The Think Tank of the Church

A recent article written by the Associated Press, makes the case that the cease-fire in the Middle East is on shaky ground. 

OK. We kind of already knew that. 

Then the article doubles-down on their groundbreaking claim, by stating:

“A New York-based think tank warned that the ceasefire ‘ hovers on the verge of collapse.’”

I don’t know about you, but if you are part of a think tank, shouldn’t you be thinking thoughts that are far above the average intelligence? How many hours did the people who are (apparently) paid to think, think in order to come to this conclusion?  

Maybe the better question is: where can we find a job like that.

Merriam Webster says that a think tank is:

“an institute, corporation, or group organized to study a particular subject (such as a policy issue or a scientific problem) and provide information, ideas, and advice.”

If this New York-based think tank is (1) organized to (2) study (3) the particular problem in Iran and (4) provide ideas, then it fulfills its charter by definition. However, this conclusion (or at least the part of it that the AP reported), required no expertise. It just required common sense and a newspaper.

So it goes with discipleship in the church.

First, there are those who have been skilled at preaching and teaching the Word. These must not do so in a vacuum. If you happen across a ministry where the leader teaches what God individually revealed to him, and there is no clear corroboration in the Bible and no history of acceptance of the idea in the 2,000 year history of the church, then that person needs to humble himself before a think tank of believers, grounded in the plain and historically accepted Word of God. One true marker of heresy is the claim that a single person has spotted something in Scripture that no other believer, living or dead, has ever seen.

There is safety in the think tank of historic Christianity.

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3)

Next, every believer has the ability, armed with the Word of God and the sense inspired by the Holy Spirit, to understand the plain truth of God. God has not hidden knowledge of himself, and kept it for only some elite few thinkers. He has not hidden his truth from the nations, choosing instead to reveal it secretly to a select few individuals. To the contrary, His gospel is to be known by many and proclaimed, loudly to everyone so that some may come to faith and salvation. The actions of God to redeem those who would repent and believe  (Mark 1:15) is a gospel to be widely proclaimed by every person and easily understood (Matthew 28:16-20) by any hearer.

There is no need for you to wait to become a big thinker, qualified to sit in a New York-based theological think tank, in order to share the love of Christ with your neighbor. Stop waiting for perfect knowledge and make Him known today.