Video Transcript: How Not to Make Up Your Mind (copy)

But he also discussed something else that the judges weren't expecting. He wrote about his Christian faith, and how the teachings of the Bible would affect his decisions and his goals. Among other things, he emphasized his dependence on God, his commitment to honesty and hard work, and its desire to take good care of the creation, the environment since God created it. 

Now, as I said, the overall quality of the paper was sufficient to get a top mark, but one of his judges commented, it's too religious sounds like something from the 1800s. This professor was baffled. Here was one of his very best students, saying that God would play a major role in his work. 

Now, how could someone so progressive and so up to date wonder this professor, how could someone like that hold the such old fashioned ideas? How could anyone who knows the methods and technology of the third millennium be religious like somebody from the 1800s, everybody knows that we progressed beyond all that, especially in public colleges and universities? Well, when you've got your own preconceptions, and you've jumped to conclusions, it's hard to hear what someone else is saying. And it's even harder to make a fair judgement about it. 

Another word for jumping to conclusions is prejudice. Prejudice means pre judging on the basis of preconceived notions without bothering to find out the real truth. You make up your mind about a person without getting to know the person, or you make up your mind about an issue or a belief system without getting to know the relevant facts. When you've got your own preconceptions, your own assumptions and prejudices, it's hard to hear what someone else is saying. 

And it's even harder to make a fair judgement about it. prejudice can make you narrow minded and nasty. prejudice can make a secular Professor scoff at his most intelligent student, just because the students faith influences his thinking and his goals. Prejudice can make a police officer suspect someone of a crime just because of that person's skin color. Prejudice can make you despise someone you don't even know simply because of what he looks like or where it comes from. 

It can make you reject important ideas without studying them, simply because they don't match the mental framework you've set up for yourself. Prejudice, jumping to conclusions is a major factor in why some people turn away from Jesus and ignore the teachings of the Bible for no good reason. They don't really know Jesus, they don't have a thorough knowledge of the Bible's message. But they know a smart professor who rejects Christianity, or they have friends who aren't much interested in religion, or they find that movies and TVs and newspapers don't have much to say about Jesus. And so they don't even consider whether they need a relationship to Jesus. 

They jumped to conclusions based on things that have nothing to do with who Jesus really is. That's how not to make up your mind. Now, such attitudes toward Jesus are nothing new. Already. 2000 years ago, when Jesus lived and walked among us, he ran into prejudice. His personality was compelling. His teaching was brilliant. His miracles were astonishing. And yet many people jumped to the wrong conclusions, and rejected him. 

Some thought that if Jesus were for real, he'd be getting more positive Felicity. Others questioned his educational background. Still, others complained that Jesus didn't live up to their regulations and expectations. Some sneered that he appealed to losers not to the better classes of society. And what's more, they didn't like where he came from. They couldn't imagine anybody worthwhile coming from such a low down place. These reactions to Jesus can all be found in the space of just one chapter of the Bible.

John chapter seven. John is a portrait of prejudice, of jumping to conclusions. It's a story of how not to make up Your mind, I'm going to highlight five things from this particular story. 

First of all, publicity is one way not to make up your mind. hearsay is another bad way of making up your mind. Going by the institution somebody's associated with can be a very misleading way to make up your mind. Having your own assumptions without being open to other possibilities is a bad way to make up your mind. And just good old fashioned prejudice, he comes from the wrong place, can't be anything good about it. 

These are all ways not to make up your mind that are highlighted in John chapter 7. Early in the chapter, we read that Jesus brothers said to him, You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret, since you're doing these things, show yourself to the world, for even his own brothers did not believe in him. 

But a statement, even Jesus's own family members did not believe in him later they did after his resurrection. But at this point in his ministry, they don't really understand him. And they don't believe in Him. And part of the challenge is publicity. They figured that if Jesus were really the Messiah, he act the way a public figure Shun. He wouldn't stay out in the sticks. And in these nowhere places, he'd mingle with the shakers and the movers the big shots and get nationwide publicity. And the place for that was Jerusalem and cotton Galilee, you got to go to the big city. 

