BQOW Archives - The Average Churchman

3 Outcomes of Thinking

By Adam Nesmith | August 10, 2023

Although there is almost nothing as basic as thinking, there are always ways to improve your thinking skills. This is especially important for Christians: you and I are called to read, meditate on, accurately interpret and apply Biblical texts that are often complex. Thinking well takes time and effort, but it is natural to try to short circuit the thinking process by moving too fast. One of my favorite secular authors who writes on how to think better is Edward De Bono. In one of his books I have been slowly working through, he helpfully lays out 3 distinct outcomes of thinking. Knowing which outcome you are seeking will keep you from trying to do all three at once and thereby make your thinking rushed or less clear.

There are many possible outcomes of thinking, but we can simply them into three types of outcome:

Better map (exploration)

Pin-pointing needs

Specific answer

Edward De Bono, Teach Your Child How to Think pp 101

Getting to the desired answer takes time

When you sit down alone or with others to think or study, your ultimate goal is often some specific answer. Whether addressing a theological question or making a family decision, you and I very rarely think for no other purpose than to think. We have problems to solve, answers to discover, arguments to assess, decisions to make. However, when dealing with complicated questions or problems, the desired answer may take a long time to reach. If you spend hours or days thinking carefully through a topic and you haven’t reached a conclusion, is that effort wasted?

De Bono helps us out by giving two other outcomes of thinking beyond simply coming to an answer. Sometimes thinking about a topic gives you a “better map”. This metaphor points to the fact that sometimes you and I need to think about a topic just to understand it better. To make sense of the issues surrounding it. To understand what other people have said about it. By exploring a topic mentally, even if you haven’t come to a conclusion, you should have a better idea of the alternate options (or alternate interpretations in the case of most Bible study) and to simply learn more. Rushing to an answer or conclusion without actually exploring the topic can, in the end, cause you to make a poorly informed decision.

The other outcome of thinking besides getting an answer is “pin-pointing needs”. As you seek to answer complicated questions, oftentimes the process of thinking yields further questions to answer. Additionally, you may find that you don’t actually have the information you need to answer the question at hand. In this way, you can figure out what specific roadblocks exist that hinder you from reaching an answer. The key word here is specific. One the most beneficial outcomes of thinking in my experience is going from a general question or problem to specific, narrowed down information needs or further questions you must answer in order to come to a solution. Complicated and nuanced issues are unlikely to be solved in half an hour of reflection. But, in that time of thinking, you most likely can pin-point a “next step” to take to help answer that question.

Robust thinking leads to robust answers

Why is all this important? You and I live in a time and place where, through social media especially, opinions and propositions are being thrown out at lightning speed. However, the actual difficult problems facing us almost certainly cannot be solved in 280 characters. In our fast-food culture, it can be tempting to want answers now. You can be tempted to say “just tell me what I need to do so I can get started.” Such pragmatism is the enemy of careful thinking and nuanced analysis.

De Bono’s three outcomes of thinking is an excellent counter to the craving for quick, tweetable answers. Instead of focusing on solving a complicated problem as fast as possible, maybe you need to spend some time making a better map. Understanding the factors contributing to the problem. Or perhaps your goal should be to take a large, abstract problem and figure out more concretely what information you need to come to a robust conclusion. Ultimately, the goal is not to simply come out with “an answer”, but to actually have a defense for why that answer is true or why it will work.

Implications for the Christian life

1. Difficult theological questions require longer reflection

Meditating on God’s word uses all three of these thinking outcomes. Some days you might need to spend time simply reading scriptural texts to understand what God actually says. Other days, you might need to go find specific passages and analyze them to see what specific interpretive difficulties you must overcome. And ultimately, at some point you will have to come to a conclusion on what you think the Bible is teaching about a topic or in a specific passage.

However, just because the end goal is to know what God’s word is saying and to live it out does not mean you always reach this goal in the blink of an eye. For difficult passages and theological questions, don’t be afraid to take some time to prayerfully think it through. Be okay with leaving a text saying “I don’t know. I need to think about that more.” Rushing to a conclusion might make you feel better, but you might be missing something that you could have observed if you had taken more time to think or study. As a rule of thumb, the more uncertain a passage or the more viable interpretations of a passage exist, the longer you should take thinking it through.

2. Don’t just give people the answer. Help them think through it Biblically.

Just giving someone “the answer” oftentimes robs that person of actually internalizing the truth. Rather than rushing to give a conclusion, first give them the Biblical texts you need to answer the question. Sketch out a map for them to fill in. Or, if comparing different alternative interpretations, show them where the specific points of disagreement are. You can of course give them your personal conclusion, but by showing them the thought process you used to reach it, you make them better able to think through it themselves.

3. Theological disagreement should be specific with limited “straw manning”

One of the clearest tell-tale signs that someone has not done enough thinking is if you hear them straw manning people they disagree with. There is no logical fallacy easier to commit in our vapid culture than simply straw manning a position you don’t understand to prove your own beliefs that you have not thought through. This is particularly dangerous when theological disagreements occur in the Church.

If you disagree with someone but can’t communicate why you disagree, you probably haven’t filled out a robust map of the issue. If you can’t specifically pinpoint the areas both of agreement and disagreement between positions, you probably don’t actually understand why the disagreement exists. Having an answer, even a dogmatic answer, is not necessarily a sign of good thinking. Rather, being able to robustly explain all sides of a theological disagreement, show where the “sticking points” are, and then demonstrating the truth of your own conclusion are much more likely to demonstrate coherent and careful thought.

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Jonathan Edwards and 5 Spiritual Habits for 2023

By Adam Nesmith | January 2, 2023

As the year starts, I find it useful to take stock of what spiritual disciplines are consistent in my life and what specific spiritual habits I need to grow in. Thankfully, I was able to open up the year reading an excellent essay/sermon by Donald S. Whitney on the spiritual disciplines of Jonathan Edwards. The essay is entitled “Pursuing a Passion for God Through Spiritual Disciplines” and it is published in the book “A God Entranced Vision of All Things.” If you can, give the essay a read as the year starts to get your mind thinking about developing good spiritual habits for 2023.

Today, I want to share my own takeaways and thoughts from reading this essay. Every time I read about how disciplined Johnathan Edwards was in his pursuit of the Lord and his use of time, I am humbled and motivated to become more disciplined myself. For the remainder of this article, I want to discuss five spiritual habits I want to focus on in 2023 based on reading about Jonathan Edwards.

Habit 1: Remembering it is the Spirit who bears the fruit

Every time I start thinking about spiritual disciplines, I tend to focus on the disciplines themselves rather than their purpose. It is easy to do: you and I live in a very pragmatic, check-the-box culture. The problem of importing that thinking into spiritual disciplines is you end up, as Whitney says, feeling that you can become automatically godly simply by doing different spiritual disciplines. For example, starting the year with the goal of reading through the entire Bible is a good discipline. However, the end goal should not simply be checking the daily reading boxes. Rather, the discipline is for the greater purpose of knowing God.

Any spiritual habits you and I want to develop in 2023 should all have a Godward focus and goal. The Holy Spirit is the one who bears fruit in our lives. You and I are dependent on God for the growth that can accompany spiritual disciplines and habits. So, resolve this year to not simply “add more boxes to check” in your spiritual disciplines. Resolve also to become more aware and dependent on the Holy Spirit to conform you to Christ.

Spiritual disciplines should grow our dependence on Christ, not make us feel more dependent on ourselves.

Habit 2: Having a Scripture to chew on throughout the day

If you are like me, there is always about three dozen moments each day when you are waiting on something. You might be in line at a store, stuck in traffic, or waiting for food to cook. The modern tendency (and Christians are far from immune) is to fill those “waiting moments” with entertainment or distraction. It is easier to pull out your phone to fill an empty moment than it is to redeem that time for God’s glory. Whitney makes the point that Edwards spent extensive time throughout the day not just reading Scripture, but meditating on Scripture.

What if after your morning quiet time or Bible reading you chose one verse or sentence to carry with you throughout the day? Instead of pulling out your phone during your quiet moments, you could pull out that verse or sentence and spend time thinking through it. What does it really mean? What are the implications? Are there any other Biblical verses that come to mind? I want to spend more time thinking deeply about Scripture like Edwards did this year, and I think this is a great habit to do just that. Pack a verse with you as you pack your lunch for work. Take a sentence from Jesus or Paul with you on your shopping trip. Let us fill our free moments in 2023 with truth instead of entertainment.

Habit 3: Praying at the “seams” of each day

Whitney in his article on Edwards spends several paragraphs discussing all the different times throughout the day that Jonathan Edwards prayed. It seemed very natural to Edwards to privately pray, much more natural than it is for myself or most people I know. Edwards prayed when he awoke, at breakfast with his family, before and during his studies, with his wife in the evening, and more. How are you and I to grow our spiritual habits of private prayer in 2023?

One pattern I noticed from Whitney’s communication of Edward’s private prayer was that Edwards prayed at each “seam” of the day. What I mean by “seam” is a transition from one activity to the next. You waking up is a “seam” because you are going from sleeping to waking. Arriving at work in the morning is a “seam” because you are transitioning from commuting to work to starting work. What if we let each seam or transition in our day trigger a reminder for us to pray? Oftentimes, the excuse I make for not praying more is “I get so busy that I forget.” Well, what if each time you used each transition from one task or one place to another as a reminder to pray?

Let the start or end of any task throughout your day remind you to pray.

Habit 4: Writing down more of my thoughts as I read and think

The sections in which Whitney describes Edwards’ journaling and writing were very insightful to read. Edwards wrote his own thoughts down as he studied and kept notebooks full of reflections on Biblical and theological topics. What struck me was the connection between reading, writing, and thinking for Edwards. I oftentimes treat these three as separate tasks: I either read OR I write OR I think. But perhaps one reason Edwards was such a deep thinking and profound writer was combining reading, thinking, and writing into one discipline.

Of all the spiritual habits I am mentioning for 2023, this might seem the most “un-spiritual“. But there is a really good practical lesson you and I can learn from Edwards here: write as you read and think. Don’t trust yourself to remember an insight from a Biblical text. Write it down. Our minds can only hold so much and we can quickly forget insights as fast as we get them. Perhaps a good way to think more deeply about Scripture and apply it more broadly to your life this year is to write down your thoughts on Scripture as you have them. Do your Bible reading and journaling at the same time. Get a notetaking Bible and fill the margins. That way, you can come back to them later and remember truths that the Lord revealed to you as you studied His word.

Habit 5: Prioritizing solitary time with the Lord

Edwards was able to develop a deep relationship with the Lord because he prioritized time alone with the Lord. If you read about his life, Edwards was a very busy man with a large family. But busyness and many responsibilities did not keep him from time alone with God. I realized as I read Whitney describing Edwards prioritization of solitary time with God that I am far too inconsistent with it myself. No matter how busy our schedules are, whether we have to wake up early or go to bed late, we can find time to spend with the Lord alone. The difficulty is actually doing it consistently.

In my own life, it is easy to prioritize sleep over time with God. The best time for me to seek the Lord is early in the morning but the tendency is to want to sleep right through that time. Certainly sleep is important, but is it more important than time alone with God? I am sure there will be ups and downs throughout the year, but I want to prioritize time alone with God as Edwards did.

The strength of Edwards was not found merely in his intellectual gifting. It was in the depth of his convictions which came from knowing the living God.

Conclusion

What spiritual habits are you going to develop in 2023? Each year brings new opportunity to grow to be more like Christ. Thankfully, God has left us many examples of godly men and women throughout history who have pursued Him and His glory. Let us learn from such examples what it means to seek and serve the Lord. Jonathan Edwards with his disciplined life is one such example. Even if you feel you can’t understand all his dense theological writing or if you can’t match his intellectual abilities, if you are a Christian than you can certainly imitate Jonathan Edwards in pursuing the Lord. Let us be more in prayer, more in Scripture, and more focused on Christ this year.

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Freedom from Felt Needs

By Adam Nesmith | October 17, 2022

What do you need? Such a broad question has a number of answers. You might think “I need food to live.” Or perhaps you need respect from your spouse. Biblically, you need the Lord’s forgiveness in Christ. While some “needs” are legitimate biological needs (like food and water) or biblically-defined spiritual needs (like peace with God), a lot of “needs” you and I have on a given day could be put into a category of “felt needs.” They aren’t needs that come from explicit Scripture and they aren’t literally needed to keep us breathing.

How you and I think about felt needs has vast theological implications. It is very easy to assume that when the Bible talks about joy and satisfaction in Christ it means Jesus will provide for all of our felt needs. For example, perhaps you have a felt need of a romantic relationship. Did Jesus promise to satisfy that desire? When does that desire, even if it isn’t inherently sinful, become a sinful lust? I am currently reading through “When People are Big and God is Small” and a quote from the book helped me immensely when thinking through these questions.

“If I stand before (Jesus) as a cup waiting to be filled with psychological satisfaction, I will never feel quite full. Why? First, because my lusts are boundless; by their very nature they can’t be filled.
Second, because Jesus does not intend to satisfy my selfish desires. Instead, he intends to break the cup of psychological need (lusts), and not fill it.
“When People Are Big and God is Small” by Edward Welch

Most of our “needs” are really lusts in disguise

This quote comes from an entire chapter where Welch seeks to distinguish between different types of “needs”. According to Welch, there are biological needs, spiritual needs, and what he calls “psychological needs”. The first two are self-explanatory but Welch spends a significant amount of time discussing psychological needs. Essentially, Welch makes the case that the prevailing view of humanity in the modern day it that we are empty cups that need to be filled. Humans have extensive longings that can either be fulfilled by sin or by God.

