Are You Stupid Too?

 by

Rick Presley

 Picture this: You just finished listening to Jesus give a talk and you decide to ask him a simple question.

“So what exactly did you mean by that?” you query. Jesus turns to you and says, “What? Are you stupid too?” Not the kind of response you’d expect from Jesus, eh? Yet that’s close to what he does in Mark 17:18 where we read:  Jesus said, "Are you being willfully stupid?” (The Message) to his followers. Let me state that I’m on the side of the disciples. My response to much of Jesus’ teaching is, “Say what?” I also think that quite a few people share my response but are too fearful of looking stupid to admit it. Well, here’s your chance. I’m a stupid disciple and am willing to admit it.

Proof Text Pyrotechnics

I have a sneaking suspicion that what passes for biblical exposition in many books and pulpits today is really biblical obfuscation. Jesus taught a wild, untamed radical message that set the world upside down. That same message has been domesticated, explained and expounded until it has been expunged of any remnant of radicalism.

For many, the hunt is on for explanations to everything Jesus said. The Truth Hunters want to find the answers, discover the secrets, and uncover the meaning of everything so they won’t look stupid when the ignorant masses ask them questions. The weapons at their disposal in this big game truth safari are analysis and exegesis. These high-caliber firearms are accurate and deadly in the hands of skilled professionals. Unfortunately for the words of Jesus, they don’t always fare so well when on the receiving end of these weapons of mass instruction.

I liken a lot of this activity to what high-energy physicists do when they are trying to piece together the inner workings of atoms. They do this by taking two perfectly good atoms and smashing them into each other at incredibly high speeds. Then they see which parts fly off and tell you what used to be inside that particular atom. It’s an interesting approach to study but it doesn’t do much for the atoms under examination. I’m glad my mechanic doesn’t use this technique when diagnosing engine problems in my car.

Crashing things together to see what’s inside is a technique belonging not only to high-energy physicists and little boys but also to students of the Bible as well. One of my favorite pastimes in Bible college was to take two texts, ram them into each other as fast as I could to see what parts flew off and then look at the parts. I sometimes called this a “word study,” analysis, or proof texting but it amounted to blasting verses apart to see what made them tick. It never dawned on me to wonder why the verses failed to keep ticking after I was done. Usually when all the fire and smoke were gone from the ensuing explosion, I ended up with a little pile of ash and spots in front of my eyes rather than real understanding. 

Bible Bungling

The words of Jesus tend to defy this sort of analysis because the parts fall apart so easily and something is lost once we get down to the level of individual words. I usually didn’t have trouble with the words Jesus used. He kept things sweet, short and simple. What baffled me was the utter simplicity of the statements that somehow obscured meaning rather than enhanced it. He could say the plainest things and leave me scratching my head wondering what in the world he meant. 

My only conclusion is that I’m stupid too.

Just like the disciples.

And I have become deeply suspicious of folks who look at the “plain” teachings of Jesus and glibly explain their meaning. Jesus deliberately hid meaning from the Pharisees and other scholars in his plain teachings (Matthew 11:25). The trouble is, the disciples had just as much trouble discovering the meaning as the Pharisees did (Luke 9:45). Nor did they want to look stupid by asking him what he meant. Would you, if Jesus called you “willfully stupid” when you ask simple questions?

Compounded Stupidity

To make matters worse, I am so deeply indoctrinated into the traditional interpretation of selected passages that I can’t even be plain old stupid. What do I mean? I mean that I often have access to quick and ready answers to baffling passages. I quickly jump to the conclusion that I already know what Jesus is talking about because the answers are so easily available in tradition, books and Bible studies. The only thing worse than being ignorant is being ignorant and thinking you know what you’re talking about.

Here are some examples of Bible passages where I already "know" what they mean, so I can't approach them with fresh eyes:

Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (NIV)

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (NIV)

 And the one that sparked Jesus to ask the disciples if they were stupid too, Mark 7: 14-15 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’ ” (NIV)

 I trust that a number of you will be happy to write in and tell me exactly what these passages mean. That only proves my point. We run to meaning as a knee-jerk reaction that stifles real study with the poor substitute of quick and easy explanations. 

Desiring Stupidity

My recommendation is not to fear the questions, but rather to fear the answers. Especially, the quick, the easy, the “everyone knows that” answers. I think we should also beware of those who have all the answers and think we should have all the answers too (and the same answers they have). I’m not saying we shouldn’t pursue answers, but we should be wary if they come too easily and too simply.

The lure of certainty is a powerful opiate that offers more than it delivers. Like any drug, it gives the person in its addictive grip a feeling of strength beyond that of the average person. People high on certainty think they are able to communicate more lucidly and believe themselves to be in possession of heightened senses and enhanced faculties of perception. This intellectual narcotic will leave the user devastated when faced with the inevitable simplicity and opacity of the teachings of Jesus, just like those in Luke 20:17-18: Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” (NIV)