Does God Care About Our Opinions?
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
Matthew 22:17-18 (King James Version)
Matthew 22:17-18 (King James Version)
On many occasions member of our church, and friends have asked me questions about scripture and more specifically, how to apply scripture it to real life. Never wanting to be their conscious I try to guide them to scripture that may address their problem. In most cases this may be sound methodology, however we must understand that any advice (even something as simple as pointing to scripture) will be at least slightly skewed by our personal opinions and a past experiences.
Many times we become victims of our own teaching, and if our doctrine is not at least inclusive in as much relative scripture as possible it can come back and bite us on the cushiony part of our backside. One such occasion is the habit I have of telling people “Not your opinion, scripture! What does scripture say about this circumstance?” The intent of questioning this way is to remove the worldview[1] of a condition from the mind of the individual and install and avenue for them to began dealing with their problem though faith in scripture and Christ Jesus and a Christian weltanschauung. But unless we can give them complete sound scripture not just what support our personal views we are now in violation of the very scripture we support our view on (Revelation 22:18-19).
Determining God’s Thought on Our Opinion
If anyone tells you they know what God’s thoughts are, run from them as fast as you can! Man has a very limited mind and cannot even begin to know what God thinks, (Isaiah 55:8, Psalm 92:4-6). What we have is scripture which reveals to us that small part of God that He wishes us to know. Therefore we apply the doctrine of Sola Scriptura[2], the bible alone, and nothing of ourselves as a determining factor of the desire of God as they relate to our opinion.
With this said we come to Proverbs 18:2 (highlighted below) what may appear to be a very straight forward passages may lead the unregenerate mind astray.
Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions. Proverbs 18:2 (KJV)
The first thought that comes to mind after reading the above passage is that God does not care about our opinions. I know I used this as a starting point and have had this verse used against me as well. But in truth is this passage applicable to all situations? Let’s consider some other passages in the bible.
The first is Exodus 32:7-14 in this it appears that God was going to destroy all the people of Israel until Moses reasoned with God for their lives. Did Moses change God’s mind? It is obvious form the text that God did listen to Moses reason (opinion) and did not destroy Israel or there would be no Jews around today. So the question is if God took Moses opinion in such high regard how can Proverbs 18: 2 be correct? (See filling our mouths with arguments in prayer)
The next passage I want to look at is in Genesis 18 which begins the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now we know that Abraham did not come to God in prayer but God and His angels came to Abraham in Theophany. But verse 17 will once and for all answer the question of whether or not God cares about our opinion. God questions within Himself “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Here we see that Abraham’s opinion meant some much to God, that God would not even think of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah without letting Abraham know first.
I’ve heard a pastor one day say God does not do anything without letting His prophet know first. So how can these example be true and Proverb 18:2 be true also? Let’s re-visit Proverbs 18:2
Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions. Proverbs 18:2 (KJV)
What is the delimiter in this argument” “Fools” God does care about the opinion of His prophet but not of fools (sinners). Now this is going to get hard but work with me. Our God is a God of duality; over and over again God gives us cut and dry options. Consider the bible says; We either go to Heaven or hell, We are either saved or damned, The bible speaks about good and bad, Jesus says Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with Him scatters, and of course God requires us to be either hot or cold.
So we can say;
Before God would even consider our opinion we must be right with him first. Sadly those that have the greatest opinion are always those that are the least right with God. Now I’m not talking about someone that thinks because they go to church and read their bible that they will be heard by God, this just is not true. You can teach a Parrott the sinner’s prayer. But God wants your heart right.
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2 (KJV)
Our opinion finds it origin in our will, and if we are so into our will we have failed to submit to His will and we are in transgression (Sinners) and God will not hear the opinion or the prayers of a sinner.
Your Brother in Christ
[1](worldview /weltanschauung) the way that someone sees and understands world events, especially in relation to their religious or political beliefs and ideas; in this case from the view of a natural unregenerate man
[2]Sola Scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid deductive reasoning from scripture