The problem with this model, according to Welch, is that oftentimes “longings” or “needs” are really just sinful lusts in disguise. They become idolatrous desires that you and I expect God to meet. You and I can desire even good things more than we desire God’s glory. Or you can desire the right thing for sinful reasons. For example, I was reflecting after reading this chapter that a “psychological need” I find within my own heart is a need to be respected by others. When people give me the respect I feel I need, I end up feeling pretty good about myself.

But what happens when my felt needs of respect and approval from others are not met? I end up either angry or depressed. Now, at this point I could address these felt needs by saying to myself “God has given me all the approval and acceptance I need in Christ.” This is simply a more theological way of saying “God meets my felt needs of respect and approval.” But this ignores the deeper question of whether my felt needs for respect and approval are legitimate to begin with. Beneath my desire for respect and approval is the sinful belief that God has created this world to make much of me and that those around me exist to see and extol my value. When examined carefully, these “felt needs” are nothing more than the desire for self-glory.

Jesus does not meet all of our felt needs. And that is a good thing.

Welch’s quote above helped me immensely because it helped correct my false thinking about how Jesus addresses my felt needs. First, Jesus does not satisfy your every desire or “need” because many of them are either sinful in essence or in proportion. You and I will always have, on a given day, countless desires that we can easily frame in terms of “needs”. You and I have a sinful tendency to view the world in terms of “our my needs being met?” rather than “am I glorifying God and loving others Biblically?”

Welch’s quote reminded me of the good news of the gospel: Jesus didn’t come to fill the cup of my every desire. He breaks the old cup and gives me new desires. He sends me His Holy Spirit who empowers me to “deny myself” rather than satisfying myself. Jesus makes much of Himself and of the Father and invites me to do the same. Why would Jesus ever satisfy my sinful, small, selfish desires? How would that ever be good news for you or for me? Instead, in Christ, you and I get a new heart that desires the things of God and cares less about our own felt needs and instead seeks to love those around us.

Implications

1. Examine your felt needs critically and Biblically to see if there is sin lurking beneath the surface.

“The heart is deceitful above all things.” And modern cultural terminology does not help. Is it possible a lot of the things you consider “needs” are really sinful lusts in disguise? Spending time to examine your deeply held and cherished desires scripturally to see if there is sin in them is a difficult and painful process. But if what Welch is saying lines up with the Bible’s teaching, and I think it does, then there is probably a host of sinful desires in your heart that are masquerading as “felt needs”.

How can you repent of sinful desires and reorient yourself to Christ unless you first see them for what they are? The modern culture has so convinced you and I that every felt need is legitimate that we may be calling sinful desires “sweet names” and excusing ourselves from repenting of them. As I said, honestly examining deeply held desires is painful and difficult. But if you would grow in our Christ-likeness, your desire for God, and your love for others, the cost of painful self examination is worth the benefit of joyfully and prayerfully repenting of sin.

2. See yourself as a watering can, not an empty cup

After reading Welch’s metaphor of the empty cup and how Jesus breaks that cup of felt needs, I asked myself “what would a more Biblical metaphor be for the believer?” If you have had your spiritual needs met in Christ, you should be full of the fruit of the Spirit and the joy of knowing peace with God. You are, in that sense, like a watering can full of abundance to pour into others. Of course, just like Jesus, your goal is not me help other people satisfy their felt needs. Rather, you pour out the truths of how Jesus has given you “everything for life and godliness.”

In other words, once you are free from constantly seeing yourself as an empty cup, you are more free to love other people around you. That can take the form of practical assistance in biological needs, like food, water, and shelter. Or it can mean blessing them by sharing the abundance of Christ with them. It might be harsh to say “Jesus smashes the empty cup of your felt needs”, but it is freedom! Freedom from constantly needing God and other people to satisfying every desire you have. Freedom from feeling angry or depressed when your felt needs aren’t met. And freedom to prioritize God over self and others over self, as Jesus laid out clearly when asked what the two greatest commandments were.

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How Do You Know If You Love Jesus?

By Adam Nesmith | June 20, 2022

“If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:22. Jesus after He rose from the dead asked Peter three times in John 21 “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” These are heart-searching and serious verses. Loving Christ is not an optional part of Christianity. Therefore, there is no better question to examine the state of your heart than simply asking “do I love Jesus or not?” Yet I have often found in my own life that this question can quickly become very abstract. How do you know if you love Jesus? Are there any objective tests to help you assess the state of your soul?

As is so often the case, J.C. Ryle in his book “Holiness” gives a clear and helpful answer on how you can know if you love Jesus or not. His words are worth your time and represent an excellent set of ways to examine yourself to determine if your love for Christ has gone cold. I quote his 8 marks of love below and for the rest of this post, I want to think through how these marks can help you know if you love Jesus. In fact, what Ryle gives below summarizes the Christian life itself powerfully and concisely.

If we love a person, we like to think about him.
If we love a person, we like to hear about him.
If we love a person, we like to read about him.
If we love a person, we like to please him.
If we love a person, we like his friends.
If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor.
If we love a person, we like to be always with him.
From “Lovest Thou me?” in Holiness by J.C. Ryle

You know what love looks like on a human level

Ryle’s goal in this section of “Holiness” is simple: if you know what love looks like at a human level, then you already know what it looks like to love Jesus. Each of the 8 marks Ryle gives are based on the simple fact that if you love a person, you behave a certain way towards them. Likewise, if you don’t behave a certain way towards a person, chances are you don’t truly love them. If you love a person, you think about them, talk with them, want to be with them. You are concerned to please that person, you care about that person’s reputation. In short, your love for that person is demonstrated in visible outward behaviors.

Therefore, Ryle in these 8 marks wants you to simply ask “are these things true of me with regards to Jesus?” Do you think about Jesus? Do you long to hear from Him through daily Bible reading and the preached word? Are you concerned with pleasing Him and His opinion of you? Do you love the people He loves and died to redeem? When others speak poorly of Jesus, are you bold enough in your love for Him to defend His reputation? If the answer to these questions is “no” then perhaps your love for Christ has grown cold. You might say “of course I love Jesus!” but if that love is not seen in any of the ways Ryle lists, perhaps you love Jesus in word only.

How do you know if you love Jesus? Examine your life

Asking whether you love Jesus isn’t a trick question or an impossibly abstract inquiry. Love for a person shows itself in inward delight and external expressions. If you have affection for a close friend, you enjoy their company and you might express your enjoyment by making time in your schedule to see them. Love for a spouse is demonstrated in the true delight you take in who they are and also in acts of sacrifice, gifts, and a host of other external expressions of that delight. What Ryle does a great job of in “Holiness” is reminding you and I that love for Christ does not look entirely different from the love we have for friends and family members.

