When I'm not around, I wouldn't be surprised if I am accused of having an opinion on everything. Truth is, I never considered them to be opinions, nor do I consider them to be fact. I primarily share observations. I love observation because it is not subject to debate. My perception can be as deceived or subjective as anyone else's, but my perception is based on an objective observation and not someone else's word. And I'm humbly open to the correction of a faulty perception.
I am thankful for how this process has sharpened my faith. If I had clung to my parent's faith, or held to the doctrine (more specifically, practice) of my childhood church, I would have nothing. Yes, I would vote Republican, worship every Sunday, and safely assume that some spiritual gifts lie dormant. I would also lack compassion for the broken, be bound to a law, and flippantly dismiss brothers and sisters that minister through gifts I was told were bad (according to someone else's jaded perception, and not scripture).
I have to own it for myself. The Law was given to the people of Israel because their hearts were evil. But if we are seeking the Lord in our observation, it shouldn't be hard for us to conclude the danger in sexual immorality, lying, gossip, disobeying our parents, and the like. This may sound blasphemous, but I didn't need Exodus 20 to know that I shouldn't commit adultery. I saw the effects of it. The Law isn't required for me to take forgiveness seriously. I have seen the sting of bitterness.
Scripture is a wonderfully absolute Word that cuts through the bias of our faulty perception, shaping all of our future observations, as we continue to view Him with more clarity. However, it is not a tool to be manipulated for the support of our bias. It has become almost comical to me: men and women, more intelligent than I, will staunchly oppose one another on an area of scripture, both speaking with an equal amount of authority within their own circle of bias. I stand aside and observe that which bears fruit and that which doesn't; it seems absurd to me that believers argue for or against that which we should clearly see with our own eyes!
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word on my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9-11)
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" (Mark 4:10-12)
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were ordinary, unschooled men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing before them, there was nothing they could say. (Acts 4:13-14)
And if those passages leave any doubt...
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, "Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16, emphasis added)
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