But Jesus knew better. He knew that the leaders the movers and the shakers, wouldn't acclaim Him as their Messiah and welcome him if he went to Jerusalem, he knew they were out to kill him. Jesus was willing to die, but only when the time was right. Jesus brothers have the notion that anything good attracts positive publicity. But Jesus knew that true goodness is often ignored, or else greeted with hostility. If you make up your mind about what's important, based only on what gets publicity in our big cities, and our major institutions, you probably won't think much of Jesus, you won't hear much about him in the classrooms of public schools and universities. You'll seldom see people praying to him on TV programs and movies, not even when they're facing illness or death. 

The news media will overload you with politics and sports and business, but you won't find much about religion. And if you do hear something, it's often negative. Oh, it's not so bad to believe in a higher power. But people who take Jesus seriously and stand up for what the Bible teaches are often derided as fanatics, fundamentalists. So if you go by publicity, you might think Christianity is at best, unimportant, and at worst, harmful. But it's foolish to jump to conclusions based on publicity. 

Only after Jesus brothers stopped caring whether Jesus made it big in Jerusalem, did they finally see Him for who He really was? Another way not to make up your mind is by taking a reading of what ordinary people happen to think of Jesus. There was much muttering about Jesus among the people. While some said, he's a good man. Others said, No, he's leading the people astray. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. 

Now what's going on here, you'll notice different kinds of hearsay. If you want to make up your mind based on the opinions of others, you'll only become confused. Who should you believe? Some people thought Jesus was a good man, others thought he was a liar. And even among those who considered him a good man, many didn't recognize Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, their Savior. You just can't go by the opinions of people you happen to know. You'll find that they have many different opinions. And what's more, they don't always say what they're really thinking. 

John 7:13, points out that no one would say anything publicly about Jesus because they were afraid of how the people in power might react. And even where people don't fear official persecution, they're often reluctant to express their deepest convictions openly. They'd rather play it safe. Even those who have some sort of belief in Jesus may prefer not to talk about it. So don't make up your mind about Jesus based on what people happen to be say.

While still another way not to make up your mind. Still, another way of jumping to conclusions is to focus on degrees. and diplomas and academic credentials connected with an institution. An institution is the measure of how valuable Jesus is. We read that Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How is it that this man has learning when he's never studied? So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, his assent to me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God, or whether I'm speaking on my own authority. 

Jesus didn't have the formal academic credentials that would impress the intellectuals. But his insight surpassed all the experts put together they couldn't help wondering, how did this man get such learning without having studied, they couldn't believe that someone who hadn't gone to their institution who hadn't gone through their education system could know so much about matters of supreme importance? Isn't that just like us? We're often more interested in a person's academic credentials or what institution he graduated from, then whether he's got anything worthwhile to say, we're impressed by experts, people who have degrees from prestigious universities will swallow almost anything, provided that it comes from a PhD, and is backed by a flurry of footnotes, and so called research studies. 

But Jesus says that the key to finding out whether his teaching is true, is choosing to do God's will. If you don't love God, and don't delight in him and don't strive to obey Him, then all the education in the world won't help you to understand the truth of Jesus Christ. So we shouldn't be too quick to believe someone just because they graduated from a famous institution. Yet another mistake, according to John seven, is to Judge Jesus by our own regulations and expectations. 

Some people were furious at Jesus for healing a lame man. They thought he was awful for helping this person who had been crippled for years and years and years to walk again. Oh, that was a horrible thing to do. Why? Well, because Jesus had done it on the Sabbath. Imagine here was a lame man that Jesus had healed completely. And rather than praising God, people were upset with the Son of God for doing miracles that didn't fit their schedule. Jesus miracles were some of the most impressive demonstrations that he was, indeed, God among us. And those people use those very miracles as one more excuse to criticize him. 

How did Jesus respond? Jesus said to them, I did one miracle and you are all astonished. And he went on to say, Now, if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be broken? Why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment. It's easy, especially if you're hyper religious to get so hung up on expectations and regulations, that you're no longer able to see when God is really at work. Don't make up your mind by checking whether Jesus matches your expectations first, see whether your expectations match Jesus. 