If I told you that there was a person I took no delight in being around or who I was content to give my half best with, you would infer that I do not love that person very much. Similarly, if you want to know if you love Jesus, ask yourself if you truly have any inward delight in Him and whether that inward delight overflows in acts of worship and obedience. Both parts of these are crucial: Jesus said if you love me, then you will keep my commands. This means that there is a necessary connection between love for Christ and obedience to Christ. One is not the same as the other, but both must be present in the life of the Christian.

I think the reason it is so “difficult” to answer the question “do I love Christ?” isn’t because the question is hard to answer. It is difficult because when you truly have even the smallest indication of Christ’s worth or have read enough of Scripture or Church history to know how Christians of the past have loved Christ, you realize that your love for Jesus is infinitely colder than what He deserves. Answering whether you love Christ is difficult because the answer is so often painful. But it is in this moment that you must remind yourself that your love for Christ will never, at its best moment, come close to matching His love for you. Your love is only in response to Christ’s infinite love towards you.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We love because he first loved us.
Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19

Implications

1. Remind yourself that Christianity is about knowing Jesus, not about religious activity

Christianity is not about seeking some abstract “God”. It is founded on faith and love for Jesus. Your good works may adorn the Gospel as Titus says, but you doing good works is not the gospel. When the Holy Spirit starts working in the heart of an unbeliever, He opens their eyes to see the glory of Christ so that they can say truly “Jesus is Lord.” And it is impossible to see the glory of Christ, His value, His supremacy, His significance, without truly loving Him. Why? Because Christ’s glory was displayed most clearly when He, out of love for you, died to pay the penalty for your sins.

Religious activity can make you feel “Christian”, at least for a little while. But if your Christianity is founded on you doing something for God, it has no root and will die in due time. A true, deeply rooted faith is founded in love for a person: Jesus. Anything less and you will either abandon the faith when trials or persecution comes or other desires will end up choking your faith. Don’t become distracted from the main thing: before you go “do something big for Jesus” or “go to Church” or “live for Jesus” start your day by simply asking “Do I love Jesus? Has my love grown cold for Jesus? Have I spent time with Jesus?”

Love for Jesus is the foundation, the root, the fountain of all true Christianity.

2. Use these 8 marks as a daily or weekly barometer by which to ask yourself “do I love Jesus?”

A marriage that never asks itself “how are we doing?” is a marriage headed for disaster. Life is complicated, difficult, and, despite our best intentions, our affections can change at a moment’s notice. Any serious relationship, like marriage, requires regular check-ups to ensure both husband and wife can correct their behavior or lifestyle as needed. How much more than should you and I ask ourselves “how am I doing?” with regards to our love for Christ? No relationship is more important. Our eternity depends on it and, in our flesh, our love grows cold, our attention is diverted, and sin blinds us to Christ’s value.

What is the solution? Regular check-ups. Don’t become so proud as to assume just because you feel a strong love for Christ today that tomorrow your love will be just as fervent. You are daily faced with external temptations and inward sinful desires that would draw your love away from Jesus. Use these 8 marks that Ryle gives as a structure for examining your heart towards Jesus. Keep a daily or a weekly journal where you quickly jot down how you are doing with regards to these 8 marks. Just as consistent communication and reflection improves a marriage, regularly contemplation “do I love Jesus?” will deepen your relationship with Christ.

Such reflection is painful at times. But no reflection is more important for your life and eternity. Ask yourself frequently “how do I know that I love Jesus?”

An Easy Way to Do Your Quiet Time

By Adam Nesmith | February 9, 2022

My wife loves Elisabeth Elliot. So, when we celebrated her birthday a bit ago, her parents bought my wife one of Elliot’s books called “Keep a Quiet Heart.” As I often do when I encounter a new book, I skimmed through the contents to see if anything jumped out at me. The book itself is a collection of short topical sections. It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon a section that I found particularly helpful. The section is called “Hints for Quiet Time” and I thought that Elliot gave an excellent and easy way to do your quiet time which I want to share today.

Read a few verses, a paragraph, or a chapter. Then ask, What does this passage teach me about: (1) God, (2) Jesus Christ, (3) the Holy Spirit, (4) myself, (5) sins to confess or avoid, (6) commands to obey, (7) what Christian love is?
From “Keep a Quiet Heart” by Elisabeth Elliot

What the quote means

In the small, page-long section on quiet time, Elliot emphasizes the importance of having a daily quiet time with the Lord. In particular, Elliot wants to help out busy parents who know they need to have a quiet time, but are not sure how to fit it into their busy schedule. Elliot recommends doing your quiet time in the morning, working through a book of the Bible, and answering the questions she gives above.

The questions Elliot gives are simple, but they cover a lot of ground. You first see if their is anything the passage teaches you about any of the members of the Trinity. Then, you ask what the passage teaches about how you should live your own life. Simply put, the questions boil down to “what does this passage teach me about God” and “how then should I live in light of this passage?” Elliot rightly points out that actually writing down your answers to these questions in a notebook is a good idea.

Finally, she recommends you make it a point to share what you learned in you quiet time with your spouse and your children. I think this point is essential because one of the ways you remember what you study is by using what you have learned.

A great way to ensure that you remember God’s word is to teach God’s word to others.

Elliot says you can complete these steps, answer the above questions, and have some time in prayer in 15 minutes if that is all the time you have. But the more you spend time with the Lord, the longer that time will likely become.

Why it is important

I think we need to distinguish between quiet time and a full on, in-depth Bible study. If you plan on having the latter every morning before you start your day, you are setting yourself up to fail. You might occasionally be able to complete an in-depth Bible study before work or before caring for kids. But more often then not, your morning quiet time will be a half-hour to an hour time where you get to pray and spend some time reading a section of God’s Word.

However, just because your quiet time might not be as long as an in-depth Bible study does not mean it should have no structure or should stay at a surface level of analysis and reflection. What I love about Elisabeth Elliot’s advice is it gives you 7 easy questions that force you to look at the text and think. It is all too easy to pass over what you read with little to no understanding. And if that is the case, you should not be surprised if you “don’t get much out of” your morning quiet time.

If you want an easy way to do your quiet time, start by taking Elliot’s recommendation and keep a notebook where you record your answers to these 7 questions. Work through a book of the Bible, write down what you see in each daily chunk, and then spend some time in prayer. Your quiet time will be richer and more Spiritually beneficial if you ask questions and write out answers. It might feel like work but “in all toil there is profit”, especially when it comes to the Word of God.

