When Christians read the Bible, they often come across passages they do not understand and naturally ask questions. In the past, pastors would often respond by saying, “Do not try to understand it. Just believe it as it is.” There are many difficult passages in the Bible, and quite a few people have even said, “I cannot continue living my Christian life,” because they could not make sense of them.

In that situation in the Korean Church, Pastor Ki-Dong Kim made tremendous contributions. One of them was that, instead of dismissing difficult passages by saying, “Just believe them,” he explained them so clearly that we could understand and say, “Wow, the Bible really is reality!” His explanations made sense to us, and we could accept them with conviction. That is why there are very few among us who think, “I do not understand this, but I will just have to force myself to believe it.”

When someone explains something, we accept it only if the explanation makes sense. Otherwise, we would say, “That sounds strange.” In fact, many people interpret the Bible in very strange ways. This is what is often called “spiritual interpretation,” and a representative example is Shincheonji. They focus obsessively on individual words in the Old Testament, continually learning things like, “This word means this, and that word means that.” Their interpretations have no universal basis at all. They are merely the results of their own studies. And these interpretations were not even developed by one person. Someone long ago began interpreting the Bible that way, then his disciples added to it, and their disciples added even more. That is how the whole system was constructed. They first decide that a certain word means something particular and then approach the Bible with that meaning already fixed. Since the Book of Revelation contains many passages they can interpret in this way, they apply this method extensively to Revelation. And what eventually emerges from all these interpretations? At the end of it all, Lee Man-hee appears. Lee Man-hee is the leader of Shincheonji. In some interpretations, he emerges as the central figure, while in others, someone called “God the Mother” appears. Eventually, they reach the conclusion that they themselves are Christ or that they themselves are God. It sounds utterly absurd, but because the groundwork has already been laid, people eventually come to accept these interpretations as though they were perfectly natural.

By the time someone realizes, “I have fallen into Shincheonji,” it is already too late. They cannot get out. By the time they are told what the group really is, it is because they have reached a stage where they can be told. They have already become thoroughly accustomed to its method of interpreting Scripture, what they call “the interpretation of parables,” and they believe in it absolutely. So even if they leave the group, they can no longer see the Bible in any other way.

They also tell an extraordinary number of lies. They say things like, “You can lie for the sake of the truth. Do not tell your parents.” “Then what should I tell them?” “Tell them you got a job somewhere.” That is how it begins. Then they are told, “Cut off all your relationships. Stop seeing your friends. Break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Leave home.” In this way, they come to live completely cut off from the world. Eventually, there is no one left beside them. They have treated their parents badly, treated their partners badly, failed to remain faithful, and told so many lies that no one is willing to stand by them anymore. In that situation, even if they announce, “I am a member of Shincheonji,” their lives have already fallen apart, and they can no longer bring themselves to leave. So they keep going back.

As this continues, they begin to brainwash themselves. They have to, in order to survive. Even if the thought occurs to them, “Perhaps those people are wrong,” they cannot allow themselves to pursue that thought. Why? Because doing so would mean that they themselves had become Satan. So they keep forcing themselves to believe things like, “Something is wrong with the others,” or “Those people are the ones who are mistaken.” They gather whatever materials support that conclusion and use them to convince themselves, so that they can go on living with a sense of satisfaction and peace. Suppose they came to believe that they had done the same thing as Korah and his followers, who rebelled against Moses long ago. How could they go on living? The anxiety and anguish would probably be so overwhelming that they would suffer a mental breakdown.

Imagine believing that you have been cut off from God. No matter how hard you try to believe in Him, you find yourself unable to believe. Can you imagine the anxiety that would bring? I once came close to experiencing something like that myself. Perhaps God deliberately allowed me to catch a glimpse of what it feels like. The terror was overwhelming. I felt that if I had to remain in that condition, I would not be able to endure it without taking my own life. And if the foundation of a person’s faith is wrong, a day like that will eventually come. How terrifying that is!

