I have always appreciated his emphasis on the role the mind has in bringing glory to God. In this article he looks at the necessity of the use of our minds in following Jesus. Mohler also points out that too many Christians ignore the intellectual component of discipleship. I agree wholeheartedly. I have heard pastors say things like, "I'm not theological." How is that even possible? I have also heard pastors say things like, "Discipleship means getting coffee with someone." While I like a good brew there is a lot more to discipleship than that. In my opinion, the neglect of the intellectual component of discipleship is one of the things that has harmed the American church most severely.
Mohler ends his article with this:
The fact that God would command that we love him with our minds indicates in a most profound and unmistakable sense that our Creator has made us to know him in order that we would love him and to seek his glory above all else. Understood in this light, our intellectual capacity and the discipleship of the mind are to culminate in the development of a Christian worldview that begins and ends in the glory of the self-revealing God of the Bible.
To be fair, there are also pastors that think discipleship=education. This is equally wrong to neglecting the intellectual component. We have to engage our minds. One reason why I think that a lot of youth leave the church when they hit college is because their minds haven't been engaged. Most of their faith has been merely experiential and then they hit college and they are mentally engaged- engaged in a way that says leave behind what you thought you knew. With that being very little it is easy to do.
Some people, including pastors, functions from a mindset that says people dont love Jesus more by sitting in a class. I strongly disagree. My faith was growing weary my senior year of high school- I grew up in a seeker sensitive church and had learned very, very little theology. Therefore, my faith was, like most students, merely experiential. Experience without meat is vain. When I went to Boyce College I learned about 10 million more times theology than I had known before. What happened next? I started loving Jesus more. I understood what God was like better. I understood how the Holy Spirit works and the depth of the cross and resurrection. Learning through deep theological study made me desire deeper intimacy with the God of the universe.
If any of you are wanting to study more deeply and understand your Bibles and your God better here is what I recommend:
1) Be at a church that truly values theological study. Dont be at a church where the sermons are pep talks with verses. If you ask your pastor what you can do to study the Bible more deeply with others and he doesnt have anywhere for you to go- leave.
2) Realize that a lot of it is up to you. You cant fully depend on others- you have to do the hard work. You have to open your own Bible and read it- consistently.
3) Start with "According to Plan." I tell you to start with that book because it will help you understand your Bible better. It helps you see how the Old and New Testaments fit together, it helps you understand how Jesus really is the center of the Bible and all that God is doing. In order to really grow in your understanding of God you need to grow in your understanding of His word. According to Plan is the best book for that. Graeme Goldsworthy has had a bigger influence on me than any other authors because he helped me understand the Bible and taught me how to study the Word.
4) Ask tons and tons of questions. Again, you have to be at a church where you have a place to ask these questions!
5) Pray- and understand the goal of all of this... The goal is not to be puffed up with knowledge. The goal is to be a consecrated disciple of Jesus- which includes glorifying God with your mind. You cant love someone more when you arent learning more about them. What makes marriage great is that I learn about my wife as we continue to be together and the more I learn the more I love- it is the same with God. Our hearts and minds cannot be separated.
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