God Wants Us To Be Reasonable
Oxford Dictionary defines the word Reasonable as, “having sound judgment; fair and sensible.”. This is exactly what God expects of the people who claim to follow Him. James 3:17, Isaiah 1:18, Philippians 4:5, and other verses confirm this request of God. James 3:17, though, says it best: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits; impartial and sincere.”
Unfortunately, there are parts of the church that seem to put unreasonableness on a pedestal. They don’t say this out loud, of course, but they promote it in other ways. When a church puts into power the least reasonable and even headed people, that is a way to reject calm rationality. I don’t think names need to be named here; every reader will immediately think of at least one famous church whose head pastor is obstinate and rash. (I can think of three, and more local churches that I’ve witnessed besides.)
These bombastic pastors often pursue this position and power out of pride, as a vanity project to amplify themselves. That kind of pride, I would say, is disqualifying.
That unreasonableness can be displayed in another way too. When a young Christian brings a reasonable question to an elder and is met with a hand wave, that is unreasonable. The Bible never says not to question God. We go to James again for this instruction: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James goes on to warn against letting doubt run rampant in a believer as well. An excellent way to prevent doubt is to answer reasonable questions.
Sometimes, this hand waving comes as a result of long argumentation. I’ll chastise myself here: If someone asks me, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”, I have in the past waved my hand. I’ve argued that point at length with many enemies of the church who do not ask in good faith. I know the answer, and I know where one can go to find it easily. But in my pride and surety, I forget that the new Christian doesn’t.
Another example of this is skepticism and suspicion. In the church, many members can rush to assume the worst of their fellow Christian. This can sometimes be because of past wounds- after all, the Church is a hospital for broken people. Many broken people still bear scars even after years of healing and growth. But other times, this suspicion and skepticism can simply come out of pride. A pride that says whispers in your mind, pointing out the sins of others while hiding your own.
We can tie these three things together then, the hand-waving and the promotion of unreasonable men in the church, and the suspicion. The tie is pride. Pride in the church leads to unreasonableness. In fact, the call to be open, reasonable, impartial, full of mercy- this call is one to humility.
So, instead of hiring a pastor who enjoys bombastic prideful displays, hire one who is gentle and reasonable. When you feel the impulse to wave your hand, remember when you were young and lacked knowledge. And when you look at your brothers and sisters in Christ, assume the best of them. Be reasonable, open to rebuke for your own sins, ready to be proven wrong. If the church took this message to heart, we would be able to work far better for our God.
