Go and Psychoanalyze No More

 

Psychoanalyzing the Sermon on the Mount or the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids? Jesus’ words may look difficult to put into practice, but they are not usually difficult to understand. 

If I am seeking out various theological interpretations of His instruction to love my enemy, it may not be because I am looking for a deeper knowledge of God. It is more likely because I don’t want to love the person who belittled my career, insulted my religion, stole my possessions or worse. Often, our theological discussions can become a way of sidestepping the things God is asking us to do.

There is another false motive that is perhaps even more devious. For some of us, the desire to obtain biblical knowledge is driven simply by a desire for knowing stuff, mere knowledge.

Allow me to explain: Some of us do not study the Scriptures for the purpose of knowing God. We study them for the purpose of knowing more. 

- We harbor a degree of superiority and pride in the fact that we are more knowledgeable than most.

- We seek to correct the interpretations of others, not to help them see God, but to establish our own authority. 

And if this is our motive, we are not likely to ever find God. “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life” (John 5:39-40).

It seems instead that God reveals Himself to the humble. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Mat. 11:25).

The study of Scripture is a journey, a narrow way every so often littered with some fine lines and gray areas that invites the community of believers, the Church, to know a transcendent yet immanent God. So, go... and psychoanalyze no more.