We need to know what happened to Jesus in the past and what God has recorded in Scripture, and we must build our faith on that foundation. We must build our faith on the written Word. This is extremely important.

Now, a man named Nathanael caught the Lord’s attention. Why? Because people were chasing after miraculous things. When the sick were healed and demons were cast out, crowds of people heard the news and flocked to see what was happening. While others were drawn to these extraordinary events and followed after them, Nathanael exercised what we would call critical thinking today. Critical thinking may sound like something that does not belong in a life of faith, but in reality, it is impossible not to think critically. Everyone exercises critical thinking, because thinking critically means having a standard by which to judge things in life. Depending on what that standard is, it can lead either to man-centeredness or to God-centeredness. Strictly speaking, there is no one who does not exercise critical thinking.

Then how should we exercise critical thinking? We must not just go along with the crowd or follow something merely because a miraculous event has taken place. We need to be clear about what we are actually seeking. Nathanael was not looking for miracles. He was waiting for the One Moses and the prophets had written about, the One foretold in the Law and the Prophets. His purpose was clear, wasn’t it? He knew exactly whom he was looking for. His standard was the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets. So he examined whether what he heard matched what had been written.

At that time, there was already a standard that most people who loved the Scriptures knew. Because they were waiting for the One who was to come, they knew at least where He was supposed to come from. He was to come from Jerusalem, He was to be born in Bethlehem, and these things had already been written. But this man Jesus was from the town of Nazareth. So as far as Nathanael was concerned, there was no reason even to go and see Him, much less find out whether He could do anything miraculous. Someone might say, “Why not just go and check for yourself?” But that means the person has already fallen. For example, suppose someone says, “I will show you some secret information about our pastor. Anyone who wants to see it can come.” If you respond, “Why not just go and check it out?” you have already fallen. Why would you go and check it out? Why entertain the possibility in the first place? By doing so, you have already made a choice. Likewise, whether the claim turns out to be true or false, the very act of following after it means the person has already fallen. Nathanael, however, had already exercised critical thinking according to a definite standard. He considered what the proper standard was.

If we regard critical thinking as something bad and say, “I will believe unconditionally,” that becomes blind obedience. “The pastor said it, so I will believe it without question?” I believe that is how this division group practiced their faith. They believed everything unconditionally just because the pastor had said it. But I am not like that. I do not believe things unconditionally. I always compare what I hear with the Scriptures. However, it is not that I examine his words having already decided not to believe him. Rather, I approach them with love for him, with gratitude, love, and trust as my starting point. Yet because he is also human and could be mistaken even about a single word, I exercise critical thinking. My standard is not some other theology or doctrine, but the Bible itself. When Nathanael examined Jesus in light of the Scriptures, Jesus did not seem to match what was written about the Messiah. After all, the Messiah was supposed to come from Bethlehem. That is why Nathanael did not go to see Him. Yet Jesus had already taken notice of him. Many people were following the Lord. Some may have come up to rub His shoulders, while others may have followed Him around crying, “Lord! Lord!” But the Lord did not direct His attention to those people. Instead, He took notice of a man far away who showed no interest in Him but was seeking the Word of God.

And the Lord seeks out people like that. How reassuring is that? If we remain alert and faithfully carry out God’s work, the Lord will find us wherever we may be hidden. Suppose I am working away in some unnoticed corner, where no one pays any attention to me. I know God, and God knows me, but no one else knows who I am. I might begin to wonder, “Will I just spend my whole life buried away in obscurity and eventually disappear without anyone ever knowing?” Even if I do disappear from people’s sight, that is all right. God sees everything. Think of David. Wasn’t he just a shepherd boy in the countryside? Yet God passed over all those mighty men, sought out that young shepherd, and made him king of Israel. Because we have such a God, we can rest assured. There is no need to complain or be anxious. He knows everything.

Just as Nathanael caught Jesus’ attention because he had a clear standard, we too must live our Christian lives according to that same clear standard today. We are not people who chase after miraculous things.

