When I was on a mission trip to Nicaragua in 1998, there was only one person in our group who spoke Spanish. Anytime any of us would be having a conversation with someone, we would constantly be calling for him to interpret for us and the person we were talking to. After a while, I felt bad for him because he looked so tired of running back and forth between conversations. But, he was a very valued member of our group because we never had to question who our interpreter was. He was the man and he did an excellent job of it.
The reason I tell that story is because in the Church today, it seems like there is uncertainty about who our interpreter of Scripture is. Jesus said in John 16:13-14, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." Jesus teaches the disciples that the work of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth. Our world claims to have many truths. All the religions claim to be true. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us in all truth found the Scriptures because those contain the true words of God. However, something I have noticed lately is that so-called Christians are not allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. Christians are turning to another interpreter to "illuminate" the Scriptures for them, the philosophies of this world. In our goal to become more relevant, the Church in some parts of our country are becoming too relevant by allowing worldly philosophies that come and go to interpret the timeless and unchangeable Word of God. Rather than calling on the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth of a difficult passage of Scripture, we are running to all the worldly philosophies that are out there to give us "wisdom." It makes me question whether some in the Church have had their minds renewed by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul says in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you will be test and approve what God's will is; his good, pleasing, and perfect will." Paul warns against conforming to the pattern of this world and I don't think some Christians are heeding that warning.
I have talked with those who profess Christ through Facebook and through other conversations about their views of Scripture and the Bible. It breaks my heart to see those who are supposedly transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit interpret Scripture to conform with the world's ideas of what is right and wrong. The Bible is our standard for what is right and wrong and when the Bible is black and white over an issue, then as followers of Christ, we need believe that and adhere to it. Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." This echoes what God told the Israelites through Moses before they entered the Promised Land. And, if Jesus is the same God who spoke to the Israelites about keeping the commandments then we need to do the same if we are to confess our love for Christ. Christ did not set us free so that we could have the freedom to follow what we wanted to. He set us free so that we would be unhindered in our devotion and service to Him.
So, who is your interpreter of the Scriptures? Do you let the philosophies of this world interpret the Scriptures for you and if so, what do you think of Jesus' statement in John 14:15? This world needs those who are devoted to Christ wholeheartedly. The more we look like the world, the more Jesus will look less and less necessary for people's lives. People need a Savior not another worldly philosopher. Christians, we need to be courageous enough to stand for the truth and we need the Holy Spirit, not the world, to guide us into all truth.
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