I would also say to anyone who reads this, don't just blindly follow any preacher. Get in God's word yourself, and differ what ANY preacher says (including the ones I have stated above). See Acts 17:11 and 1 Conrinthians chapters 1-3. Thank you for reading.
I second this. But let me put in my two cents...
Let me just say that no one has perfect understanding. But this lack of understanding is sometimes not merely because we are imperfect, but moreso because we are
close-minded and
proud! We can't fathom being wrong about something, or anything. But it is only by being open-minded that you will ever admit that you were wrong.
In other words, let's say you are speaking with someone who has argued something you can't properly refute. Instead of dismissing them and remaining ignorant, you should consider their reasoning and let your lack of understanding
motivate you to find out the truth. They may be right or they may be wrong. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that YOU ultimately know right from wrong.
It's no wonder that
Truth in the
Armour of God is the
Belt - if you don't have your belt fastened, then your pants will fall down! And that's embarrassing. The same thing applies when you lack understanding and decide to march forward towards intellectual battle. You are going to be defeated when you fail to prepare yourself properly. And it won't just be embarrassing for you, but to everyone around you. Way to look like an idiot...
Like I said before though, no one is going to have perfect understanding, so we need to admit when we just don't know something. It's much more respectable to do that then to confidently walk into a debate, only to stumble over your own words. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say this.
Before we can make well-informed decisions we must first gather all the necessary information. Far too often we jump to conclusions based on past experiences and never learn anything new to inform our decisions. I say we need to go so far as to get outside our comfort zone and
confront the devil, and get him to
prove us wrong!
We need to learn how to appreciate the devil's advocacy, not as our enemy, but as the
refiner of our faith and understanding. He was the one who led us on this dangerous adventure in the first place by deceiving Eve, so why not use him to our full benefit? I know God is using him to test us already. And as we grow stronger, the devil's testing gets harder. He is like the whetstone that sharpens our sword. The more we take him on the sharper our sword becomes.
When it comes to
apologetics, if we haven't already, we really must make sure that we have read the ENTIRE BIBLE, or at least the entire New Testament. How can we stand confidently in battle if we have obvious holes in our knowledge? We are going to be ripped apart. I mean, it's not always necessary to read the
entire Bible, but it's a matter of confidence. How can we really be sure we aren't lacking some really important, foundational piece of knowledge? It's the same thing that happens with musicians on the stage - the prepared musician is confident in their ability to perform, but the unprepared musician makes a mockery of themself on stage. If they don't shape up they won't last long in show business.
And when it comes to
preaching, how will we ever deal with atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. if we don't learn anything about our opponents' positions? How are we ever supposed to become all things to all people if we never read their holy texts or understand their cultural rules? I'd even go so far as to say - how can we even know the Bible is the truth if we've only ever been brought up to believe in Christianity? Isn't it even a little bit dishonest to claim that the Bible is correct if we've never even considered the alternatives?
I do say you can take this too far. I'd just recommend you make sure you know what you are doing, to understand the process. Like, if all we ever did was deliberate then how would we get anything done at all? As the saying goes: "The objective of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid." (G.K. Chesterton)
The devil has an endless amount of rebuttal that could keep you going for a lifetime, but there comes a time and a place when you need to admit that you know enough to put it into practice. To keep on preparing without any action is to be deceived by Satan. Remember that God commands us to act. That's why we have the book of
ACTS.
When you work, know that your work may fail at first. But it is only by making failures that we will ever be able to learn from them... Luckily, God uses weak things to show His strength. So in the end, all our failures will work out for good according to the will of God. So no matter what you do, do it all for the glory of God and you will never go wrong. A faithful believer in God will never be discouraged by their failures, like someone who does not know God.
This whole topic reminds me of this great video by Living Waters:
