In Chapter 3 of "Think" Piper takes a closer look at what he means by thinking. He acknowledges that the act of thinking can be very broad and that different people use different definitions. To invest the concept with content appropriate to the theme of the book - knowing and loving God by using our minds - he examines good reading as a primary act of thinking.
"While all of God's creation serves to reveal him in some way, he has willed that the clearest and most authoritative knowledge of him this side of heaven come through his written Word, the Bible." Because God has revealed himself authoritatively in a book, a primary function of our thinking must be to understand texts in his Word. Therefore, we must desire to continually become better readers, and in service of this end, we will use this entry to examine - as Piper does in his chapter - how reading as thinking really works.
Piper attributes much of the content of this chapter to a book from 1939 by Mortimer Adler: How to Read a Book. I have not read it, but Piper suggests it has had a strong influence on the way he reads. The main point he gets from Adler is that reading is (or should be) active, not a passive intake (like television often is).
A lot goes on when we focus our attention on a text to read. Our minds see shapes and symbols that combine to form words. Those words are attached to meanings in the real world. Those words are put together in numerous ways according to rules of grammar that become second nature after we have been reading (and talking and listening) for a bit. Certainly the majority of the things we read are intuitively understandable; our minds have been trained so that a lot of reading seems effortless.
But not all texts are so easily understood; some have "unfamiliar words, or involved sentence structure, or logical connections that are not immediately clear." It is in these texts - and there are certainly some of these in the Bible - where we must not give up. And it is in the tackling of these texts that Piper gives us a definition of thinking: "That is mainly what I have in mind by thinking - working hard with our minds to figure out meaning from texts." It is for our good and God's glory that we not simply settle for what is easily understood. In one of his sermons Piper has stated, "If God wrote it, he means for us to know it." Amen, but oh how far I have to go! Nevertheless, this will be, I am convinced, a labor of love, especially with the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence helping me.
Next, Piper gives us a golden rule of reading: "Do unto authors as you would have them do unto you." Unless you are a spy or a liar, you intend to be understood when you communicate. Therefore, if we are to apply this golden rule, we must be willing to put forth the time and effort to understand what the author is trying to communicate. Perhaps we overlook this too easily, but when it comes to the Bible, we are trying to figure out what God himself is saying to us! What a privilege! Also, if we are in Christ, his love is in us, and it is - especially as seen in the cross - a self-sacrificial love. In this golden rule of reading, Christ-like love bids us to self-sacrifice, and a Spirit-led sacrifice of time and perhaps mental comfort will bear Kingdom fruit in the reading of God's Word. And I am convinced that as time passes, it will no longer seem a sacrifice at all, but a great sweetness! For confirmation of this, simply read (and pray) Psalm 119.
Piper writes, "we should pause here and remind ourselves that all training is painful and frustrating on the way to skills that later become second nature and lead to greater joy... The joy is on the other side of hard work... Part of maturity is the principle of deferred gratification. If you cannot embrace the pain of learning but must have instant gratification, you forfeit the greatest rewards of life." My experience confirms this; I suspect yours does, too.
One of the primary skills referenced here and suggested by Adler is the skill of asking questions of the text. "Asking questions is the key to understanding." We can ask any number of things: "Why did he use that word? Why did he put it here and not there? How does he use that word in other places? Why does that statement follow this one? How does this fit with what another author in the Bible has to say?"
Is this a respectful way to read the Bible? It certainly can be, but we must check our hearts. Do we have a heart of skepticism, a heart of selfishness, or a heart of humble faith? Zechariah questioned the pronouncement of the angel in Luke 1:18, and in his skepticism he was struck mute until the birth of his son. Mary, on the other hand, asked her question with a different heart attitude when told by the angel that she would conceive and give birth to a son. "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel's response to her was markedly different than to Zechariah. In Romans 9:19-20 we see Paul anticipating a cynical question aimed like an arrow at God, and we are told, "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" May we be humble like Mary in our questioning. May we believe every bit of the Bible as true and humbly ask questions for greater understanding. May we look to Jesus, who was the expert at asking questions; that is how his parents found him when he was missing in Jerusalem as a boy - asking questions in the temple.
As an interesting aside not mentioned in this chapter, I believe there is a sense in which Jesus had to learn things. Of course, Jesus was God and had the power to do things however he wished. But we know, "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52) Jesus placed himself in dependence on the Spirit the same way we are to be dependent on the Spirit. And though he certainly could have been born knowing all Scripture, I think he chose to learn it (perfectly of course) the same way we must learn it - by reading and thinking and meditating and brooding over it with the help of the Spirit. If we commit ourselves to following the way of our Teacher, we will not be left without the sword of the Spirit in our time of need, just as he was able to defeat the lies of Satan with the precious truths of Scripture at his temptation.
Piper concludes the chapter with an idea that was new to me, but one that I absolutely love. We often see prepositions in the Bible - especially in Paul's arguments - and in each case God is summoning logic or reason to his service. Often there are some premises, a "therefore" or a similar preposition, and a logical conclusion. Sometimes when I make arguments, they can be false because the conclusion does not necessarily follow logically from the premises, or perhaps my one of my premises is false. However, in true arguments, the conclusion follows logically from the true premises.
Whenever the Bible uses a preposition in this way or makes a logical argument, we know that the logic is infallible. The premises are infallibly true; the conclusion infallibly follows. Therefore, it is no vain exercise to set our minds on these prepositions and ask God to make clear the logical connections. What deep truths are there in these infallibly connecting prepositions?
The one that most clearly comes to mind is Romans 12:1, which states, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of god..." The "therefore" points back to what has gone before in Romans - the mercies of God. The first eleven chapters are a breathtaking description of the Gospel - how God in the cross reconciles sinful man to himself for his glory - and the last five chapters tell us how to live. This is a very loaded "therefore", and the order of the book of Romans is not trivial; it is inspired. It would not be the same if we just swapped the order. The last five chapters follow logically from the deep grace of the first eleven, just as we do not live for God in order to be saved, but we live for God because we are saved.
We will love God more when we understand God more. We will understand God more when we do the work of digging in his Word. Dear Lord, please reveal to me any tendency in my heart that would keep me away from a trembling, consistent, prayerful reading of your Word, and help me to put those tendencies to death.
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