—Albert Einstein
I recognize, as a pastor that asking an open-ended question such as “Is it possible?” has the potential to be very dangerous. After all, one could easily argue that anything is possible. It’s this very line of questioning that has led to spin-off religions and cults that have had an appearance of Christian parallels or semi-logical substantiation but lack biblical consistency and ultimately stifle faith rather than encourage it.
When I ask the question “Is it possible?” let it be understood that what I am asking is, “Is it possible (or in some cases, could it also be possible) that what is being questioned could also be derived and substantiated from a biblical perspective?” Although it may differ from (or at times present additional clarity to) some previous biblical interpretations, it does not divert from the heart or foundational principles of the Bible.
Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
Although questions are often discouraged, they’re important as it pertains to what we believe and why. After all, the Bible says it is “to the glory of kings to search out a matter.” Part of human nature is to be inquisitive and analytical, and I believe that God wants us to investigate and search out deeper levels of understanding and to “have an intellectual inquisitiveness that puts us on a search for the deeper and more meaningful purpose in life.”41
Matthew 7:7 (NIV)
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
If you study Matthew 7:7 more in depth, the text should actually read, “Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.” Although we may have been taught not to ask too many questions by insecure leaders who simply didn’t have too many answers, God is not a God of limited supply. There is wisdom to be gained by those willing to pursue Him for the answers, and it’s not wrong or irreverent to ask, seek, or knock—repetitively! I’m convinced that varying degrees of revelation are available to those who are willing to press in beyond traditional pursuit ceilings.
KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW
I did not come to the conclusions of what I believed without significant consideration of other perspectives. I’ve always been one to know what I believed and why I believed it, and I’ve put significant time and study into my belief systems and the conclusions that I have reached. Because of this, it is rare that I hear a perspective on Christianity that I have not previously considered and already come to my own personal conclusion upon. But I will admit that on several occasions, as I performed my research for this book and considered some of the questions that came up in the process, these questions led me to the possibility of conclusions that differed from what I had previously been taught or considered.
Let’s be honest, from church to church what we have been taught is ultimately a leader’s or organization’s interpretation of scriptures that they have read in the Bible. And for every denomination represented in Christianity, there is an interpretation of a scripture, set of scriptures, or philosophy that differs. As a result, we have around 41,000 denominations of Christianity in existence in the world today based solely upon an individual or groups differing agreement with an interpretation of scriptures.
Not only is it not wrong to seek understanding; it’s a matter of fact that the denomination (or non-denomination) with which you or your family may affiliate was established because of events surrounding this very question-versus-conclusion process. Although many people believe that they are right, not everyone can be 100 percent right, for if one is completely right, then the other with a contrary view cannot be. To insist that any one of these denominations have the entire scoop on God and the Bible (as they may claim to be the case) is, in my opinion, a gross example of pride and arrogance.
Just because something is not your flavor does not make it completely wrong. I use the word completely in this sentence because I am of the opinion that it is likely that no one is completely right, so by default, every one of us are likely wrong in some capacity. I’ve yet to meet another individual with whom I agree 100 percent on some of the interpretational issues of the Bible.
My theory is that in eternity all of us will likely be astounded by the truth of the issues that we thought we knew but actually really know very little about. The more I grow in knowledge, the less I realize that I have actually known about the subject matters that I have been previously felt resolved about.
EXPECTATION BEYOND THE CLICHÉ
We live in a society that is full of clichés. Rarely do we ask or answer a common question without resorting to some sort of thoughtless answer or phrase. But I wonder; do the words we choose reveal what we think about given issues?
Luke 6:45 (AMP)
The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.
We should understand from life experiences alone that different people process circumstances and difficulties different ways. But on a near-weekly basis, I hear someone reveal a perspective that they have adopted by rationalizing their circumstances with some sort of an acceptable cliché:
Well, you know, Pastor Aaron, everything happens for a reason.
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
God is in control.
I don’t necessarily disagree with any of these statements when conveyed in context, but I’m convinced that most people who resort to the cliché do so because that has been the taught response but not necessarily the thought-out response.
For instance, I agree that most everything happens for a reason, but not necessarily an unavoidable one or a divinely inspired one, as the tone of the cliché most often implies when quoted. I also agree that the Lord definitely does some things that I would consider mysterious at times (even from a biblical perspective), but this understanding doesn’t necessarily imply that every time something happens and I don’t understand why, that the only catalyst is the Lord and His mysterious ways.
In the case of the most common cliché I hear in my circles, “God is in control,” I frequently find myself asking silently (so as not to offend), “In control of what?” The car that the drunk driver drove across the center line and smashed into that other vehicle, killing the family? The gun that the terrorist used to shoot up the church full of people? Is God in control of the child molester in the news who raped and killed the six-month-old little girl yesterday? Just what exactly is God in control of? Because if He
is, in fact, in control of those things like our cliché is insinuating, then I feel that I have a legitimate argument with who God actually is when the Bible describes Him as a God of love and justice.
I, for one, am just not content to accept the cliché when there appears to be an inconsistency between what is supposed to be the truth and the reality of a very contrary experience. I just wonder if, because of ignorance and pain on many occasions where clarity could be found with pursuit of it, we have simply found the cliché easier or less painful to accept and move on, rather than chasing the understanding.
So what do the clichés that we reiterate reveal about our actual belief systems in light of what we discussed previously in this book? It’s possible that these clichés insinuate at least a portion of what we question, rationalize, and quite often come to believe about God. And if they are an “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” reveal of how we view Him, do our expectations (or lack thereof) contribute to our reception—to our future? Do we unknowingly pave the path for what we end up receiving, based upon what we expected to receive?
As I remember the lesson of Jesus and the fig tree, I wonder if it’s possible that there is a spiritual law at work that directly connects our expectations to our experiences.
Mark 11:20–24 (NIV)
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”