Don’t settle for a short, surface level quiet time. Ask and answer questions that will force you to meditate on the passage you are reading.

Implications

1. You are never too busy to dig into God’s Word

How long would it honestly take you to read a chapter of the Bible and write down the answers to the 7 questions Elisabeth Elliot gives? Not everyone has an hour or two in the morning to spend in deep Bible study, but there is not a single Christian who couldn’t have a simple quiet time as defined by Elliot. Reading the Bible, asking these 7 questions of your reading, and praying in response might not seem like much. But every day you commit to digging into the Bible, you encounter the life-changing Word of God.

“I don’t have time” or “Bible study is too difficult” should never be excuses for failing to have consistent time with the Lord. Elliot makes it so simple and practical: examine the text and your own life using the 7 questions she gives. You don’t need to be a Pastor or a Theologian to do this. You don’t have to be particularly brilliant or incredibly insightful. But what you do have to do is set aside time.

Spiritual growth is as simple as setting aside your excuses and setting aside time to spend with the Lord.

2. Spiritual growth takes disciplined effort over time

Even though Elliot gives an easy way to do your quiet time, it still requires two things: effort and time. You cannot get away from this. If you are going to grow any sort of flower in a garden, it isn’t going to spontaneously appear out of thin air. You will need to put time and effort into planting and watering the flower. So too with spiritual growth.

Quiet time doesn’t have to be complicated, but it will always require effort and time on your part.

Here is the reality: as soon as you commit to put disciplined time and effort into pursuing the Lord, every sort of roadblock and excuse and difficulty will appear. The Christian life is spiritual war remember. So if you are going to commit to spiritual growth, you are going to have to commit to fight. To fight distraction. To fight laziness. You will have to guard your time with the Lord when other “priorities” seep in. Elliot gives a marvelous method for spending time with the Lord. But only you can commit to scheduling and keeping your daily time with God.

Christ Already Took Care of the Big Problems

By Adam Nesmith | January 31, 2022

How should assurance of salvation change your life? That is a question J. C. Ryle answers magnificently in his book “Holiness.” Ryle contends that many Christians live life either without assurance of their salvation, or are indifferent towards it. In a great chapter, Ryle lays out why assurance of salvation is important and what characterizes the life of a believer who has assurance of salvation. Today, I want to think through a particularly gripping point Ryle made : assurance of salvation allows Christians to rest in the fact that Christ has already taken care of the big problems of life.

(Assurance) enables him to feel that the great business of life is a settled business, the great debt a paid debt, the great disease a healed disease, and the great work a finished work; and all other business, disease, debts and works are by comparison small.
“Holiness” by J.C. Ryle

What the quote means

This quote appears in a section of Holiness where Ryle wants to show how assurance of salvation affects the life of a believer. In particular, Ryle is concerned that Christians who do not have assurance often are greatly affected by the uncertainties of life. “Doubts and fears have the power to spoil much of the happiness of a true believer in Christ” Ryle argues. If you doubt your own salvation, how can you expect to maintain a joy in Christ? In this section, Ryle is arguing from the lesser to the greater.

If uncertainty causes doubt, fear, and joylessness on a physical level, how much more will uncertainty on the state of your soul cause doubt, fear, and joylessness on a spiritual level?

In the quote above, Ryle is listing a blessing that comes when Christians are sure of their salvation. Namely, assurance of salvation gives the Christian a unique perspective of life: Christ has already taken care of the big problems of life, death, and eternity. Therefore, all other issues which Christians inevitably face in life are not nearly as big or as frightening.

Why it is important

The Christians life is a fight of faith and the fight of faith is a fight to see.

What do I mean by “see”? A lot of your day to day Christianity comes down to believing and holding onto God’s promises over and against whatever you are dealing with on a physical level. Daily you wake up and fight to maintain a Christ-centered, gospel-oriented perspective. What you practically believe about Jesus and the Gospel is going to affect how you respond to and feel about every situation you face in a given day.

Ryle’s point is that if you do not have the perspective that Christ has objectively, decisively, and eternally dealt with the absolute biggest problem in your life (i.e. your sin), then you will see the world in a completely wrong way. If you don’t see your own sin as your biggest problem and Christ as the final solution, then every problem, big or small, will throw you off. It will take your joy, cause you to doubt, create a large amount of anxiety in your heart, and rob you of any contentment.

In short, if you don’t believe Christ has already taken care of the big problems of your life, you will feel overwhelmed by all the smaller problems you face. So, you must fight to hold on to the proper Biblical evaluation of your life:

Your biggest issue in your life is not your circumstances, those around you, your lack of opportunity, your lack of money or power, your looks, or anything of that nature. Your biggest problem is that you have personally sinned and broken the law of the eternally Holy God.
There is no amount of effort on your part that can counteract the broken relationship you have with God nor remove His just punishment on your rebellion.
The only possible way to reconcile with a thrice-Holy God is through the means He provides. Specifically, through Jesus bearing the punishment and wrath that your sin deserves.
For those who believe in Christ, there is “therefore now no condemnation” and, instead of getting God’s just wrath, you receive God’s undeserved favor.

When you have this perspective, this worldview, then life suddenly becomes a lot more manageable. Your circumstances didn’t change. Your position in the world didn’t change. But by faith you realize that your biggest problem was the one thing you could never deal with yourself. But Christ has. If you are assured of that reality, then there is a peace and a rest and a contentment which could never be found any other way.

Takeaways

1. Renew your mind through prayer and the Word every morning

From the time you wake up in the morning to the time you sleep at night, you are going to be bombarded with false worldviews that are contrary to Scripture. The world is going to tell you that you have a hundred different problems that you need to solve now. You aren’t pretty or handsome enough. You don’t have enough money. Your car isn’t fancy enough. You aren’t happy unless you buy this or that.

If you enter your day without time in the Word and in prayer, you may as well walk into a war-zone with nothing but a T-shirt and shorts. You have no protection, no Christ-centered perspective apart from prayer and the promises of the Bible. In fact, you probably need several times during the day where you renew your mind with the Word. Don’t think for a second that you are impervious to the false messages you hear every day. If you remind yourself that Christ already took care of the big problems, then you will be able to resist all the voices of the world that try to convince you that you have a whole lot of issues you need to solve.

2. Simplify your life by resting on Christ’s completed work

I find that most of my frustrations, anxieties, and annoyances come from trying to solve a “big problem” I think I see in my life. But every problem will look big to you until Christ becomes bigger to you. Life becomes a lot simpler and joyful when you realize Christ already took care of the big problems. You suddenly can both rest in the reality of the Gospel while also faithfully serving where God has you. You stop trying to work to earn the favor of man or God.

Do you feel stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious about the next day? Perhaps you either don’t have assurance of salvation or you are not fixing your mind on it as you should.