Problem of jumping to conclusions based on superficial expectations is especially striking in a discussion about where Jesus came from. Some people in the crowd expected that when Christ the Messiah came, he'd appear almost out of nowhere. Therefore, they reasoned, Jesus couldn't possibly be the Christ. They said, We know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from they had this notion that the Messiah would come from an unknown origin. While others had a little different idea. They had different assumptions about where the Christ would come from. And these people said, how can the Christ come from Galilee? 

Does not the scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lives, so they had a sense of where the Messiah would come from. He'd come from Bethlehem, and they knew that Jesus had come down from Galilee. So no way could he be the Christ. Well, they thought nothing good could come from Galilee. They were right that the Christ would come from Bethlehem. But there was a part of Scripture they overlooked. 

The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah chapter nine in the future God will honor Galilee, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Does that sound like nobody good could come from Galilee, aside from being Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, I guess he doesn't amount to much that prophecy was right there. 

But the religious leaders were so hung up on their own ideas that they overlooked any scripture that didn't fit their own notions, they couldn't make room in their expectations for a Prophet from Galilee. Now, ironically, the people who said that no one would know where the Messiah would come from, and those who said that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, or both, right? The Messiah did come from a place nobody knew he came from the depths of eternity, and from the heights of heaven. He did come from Bethlehem, and that's where he was born. But then later on, he grew up in Galilee. 

So in one sense, their expectations were right, but they went wrong. When they assumed that they knew the whole picture and decided that because they knew Jesus was from Galilee, he couldn't qualify as Messiah. When you start making decisions based on your own limited knowledge of the Bible, or when you don't see how Bible passages that sound contradictory could possibly fit together. Or when you can't see how it all applies to Jesus. Does that mean that Jesus isn't God's Son? Or that the Bible isn't reliable? No, it just means that you still don't see the whole picture. Have you ever tried putting a jigsaw puzzle together? 

If you only look at pieces scattered around all those hundreds of pieces, it's hard to make sense of them. But if the puzzle pieces come in a box with a picture of what the finished puzzle ought to look like, you're starting to see where in the picture certain pieces belong, and it's easier to put the puzzle together. In the same way, it may not be easy to take various pieces of prophecy in the Old Testament put together a picture of what the Messiah is supposed to be like. But once you see Jesus as the Messiah, you discover how the pieces of Old Testament prophecy all fit together in him. But even when things fit together, even when there's ample reason to believe in Jesus, sometimes nasty old fashioned prejudice will kick in. They're having a discussion about Jesus among the leaders. And they say to one another, well, have any of the rulers are of the Pharisees believed in him? No. But this mob that knows nothing of Allah, there's a curse on them. So everybody who is somebody isn't going to believe in him and all these worthless folks, a few of them will believe in it. 

Well, one of their own number one of the leaders Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, and who was one of their own number asked, Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he's doing? Nicodemus had done that he'd gone to Jesus, he'd heard Jesus say, You must be born again. He'd heard Jesus say, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Nicodemus had checked things out and he was thinking, and he was being drawn more and more toward Jesus. And he said, You guys, you shouldn't write him off. If you've never checked him out. 

They replied, Are you from Galilee to look into it, and you'll find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. These men knew at all they knew what was going on. They forgotten the whole prophecy. Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, blessing, the land of Galilee. They just knew that no prophet comes from Galilee. They weren't interested in giving him a fair hearing. 

They just said Look who believes in him and look who doesn't believe in him. Decent educated people don't believe in him. Only that stupid good for nothing Ravel believe. What else would you expect? Don't forget the guy is from Galilee. Well, such thinking is still with us today. Some people think that biblical faith in Jesus isn't worth considering. Because it seems to be losing ground in developed Western nations, especially in educated intellectual circles. 

Yeah, okay. Christianity is growing in Africa. It's growing in Asia. It's growing in Latin America, but that's because people from those places are less educated and more superstitious. Well, if you had dismissed Christ in this way, you may think you're being smart and progressive and educated. But that's not smart. It's snobbish, it's not progress, its prejudice based on race and social status. 