How many extraordinary things are there in this world? As I mentioned before, red liquid flows from the eyes of statues of Mary. They shed tears of blood. There is also an elephant statue in India that drinks milk when people feed it. When they pour milk onto the statue, the milk disappears. It drinks the milk. This was even reported in the news. I have not gone there to verify it myself, but countless people believe it is real. Shamans can also uncover people’s secrets. Some are nothing more than frauds, but others can be remarkably accurate. Such things are entirely possible in the spiritual realm. Shamans also dance barefoot on sharp blades. How can they do that? Is it because they have developed thick calluses? Even without them, their feet are not cut. They do not even bleed. Isn’t that amazing? Does that mean we should believe in those shamans? Others walk barefoot across burning charcoal without being harmed. These are all things done by people who consort with spirits. Amazing, isn’t it? Because such extraordinary things happen, people chase after them.

But to be frank, are those the only extraordinary things in the world? The reason we are not amazed is not that these things are ordinary. Rather, extraordinary things are right there before our eyes all the time, and we have become so accustomed to them that we no longer recognize how amazing they are. If you stop and think about it, things that are almost unbelievably extraordinary are actually all around us.

The very existence of human beings is astonishing. Does it even make sense? Isn’t it amazing that things like rocks, the sky, and trees exist at all? It is truly extraordinary. And think about how sharp our teeth are. Yet our soft tongues exist right alongside them. As we speak, they are constantly rubbing against each other. Under normal circumstances, what should happen to our tongues? What would happen if I preached for two hours? Shouldn’t my tongue be torn to shreds? Shouldn’t it be bleeding? Isn’t that right? Try rubbing your hands together continuously for two hours. Your skin would become raw and start bleeding. Try rubbing your skin against concrete. What would happen? Then why does the tongue remain unharmed even though it is constantly moving? God has arranged for us to experience something now and then that reminds us how extraordinary this is. Sometimes we develop a sore on our tongue. And how painful is that?

Or think about buying a new pair of shoes. When you wear new shoes and they rub your heels raw, even walking becomes painful. Shoes are fairly soft, aren’t they? Yet when they rub against your skin, just an hour of walking can leave your heels badly blistered. Then why doesn’t that happen all the time? Isn’t that amazing?

Our hearts keep beating. No matter how long a battery lasts, it eventually runs out of power. So why doesn’t the heart stop even while we are sleeping? Isn’t that astonishing? Suppose we had to keep our hearts beating consciously, just as we move our hands. We would never be able to sleep. We would have to take turns sleeping and say, “While I’m asleep, could you keep pressing this for me?” How is any of this possible? Isn’t it amazing?

For example, imagine that rocks were shaped like stars. If every rock outside were star-shaped, we would be astonished. But if rocks had always been that shape since the day we were born, we would say, “Of course! Rocks are supposed to be shaped like stars. What’s so strange about that?”

Think about it. When water falls from the sky and freezes, what does it become? Snow. But what shape does it take? Why is it hexagonal? Look at the shape of a snowflake. How beautiful it is! How could such a shape come about if no one had designed it? It looks like something you would need a ruler and a protractor to draw with precision. Yet how does it take that shape in the short time it takes to fall from the sky? Even if the water freezes, why does it freeze into that particular shape? Why not just freeze into a round ball? Isn’t it extraordinary? If we think about it, we might as well start believing in snowflakes! That is how amazing they are. Yet no one finds them particularly astonishing, because they have always been that way.

Why do people go around searching for extraordinary things? Just think how amazing human beings themselves are! We can think, we can love, and we can create. By that logic, should we believe in ourselves, then? We must not believe in something merely because it is extraordinary. Many astonishing things will appear in the world in the days ahead, but there is no need to run after them in wide-eyed amazement. Our very existence and everyday lives are extraordinary. None of it should be taken for granted.