As Ryle writes, when you have the finished work of Christ in your mind and heart, all your businesses, diseases, debts, and works that you must deal with seem small in comparison. As is so often the case, most of your problems in life come down to whether you are trusting Christ and His promises or not. Look at your life and take stock. See if there is any “thing you have to do” or “problem you have to solve” which actually is coming from you not resting in Christ.

6 Sure Marks of Spiritual Growth

By Adam Nesmith | January 10, 2022

J. C. Ryle is probably my favorite Christian author of all time. No matter who else I read, I always find myself returning to Ryle. He had a gift for communicating profound truths clearly and directly. So, when I had a break this past Christmas from Master’s classes, I decided to start reading through “Holiness.” If you are looking for a book to read in the New Year, I strongly recommend “Holiness.” I have not read a book as spiritually beneficial in a long time. In keeping with what I have been writing about lately, I wanted to discuss 6 marks of spiritual growth J. C. Ryle gives in this book.

Increased humility
Increased faith and love towards our Lord Jesus Christ
Increased holiness of life and conversation
Increased spirituality of taste and mind
Increase of charity
Increased zeal and diligence in trying to do good to souls
J.C. Ryle from the chapter “Growth” in “Holiness“

What the quote means

The above marks of spiritual growth occur in a chapter where Ryle wants to impress on his readers that spiritual growth is an essential part of the Christian life. According to Ryle, there are many professing believers who do not care at all about growing spiritually or think that spiritual growth is not a necessary part of the Christian life. Ryle spends the first part of the chapter arguing that there is such thing as spiritual growth and that every earnest believer must ask themselves “am I growing spiritually?”

But Ryle doesn’t just want his readers to accept that spiritual growth is taught in the Bible or that it is important. He lays out 6 marks of spiritual growth so that you and I can take stock of our lives to see if we are, in fact, growing. Each of these marks is rooted in Scripture and is based on Ryle’s assumption that humans are poor judges of their own character. Therefore, Ryle recommends you examine your pattern of life in light of the 6 categories given above to get a more or less objective look at whether you are growing spiritually or not.

Why it is important

Most serious Christians I have met desire to grow spiritually. But a lot of times “spiritual growth” is so abstract that it becomes hard to answer the question “am I growing spiritually?” Oftentimes, Christians answer that question by seeing if they are growing in Biblical or theological knowledge or by looking at how busy they are doing “Christian activity” (small groups, Bible studies, etc.). These are good, but the 6 marks of spiritual growth Ryle gives are much better measures to test our lives against.

Notice that the list Ryle gives is not focused merely on head knowledge or doing Christian activities. Each of the 6 qualities are focused on how you practically relate to God, to yourself, and to others. The first mark given is humility which Ryle describes as a growing sense of sin and unworthiness as you draw closer to a thrice holy God.

If you are truly growing in the knowledge of God, such knowledge will humble you rather than puff you up.

The second mark concerns your love for Christ. You can know a lot of true things about God, and even be a morally upright person but if you aren’t growing in your love of Jesus, it is all for naught. Another mark of spiritual growth is increased holiness of life, both in word and in action. Ryle makes the point that a growing Christian will seek to submit every aspect of his life to Christ.

The fourth mark is increased spiritual taste and mind. I thought Ryle made a very profound and helpful point here. If you are growing spiritually, your life won’t just change. What you value and enjoy doing will change too. You will become more and more interested in “spiritual companions, spiritual occupations, spiritual conversation.”

Growing Christians don’t just pursue spiritual things out of duty. Instead, all things connected to Christ and the gospel excite them.

The fifth mark is growing in charity, or love for others. Ryle spends a lot of time connecting this idea of loving others with being forbearing or long-suffering. A growing Christian will grow more gracious towards others when wronged and will seek to do good to all regardless of whether the other person deserves it or not. Finally, Ryle argues a growing Christian will become more and more concerned with the state of the souls around him. If you are growing, you are progressively more and more concerned for the unbelievers in your life. You pray fervently for their salvation and share truth with them every chance you get.

Takeaways

1. Consistently examine your life against these 6 marks of spiritual growth

A famous quote in business management is “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” A lot of times, you can have a vague idea of what spiritual growth is and a desire to grow. But when it comes down to how you specifically measure your progress in the Christian life, it is easy to get stuck. The 6 biblical measures of spiritual growth Ryle gives will allow you to actually get some measure of where you are in your walk with the Lord. And once you get an honest look at where you stand spiritually, you can prayerfully seek to improve in areas you know you fall short in.

In your morning quiet time or nightly journaling/reflection, take time once a week (or even more frequently) to examine the trends in your life. By that I mean are you increasing in each of these six areas? Or are your life patterns going away from these six ares? Ask yourself which of these six areas you need to grow in the most and then make that the focus of your next weeks prayer.

Don’t settle for vague, general prayers for spiritual growth. Use these 6 marks Ryle gives to ask the Lord specifically for sanctification in the areas you most need it.

2. Explicitly target these 6 marks of spiritual growth when discipling others

Every Christian is obligated to make disciples. Teaching others to observe all the Jesus commanded is an exciting but difficult task. How can you help another believer grow up in Christ? These six marks are an excellent starting point for discipling others. When you meet up with another believer, don’t just talk about the weather or overall how your week went. Ask a question about one of these six areas of the Christian life that Ryle gives.

Within the local Church, we should all be comfortable asking one another “how has the Lord grown you in humility this week?” Or confessing to a brother or sister “my taste for spiritual things has dulled the past few weeks.” Or praising the Lord together for a Church member who is increasing in zeal for the lost. Part of the privilege you have in the local Church is helping other believers grow spiritually. Use these six marks Ryle gives to frame your conversations so you can better spur your fellow brothers and sisters unto love and good deeds.

Resolve to Grow in Godliness in 2022

By Adam Nesmith | December 28, 2021

Believe it or not, 2022 is right around the corner. I always like the end of the year because it is an excellent time for reflection, self-examination, and prayerful commitment to new habits for the coming year. As I have written before (and here), I have been working through Jerry Bridges’ book “The Practice of Godliness.”This thought provoking volume has caused me to ask the question recently “how do I intend to grow in godliness in 2022?” Below is the quote that caused me to start asking the question.

“So there is a sense in which we are growing in our character every day. The question is, In which direction are we growing? Are we growing toward godly character or ungodly character?”
“The Practice of Godliness” by Jerry Bridges

What the quote means

This quote appears in a section where Bridges makes the point that developing godly character is a progression. You must “train yourself for godliness” as Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7. In other words, godly character is not going to just “happen” to you. You aren’t going to wake up one morning in perfect imitation of Christ. Godliness takes effort.

The word “train” should make you think of an Olympic athlete. An individual does not magically compete at the Olympic level. It requires training. Work. Commitment. Dedication. In commanding Timothy to train himself unto godliness, Paul is calling Timothy to work and to put forth consistent effort.

