Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good afternoon, dear people.

I sure tricked myself—thinking I had already sent this. But now I remember that when I was preparing to send it, another email came in that I took a few minutes to respond to, and included this composition. So I guess I did send it—but not to you. Whatever.

I’m looking at a pleasant picture of peace out this still dirty window. There’s Hondo out there, all sprawled out on the driveway gravel, sleeping, soaking up the sun, with his tennis ball near his nose. He likes to post himself fairly close to the studio door so he can monitor my movements.

Well—there’s more to do before pillow time. Blessings on the rest of your daylight.

Love. Dad/Ray.

What kind of answers would you expect if you were able to ask this question to a random cross-section of people going into a place like Walmart? “What do you believe to be the foremost universal problem or need plaguing mankind in our world today?” I would expect there would be answers like poverty, education, healthcare, war, greed, hatred, discrimination, disease, and the like. How would you respond to the question? As I give my most careful thought to it, I am inclined to arrive at this answer: The misuse of God’s gift of human intelligence.

Our text describes Sergius Paulus as “an intelligent man.” In my estimation, that is a very commendable description. It was a quality that led him to Christ and a conversion experience once he was exposed to revelation TRUTH as presented by Paul. My opinion is that the demonstration of the supernatural that Paul performed against Elymas was NOT the main cause of Sergius Paulus’ belief in the Gospel message. I think that the miraculous rebuff to the sorcerer’s attempts at blocking the Gospel simply served to support and confirm the message that was suddenly making a lot of sense to him. Why do I choose this perspective? Because I sincerely believe that the proper use of human intelligence will lead a man to God.

It is not required that “an intelligent man” be especially gifted or of a high IQ. Being “an intelligent man” simply means to me that a man is processing the things of life with careful thought and making determinations about right and wrong, good and evil, cause and effect, and important and unimportant based on that process. He is properly exercising a very special gift imparted by the Creator that He assigns to no other creature—the gift of human intelligence which allows for objective reasoning. I have reason to view human intelligence as the most profound demonstration of the Creator’s investment of His Own Image and Likeness. If this perspective is valid, how can we avoid responsibility and accountability before Him? How can we fail to recognize that we are responsible stewards of this most obvious distinction that separates man from beast?

If my thinker is working right, I reason that without human intelligence, there can really be no such thing as right and wrong, good and evil, or important and unimportant. Human life would be no more than mere existence amidst the relative chaos all other living creatures where the prevailing reality is survival of the fittest.

OK—I realize I am offering some of my own thinking that is not necessarily warranted by the text before us. And I have to allow for the possibility of some blind spots. So what are your thoughts relative to human intelligence? While you’re thinking, let me offer my best bottom-line conclusion: I cannot imagine a better, safer, and more intelligent way to do life than to do it in submission and in partnership with the Creator of life. And I’m convinced that a HEART AFTER GOD is the proper use of human intelligence.