The real question isn't whether faith in Jesus fits the latest trends among intellectuals in Europe and North America. The question isn't which part of the world seems most receptive to Christianity? The question is whether Jesus is who he claims to be. The face that question honestly, you have to stop judging by appearances, and make a right judgment, as Jesus put it. And so that means you've got to avoid these ways of making up your mind. 

There are certain ways not to make up your mind publicity, the hearsay of others, academic credentials and institutions of just your own assumptions and, and prejudice. All of these have got to be put aside in order to really pay attention to who Jesus is. And that is vital to making a right judgment. Jesus said, do not judge by appearances avoid these ways of not making up your mind. And then judge with right judgment.

What's it mean not to judge by appearances, while you avoid the misleading ways of deciding what's right and true, there's a lot of bad ways to make up your mind, and you've got to avoid those. And then, if you're going to judge with right judgment, you embrace sound methods for deciding what's right, and what's true. You need to stop jumping to conclusions and consider what Jesus did. And study what Jesus said, Read the accounts of Jesus life found in the Bible books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, read them again, read them again. 

And only after you've read them and really absorbed who he is, and his message and all that he did, only then are you going to start being in a position to make up your mind. And remember, you'll find what you're looking for. If you're looking for excuses not to follow Jesus, you'll probably find some. But if you've chosen to do God's will, to accept what God reveals whether it fits your notions or not, whether it's convenient for you or not, you'll find that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be. And you'll follow Him wherever He leads. Here's some things to consider. 

First of all, Jesus works. There were some who weren't paying attention and who weren't listening. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? That's not a great educated question. That's just observation. He is doing amazing astounding things such as nobody ever did before. Is anybody going to top this? And so Jesus works are one way in which we can sense the presence of God, the reality of God and the person of Jesus Christ. Another is Jesus words, some officers were sent by the leaders to go and arrest Jesus. 

They were sent there to seize him and bring him back for questioning. Well, the officers go there. And then they came back without ever arresting Jesus. And the leaders say, Well, where is he you were supposed to arrest him. And the poor guys can only say, Well, no one ever spoke like this man, they went to arrest him. And they couldn't help being just entranced, captivated by his words. And still today, if you give Jesus words a hearing, you've got to say, no one ever spoke like this man. 

No one ever spoke with such divine authority. Nobody ever had such insight into human nature. Nobody knew God, and knew the father, as Jesus did, and as Jesus does. And then, of course, a third important way of sensing the reality of Jesus is simply the Spirit of Jesus that works in our own heart. And apart from that, we're just going to be stuck with all those bad ways of making up our mind our own prejudices, our own nonsense, because we need God's spirit to open our minds and our hearts. Jesus said, It is the Spirit who gives life. 

The flesh is no help at all. If you start paying attention to the works, and the words of Jesus, and when his Spirit starts stirring in you, then you're in a position to begin to make up your mind about Jesus and to know God in Jesus. And in order to take his works and his miracle seriously, you can't just go by the appearances you need to have good judgment. I did one miracle and you're all astonished and you're even griping about that miracle. You've got to stop judging, in bad ways. You got to get rid of those wrong ways of making up your mind and judge with right judgment and pay attention. do what Jesus has done. 

Listen to His words, Jesus says, if anyone's will, is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God. So make up your mind. I want to know God and I want to do His will. And if you're in that frame of mind when you go to Jesus words, then you're going to hear the voice of God Himself, speaking to you. And if you are to benefit from Jesus spirit, you need to hear Jesus invitation. Jesus says, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 

Now this, he said, about the spirit, Are you thirsty? If you're thirsty, come to Jesus, leave aside all the preconceived notions you have and just let that thirst for his reality drive you to the Savior. That's how you make up your mind your thirst for God, you come to Jesus without judging by appearances and prejudices. You listen to his words, you hear him speak, as nobody ever spoke before you look at his deeds. 

You see him do miracles greater than anyone ever did. You face the fact that Jesus died and then defeated death. And then you know, you just know that Jesus is who he says he is, and you're thirsty soul knows that you've found what you've always been looking for. As you come to Jesus, find the living water of the Holy Spirit welling up inside you. And that Holy Spirit is the final proof of God's truth. In Jesus, when you have that spirit, then you will make a right judgment and know Jesus for who he is.