But then Bridges makes another point: you can train yourself “in the wrong direction” i.e. towards ungodliness. He references 2 Peter 2:14 which mentions false teachers who trained themselves in greed. Bridges then concludes this discussion by giving the quote above and saying every day what you do, think, or say will either lead you to godliness or to ungodliness. In other words:

You are becoming what you are training yourself to be today.

Why it is important

There is no neutral territory when it comes to godliness. Today, you will either grow in godliness or in ungodliness. The same will be true of tomorrow, the next day, and every single day in 2022 and every year after that. For the Christian, there is no “middle ground” between godly character and ungodly character. The actions you do, the things your heart values, and the thoughts you have on any given day are either in accordance with God’s revealed character or they are not. Therefore, it makes sense to conclude that whatever you find yourself habitually doing, thinking, and feeling indicates whether you are becoming a more or less godly person.

This has enormous implications. If Bridges’ point is true, then every day where you feel like you have not grown in godliness is a day you regressed. There are no “rest days” in your pursuit of godliness. If you resolve to work out more consistently in 2022, you can take rest days and still achieve your goal. But if you want to grow in godliness, you must commit every day to the pursuit of it.

Additionally, this means that there are no neutral actions, thoughts, or attitudes. If you are tired and lash out in anger towards your spouse or kids, you don’t get a free pass. That action and the corresponding attitude are ungodly and if not repented of, they will train you towards ungodliness. What I find helpful about Bridges’ quote is that he gives you an easy barometer to examine your actions:

Ask yourself “Is that thought, action, or attitude directing me towards Christ-likeness or away from it?”

Takeaways

1. Resolve to grow in godliness this year regardless of any other goals you might have

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:8, ESV

If you are a Christian, your resolution every single day should be to grow in godliness. The New Year is simply a good time to remind yourself of what Jesus already called you to. And make no mistake: of all the resolutions you make for 2022, training yourself unto godliness is the most important one and the most difficult one. If you miss a workout day, it won’t endanger your soul. But every day you are not training yourself unto godliness is a day you are regressing towards ungodly character. Growing in godliness is not easy; it is part of daily spiritual warfare.

But remember what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:8. Your other resolutions might make you more productive or physically stronger or healthier but only godliness will benefit your present life and your life to come. When things get difficult, remind yourself that a day spent fighting for godliness is not a day wasted.

Every step towards godliness is pleasing to God, glorifies Christ, and better prepares you for the eternal weight of glory to come.

2. Honestly reflect at the end of each day whether you grew towards or away from Christ-likeness

This is where the “rubber meets the road”, so to speak. If you want to commit to grow in godliness in 2022, you are going to have to commit to daily, honest, self-reflection. You are going to have to take stock of what you did, what you felt, and what you thought. For most people, that means taking some time in the morning or before bed to get out a journal and prayerfully ask the Lord to help you see your day through His eyes. Then, you can examine ways you made spiritual progress, things you need to repent of, and ways you can improve tomorrow.

To use the workout analogy, most of the time when you are physically training you keep some sort of log of what you did, how many reps you accomplished, and the weight you used. So it shouldn’t be surprising that keeping a log of your spiritual life is one of the best tools available for training yourself unto godliness. Look at your schedule and set aside 15-30 minutes of your day for self-reflection. That way, by this time next year, you can have a journal full of reasons to praise the Lord and thank Him for His faithfulness to you as He progressively conformed you to the image of His Son.

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An Easy Way to Edit a Sermon

By Adam Nesmith | November 22, 2021

When I decided to go back to school to get my Master’s degree, I realized I had probably forgotten how to do well in an academic environment. So, I picked up a book from one of my favorite authors Cal Newport entitled “How to Become a Straight-A Student.” If you are a student at any level, (especially if you are in College) I recommend this book highly. For today’s “Book Quote of the Week,” I want to look at Newport’s advice on editing academic papers and how it provides an easy way to edit a sermon as well.

Solid editing requires only three careful passes
The Argument Adjustment Pass: Read the paper carefully on your computer to make sure your argument is clear, fix obvious errors, and rewrite where the flow needs improvement.
The Out Loud Pass: Carefully read out loud a printed copy of your paper, marking any awkward passages or unclear explanations.
The Sanity Pass: A final pass over a printed version of the paper to check the overall flow and to root out any remaining errors.
“How to Become a Straight-A Student” by Cal Newport pp 211

What the quote means

Newport gives these three editing passes in a section on how to write an excellent college-level paper. In particular, he is concerned with avoiding two pitfalls: under-editing a paper and over-editing a paper. Newport argues effective editing really only takes three passes. The first focuses on the logic of the paper, the second pass corrects any grammar mistakes and ensures effective language, and the final pass checks that you didn’t miss any errors in the previous passes.

In the “Argument Adjustment Pass” the main goal is to add sentences or subtract sentences based on the paper’s flow. If a point is not clear, add a sentence or two to clarify. If a sentences isn’t necessary, cut it. During this phase, Newport also recommends analyzing the structure of your paper to check that you make a coherent, well-ordered argument. Newport recommends you complete this pass on your computer rather than on a printed out copy of your paper.

The “Out Loud Pass” is simple: read through your entire paper out loud to make sure your language is clear. For this step, Newport recommends you have a physical print out of your paper and note any necessary corrections as you go. Even though this process takes a larger chunk of time to complete, there is no substitute for reading a paper out loud if you want to ensure the language is effective.

Finally, the “Sanity Pass” is a final quick read through of a printed copy of your paper. You can always miss some small errors in the previous passes, so this final skim ensures you didn’t let anything slip through the cracks. After completing this pass, the paper is then ready to turn in.

Why it is important

What I love about this method of editing is how straightforward it is. There are dozens of editing checklists you can find online and in books. But they often take hours to go through and they don’t leave you with the feeling of “I’ve done enough.” By breaking down editing into three simple passes, Newport gives an effective and efficient editing technique.

Now, as helpful as this method is for academic papers, I think it really shines as a way to edit a sermon manuscript. Oftentimes, editing your sermon is either the last thing you do in a rush or you skip it entirely. And that makes sense: to edit a sermon takes time and it can feel daunting depending on how long your manuscript is. But Newport’s three step editing technique is not burdensome and provides a predictable process you can go through for each sermon.

I think the “out loud” pass might be even more important for a sermon than for a paper. You want to make sure your language flows and isn’t too flowery or complicated for a spoken message. As tedious as it might seem, you will notice a dozen improvements to your sermon if you simply complete the “out loud pass” before you preach. Additionally, I personally always make time the night before or the day of my teaching to complete the “sanity pass” with my printed manuscript or outline.

