“For the love of pizza, please listen to the voice of reason!”
Similar words are spoken or thought multiple times a day (and that is just in
our house!). The question, then, must be asked, “Who or what is the voice of
reason?”
When most people make that statement, they are appealing to
logic or conventional thinking. For example, “don’t remove your spare tire so
you can pack more stuff in your trunk, what if you have a flat? Please, listen
to the voice of reason for once . . .” Certainly having a spare tire is good
advice; and the voice of reason is often good advice. But, what would happen if
we always listened to it?
A couple of brothers from Dayton, Ohio had a bicycle repair
shop. Like every other bicycle repair team they dreamed of building a “flying
machine.” Actually, the Wright Brothers were quite lonely in that aspiration. Though
a handful of brave tinkerers around the globe were thinking about motorized
flight, no bank, company, or group of investors were backing any of them. Why
would they? There was no proof out there that man was capable of flight. The
voice of reason was shouting at the Wright brothers—
·
Doesn’t it give you pause that no one else is
doing this?
·
Pay attention to your business! There are
thousands of bikes to repair and the world will always have bicycles.
·
If you have to invent something, invent a better
bicycle. At least you know something about that!
·
Have you considered a motorized bicycle? Now
that would make sense!
·
Things that go up “must come down.” This
fascination with flight will get you killed!
·
Ahem . . . You are running short of cash. Better
get back to serving your paying customers!
The “voice of reason” likes to throw around the notion that
his parents are “experience” and “logic” (he hints there may even be a little “wisdom”
on his mother’s side). In reality, if one does a careful search, however, one
will find that VOR’s parents might just be “self-preservation” and “fear of
failure.”
Noah was called by God to build an ark and fill it with
animals, because a mighty rain and flood were coming (Genesis 7). Noah built
the ark even though he didn’t know what “rain” was.
Abram (Abraham) was called by God to go to a country that
would be revealed later (Genesis 12). Abram scooped up his family and started
out though his life was just fine in Haran.
Moses had a quiet and undemanding life as a shepherd. Even
though life could be boring most of the time, it was safe and good. But, he
believed God and chose to return to Egypt to face the suspicions and obstinance
of both the pharaoh and the people of Israel (Exodus 3).
The Bible is full of narratives about men and women who
chose to ignore the voice of reason and instead were led (by faith) by a different voice: the
voice of truth.
Is faith the absence of reason? Is faith the absence of
logic and knowledge and experience? Is faith the absence of using our brains? Before
we answer that question let’s look at origins.
Did God’s call to Noah accomplish anything? Certainly! A
remnant of man and the rest of creation were preserved through the promised
flood. God spoke truth and led Noah to respond to that truth.
Did God’s call to Abram accomplish anything? God did lead
Abram to a new “promised land” and did indeed make him the father of a
new race of people. God spoke the truth and Abram responded correctly to the
truth.
Did God’s call to Moses accomplish anything? Through Moses,
God’s people were delivered from the bondage of Egypt and back to their
promised inheritance. God spoke the truth and Moses obeyed. It would seem that God has a habit
of speaking the truth. The voice of reason, on the other hand, is generally based upon probabilities;
but, in some cases, it is more malevolent.
The voice of reason was in the garden with Adam and Eve. God
said one thing and the voice of reason said the opposite (Genesis 3). To be
sure, in response to God’s calls to Noah, Abram, and Moses, the voice of reason
brought pages and pages of bullet points about why obeying God was not a good
idea.
So, faith is not the absence of reasoning, or logic, but
rather a reasonable response to the truth. Faith is believing someone who can
(by definition) only speak the truth. Satan, on the other hand will use some facts,
our deepest fears, probabilities and outright lies to steer us in the wrong
direction.
For example, we live in a world in which five small loaves
and two little fish will feed a boy and maybe a young friend. God operates in a
world where the same meal can feed more than five thousand people (Matthew 14)! Reading deeper into the same chapter of Matthew we realize another impossibility: people can't walk on water! Or at least the lake needs to freeze before we can. Those rules do not apply to our Lord--nor did they to Peter when He called!
Living by the law of probabilities, listening to the voice
of reason is often a safe course; but those “safe” options become wrong (even
evil) when we are encouraged to oppose the Words and Will of God. Take this innocuous little example: everyone
knows that when a guest visits one must show hospitality. In many cultures that
includes a meal. Experience, cultural norms, one’s own understanding of
hospitality, and the desire to win the approval of others might all factor into
how one might show hospitality. Jesus encountered two sisters who responded
quite differently to His visit (Luke 10). One bustled in the kitchen while the
other sat at His feet and visited with Him. Jesus chided Martha for her reasoned, conventional, though heart-felt actions, while praising Mary for just being
there—“she has chosen the better thing.”
Is responding by faith to God's truth a license to do all sorts of illogical
and improbable things? Of course not! If,
however, God asks you to do something beyond your abilities, or something that
frightens you, or something that others may not understand, do not let the “voice
of reason” talk you out of it! God speaks truth! He lives above our thoughts and methods (Isaiah
55) and He is not constrained by our probabilities (Matthew 19). He is indeed
(still) a God of miracles!
But Jesus looked at
them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.” Matthew 19:26 ESV