We believe in the One who came according to the written Word. That is why the Lord said of Nathanael, “Behold, an Israelite indeed!” There were also people like this in Berea. Rather than finding what they heard amazing, they found it strange. They thought, “This is strange. What this man Paul is preaching sounds so unfamiliar and strange. Does it even make sense? If the Messiah had come, shouldn’t He have conquered Jerusalem and defeated the Roman army? But He died on a cross? And then He rose again? What kind of nonsense is this? Still, strange as it sounds, he keeps referring to the Scriptures. Let us examine them and see whether these things are so.” So they examined the Scriptures. When they carefully studied the Old Testament, they realized, “It really is true!” They had never considered the Scriptures from that perspective before, but once they heard Paul’s message and examined them, they saw that everything was indeed written there. That is why they believed. They came to confess with conviction, “Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah whom Moses and the prophets wrote about.” They believed and received the Holy Spirit. As they had this kind of faith, the Holy Spirit bore witness, and they truly became people who belonged to Jesus. In this way, our faith never goes beyond the written Word. It must never go beyond it.

There is a difference between those who are saved and those whom God uses. Anyone can receive salvation. We are saved by grace. But God does not use just anyone. He does not choose people for His work on the basis of grace alone. Of course, in a broader sense, everything is grace. Just as the Lord used the five loaves and two fish offered by a young boy, God uses what we have to offer, and even that is grace. But if someone has no five loaves and two fish to offer, God will not use that person in the first place. So although everything is grace, what a person has does make a difference when God chooses someone for His work. Salvation has nothing to do with what kind of person someone is. Anyone who desires it can receive it. But when God chooses someone to use, He also considers that person’s character, abilities, and efforts. He uses those who are suited for the work.

Then what kind of people does God use? Even people with mental illnesses can receive salvation. Demons can be cast out of them, and they can be healed of their diseases. But God does not use such people for His work. He does not use people who have been delivered from demon possession. This is because those who have been demon-possessed and then delivered are weak in their character. They often lack the determination to carry a task through to the end. In a sense, they could be described as having a mental disability. They are like people who are elderly or physically weak. It is not that they are bad people, but that they are weak. Such people have difficulty bearing the responsibility of this work. There are also cases of people who have been healed of mental illness. Remember the man who had been demon-possessed and lived among the tombs before he was healed? He wanted to follow Jesus and become His disciple. But Jesus did not accept him. Instead, He told him, “Go home and testify. You have your own work to do. Tell others what you have experienced so that many people may come to Jesus. But do not think of following Me around and becoming My disciple.”

Then what kind of people became His disciples? They were people like Nathanael. Those who had been waiting for the One foretold by Moses and the prophets became His disciples. They were searching for something meaningful. That is why Philip said to Nathanael, “We have found the One whom Moses and the prophets foretold!” And when Peter saw Jesus, he also confessed, “You are the One!” They were all people like that. None of them became disciples merely because they had been healed and were amazed by what they had experienced.

What about today? Gentiles today have not been waiting for the Messiah as the Israelites once did. So what have those who become disciples today been waiting for? They were searching for the meaning of life. That is quite similar, isn’t it? Surprisingly, there are not that many people who become disciples after nearly dying from an illness and then being healed, saying, “I believed in Jesus, and I was healed!” Rather, many are people who had been wandering through life without knowing its meaning. Of course, some may have experienced illness, but that experience often led them to ask, “Why am I alive? How should I live?” It is often people who have wrestled with such questions who come to believe in Jesus and are called by the Lord. That is because they are not people who merely go along with the crowd.

Therefore, we are people who live according to the Scriptures, not people who chase after extraordinary things. In the days ahead, many people around us will be swept away by miraculous phenomena. Tell them about this before that happens. Once someone becomes captivated by such things, it is extremely difficult to change their thinking. We need to give them a kind of preventive vaccination before they are swept away, so that when the time comes, they will not be shaken. Let us pray that God will help us have a faith that thinks critically, taking the written Word as our standard.