Takeaways

1. Budget time in your Sermon preparation for editing through your manuscript

It isn’t a complicated point but to edit a sermon you need to make time to actually complete the editing process. Editing should not be an “extra bonus” that you do “if you have time.” I have not met a single person who has complained their sermon got worse when they spent more time working on it. So, as you plan your schedule for preparing a sermon or teaching, budget time to complete Newport’s recommended three passes. The quality of your sermon will increase. Guaranteed.

2. Go through your Sermon manuscript three times and then entrust the result to the Lord

A common pitfall in editing is not knowing when something is “good enough.” That is one reason I appreciate Newport creating an editing process that has three steps and then is complete. You should certainly edit your sermon manuscript before you preach. But you also shouldn’t obsessively edit your sermon to the point that you aren’t ready to give it. For Christians preaching or teaching, you must end your editing process with trusting the Lord.

Sermons are made better through editing but no sermon is made effective by editing. God alone can save and sanctify.

So go through the three-step editing process with your sermon. Then, prayerfully trust the Lord with it because God has promised His Word will not return to Him void.

Extracting Patterns from Scripture

By Adam Nesmith | October 7, 2021

I recently started my Master’s Degree and one of the classes I am taking this quarter is “Introduction to Data Analytics.” It is shaping up to be one of my favorite courses, and I find that some of the concepts in data analytics are helpful for the average Christian studying his or her Bible. One of the goals of data analytics is to extract patterns from a set of data to get actionable insights. This got me thinking: Christians do the same thing by extracting patterns from Scripture and then meditating on how those insights impact their lives.

But what patterns should a Christian look for as they study a Biblical text? A helpful answer comes from one of my recommended readings for my Master’s class: “Data Science” by John D. Kelleher and Brendan Tierney. If you want a high level introduction to data science, I highly recommend it. Early on in the book, the authors give four different types of patterns that data analysts look for in a data set. These four categories of patterns are helpful to keep in mind when extracting patters from scripture.

Clustering- “identifying groups…exhibiting similar behavior”
Association-rule mining- identifies connections
Outlier detection- “identify strange or abnormal events”
Prediction- “identify patterns that help us classify things…it is best to think of prediction patterns as predicting the missing value of an attribute rather than as predicting the future.”
Summary of excerpt from “Data Science” by John D. Kelleher and Brendan Tierney

What the quote means

These four different pattern types are listed in a section of the book which asks “What is Data Science?” The authors answer this question by arguing data science analyzes data to find patterns that are not obvious to then turn into actionable insights for a business. These four different pattern types are given as typical patterns one notices when analyzing a set of data.

“Clustering” is an easy concept to understand. It is simply grouping data points together based on their similarities. The example the authors give is a business (like a grocery) analyzing their customers. “Clustering” might show which customers buy the same things or shop at the same times or behave similarly. Another term the authors give for “clustering” is “customer segmentation.”

“Association-rule mining” is a related pattern, but deals with connections between data points rather than finding large clusters in the data. In our grocery store example, if customers frequently bought eggs when they bought milk, you could conclude that those two items are associated. “Outlier detection” is probably the easiest pattern to recognize: you simply find any strange or abnormal data points. Maybe in your grocery store one customer buys a high percentage of your inventory of one of your products. This customer exhibits abnormal purchasing behavior compared to your other customers.

Finally, “prediction” is a pattern which I had trouble wrapping my mind around at first. Typically, prediction means forecasting a conclusion about the future. But these authors use “prediction” to mean the ability to fill in missing attributes of some data based on other data you have. In the grocery store example, if you have a person who is a 30 year old male and you know that in the past 90% of 30 year old males purchase pretzels when they shop, you could predict that this other 30 year old male would do the same.

Why it is important

Pattern recognition is essential to Biblical exposition.

Rarely do you hear a Pastor speaking about extracting patterns from Scripture, but practically speaking, a lot of expositional tools rely on the Pastor noticing patterns in the text, bringing those patterns to the congregations attention, and then showing how those insights impact their Church member’s lives. In one sense, every single Christian who studies their Bible is a “data analyst.”

Now, Scripture is so much more than a mere data set: it is the living, inerrant, and active word of the sovereign, all-knowing God. But the Bible does contain patterns and some of these patterns are exactly the same as the ones given in “Data Science:”

There are “clusters” of texts which deal with a single topic. Systematic theologians often use “clustering” to see what the Bible teaches on a certain topic.
Texts “associate” with other texts. Biblical theologians are often interested in how a phrase used in one section of the Bible is associated with that same phrase used in another section. Additionally, Biblical authors often associate different concepts together, like how faith in Christ produces a changed life.
There are verses in Scripture which the Biblical authors cause to stand out (i.e. an outlier). Pastors oftentimes look for these “outliers” because they often reveal the main point of the original author. An example of an “outlier” would be the Song of Moses in Exodus after Israel parts the Red Sea. The “Song of Moses” is an outlier because it is a poetic section contained within a narrative.
Finally, “pattern recognition” makes sure that Scripture interprets Scripture. When you see “God is love” in a text, you also should “Fill in” the idea that “God is just” from other texts in Scripture. Your knowledge of Scripture as a whole enables you to fill in patterns as you study other texts.

At the end of the day, you as a reader of Scripture want to gain insight into who God is and what true reality is from the text. Whether you notice a connection between texts, or whether you remember something you read in a different section of Scripture and use that to fill out a passage you are currently studying, pattern recognition is a vital tool for seeing and understanding the truths given in the Bible. Therefore, if you want to study Scripture better, you must become better at extracting patterns from Scripture.

Takeaways

Today’s takeaways will turn the four different patterns given above into four questions you can ask of a Biblical text:

1. What other passages in Scripture address this same topic?

As an example, if you are studying a text of Scripture which deals with the holiness of God, you should ask where else in Scripture the holiness of God is discussed.

2. Where else in Scripture is this same language used?

This question allows you to trace a theme or an idea throughout Scripture. An example would be the crushing of the serpent from Genesis 3. You might trace this language of God crushing the serpent through the entirety of Scripture to see how the idea develops through time.

3. What stands out in this passage of Scripture? Why? What is the significance?

Oftentimes, if a phrase is repeated over and over again in a passage, that probably means the author is emphasizing something. Repetition is one way Biblical authors create “outliers” in the text, but there are other ways. Look at the passage to find what things stand out and why.

4. What truths from other places in Scripture fill out/clarify/expand on the truths given in this text?

This question is non-negotiable for Pastors who preach expositionally. To “expound” a text, you must fill out and clarify it with other Scripture. The Puritans did this excellently in the way they structured their sermons. An example of this might be when you are teaching the Philippians 3 text “Our citizenship is in heaven.” A text which expands on this idea might be “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.” Using the second text to expand on the truths given in the first text is a necessary skill for any teacher or preacher of God’s Word