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Ask Pastor John

What’s the Point of Thinking Deeply About God?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.83.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2015

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If we are inclined to embrace emotion more than thinking, what biblical truths might help us embrace a balance between passion and intellect?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

We close out the week with a question from Aaron, a podcast listener in Sherburne, New

0:08.6

York.

0:09.6

Pastor John, I just listened to the APJ episode number 634, is my Bible reading to academic.

0:16.4

It is a wonderfully instructive, I'm the academic type, I'm no genius, but I enjoy the exercise

0:21.2

of thinking.

0:22.2

It's almost athletic to me, it's food.

0:25.4

But here's my question.

0:27.0

When I'm being academic to the glory of God, discovering his word rigorously, systematically,

0:32.2

in detail, in a regular, disciplined manner, and that study is raising my affections for

0:37.3

God.

0:38.3

And when I rejoice in God, when I'm done, when I want to bow down or lift up my voice

0:42.5

into him as a result, when I'm more in love with him, if all of that is true, how do

0:48.0

I help the people for whom thinking is a turn off?

0:51.7

That for whom dividing things so closely leaves them feeling cold, as you say.

0:56.7

Would you say to Aaron as she tries to help her friends?

0:59.7

The first thing I would say is that you should make clear to those folks, the so-called

1:06.9

non-thinkers that we're going to talk about, that you believe you know that many non-thinkers

1:17.6

may be far better lovers of people than many thinkers are.

1:22.5

Make sure they know that you don't think thinking is the one criterion by which a person's

1:32.1

worth or effectiveness or virtue is determined.

1:37.5

So they need to get that.

1:39.9

Then I think the challenge is to find ways of motivating them to think as clearly, logically

...

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