Picking Piper's Brain: Think (1)

I want to begin this series of entries on the topic of thinking by putting before us some scriptures to let them be our guide. The Bible commands us to love God with all our minds, so what does the Bible tell us about thinking? We see both warnings and promises...

• Now concerning food offered to idols, we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)

• And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

• If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; (Proverbs 2:3-6)

• My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; (Hosea 4:6)

We live in a time, especially in America, when the church is subject to two dangers in regards to thinking. One danger is to take the warning against the kind of "knowledge that puffs up" and descend into a sort of anti-intellectualism. In chapter 1 of his book "Think", John Piper writes autobiographically about the role of thinking in his life and quotes some other writers on anti-intellectualism in the church...

Mark Noll began a book on this topic by stating, "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind."

R.C. Sproul has said, "We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of western civilization." Of course we think we're smart, but how much time do we spend watching television? Just because we are technologically advanced does not mean we are better thinkers; in fact, it might trick us into thinking we are when we are not.

Addressing a perceived dichotomy between loving God through prayer and loving God with the mind through reading, Princeton professor Benjamin Warfield wrote, "Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. 'What!' is the appropriate response, 'than ten hours over your books, on your knees?"

Some Christians are content with a sound-bite conception of God, and they do not feel a need to pursue Him with their mind. There is also a mistaken belief, perhaps not acknowledged but lurking under the surface, that thinking too much or too deeply about God and thinking hard for extended periods of time about difficult passages will simply be boring and will detract from deep heart-affection for God. Piper writes, "I have never been one of those who found the heart shrivel as God and his Word are known better. Putting more knowledge in my head about God and his ways was like throwing wood in the furnace of my worship. For me, seeing meant savoring. And the clearer the seeing, the clearer the savoring."

Until he was 34, Piper was in academia, as a student, then as a professor. He took a sabbatical to work through the extremely difficult passage of Romans 9, and ended up writing a book. "Writing this most difficult book, [The Justification of God], about God's sovereignty was not dispiriting; it was incendiary. This was the god I wanted more than anything to proclaim - not just explain." This desire to be not just an explainer, but a herald, a proclaimer of Good News was what led Piper to become a preacher.

Piper became a pastor to find the balance of thinking and feeling and doing that God wanted for him, given his spiritual gifts. He rejects the idea that everyone should take the same path he did. However, everyone should still feel the tension and work to find the balance between thinking and feeling and doing.

The other danger, the flip side of anti-intellectualism, is to see the use of the intellect as an end in itself. The truth is, "thinking is not an end in itself. Nothing but God himself is finally an end in itself." I have felt deeply this God-belittling tendency in my own life. It is a danger for me. I must pray towards and work to understand that all my thinking is meant to serve my loving. God gave me a mind in order for me to love him by thinking about him.

Thomas Goodwin describes a sort of God-glorying dance between our thoughts and affections: "Indeed, thoughts and affections are sibi mutuo causae - the mutual causes of each other: 'Whilst I mused, the fire burned" (Psalm 39:3); so that thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame affections; and then if they are inflamed, they cause thoughts to boil; therefore men newly converted to God, having new and strong affections, can with more pleasure think of God than any."

Finally, the main thesis of "Think" and a presupposition of this blog is this: We must seek for understanding as if it were our treasure, and God will graciously give it. Paul writes to Timothy, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." Piper concludes, "They go together - our seeking understanding and God's giving it. Seeking it like silver is essential to finding. But finding is a gift of God."

I would like to conclude this introductory entry by commending to you the process of thinking for the sake of loving God as a hard thing worth doing. We will reap what we sow, and I believe any time and effort spent sowing seeds of truth in my head and heart will be rewarded with Kingdom fruit I don't even yet know about. Let us worship God in spirit and in truth!