There is something about the way in which God provides more than what we need. We see it in the Scriptures about the feeding of the 5000, for instance—there were baskets full of leftovers. But there is one thing that we don’t usually recognize—the Bible contains far more truth than we will ever need to avail ourselves of.
Think of it—in it is everything one could ever want to meet every difficulty. There is everything we could ever need to know about how to love God and our neighbor—and we could go on.
But, since this is true, why are we always searching somewhere else to find something more?
That’s of course, the problem with the eclectic; he believes in the Bible—plus. Actually, all we need is the Bible—less (in the sense that we could ever be able to know or use it all. And when we do use it, there are always so many leftovers.).
There is always something that the eclectic can’t seem to be able to find to help him or his counselee in the Scriptures, so he looks elsewhere. Then, finding a piece of “worldly wisdom,” he gets out his Gorilla Glue and attempts to make a fit that will hold together. The trouble is that either 1) the Bible gets warped in the process in order to make an unnatural union, or 2) the Bible refuses to stay fixed to the other object so in the final analysis, he junks it in favor of the extra-biblical finding..
You can’t fasten worldly wisdom together with biblical truth; something always goes wrong when you make the attempt. 1 Corinthians 2 ought to be sufficient evidence of the fact that this procedure is futile. The world doesn’t welcome the truth of God (v. 14), and even thinks that it’s foolishness. If some kind of union is effected in spite of these facts, doubtless it will be like the clay and iron of the toes of Daniel’s metallic man—the mashing together of two incompatible items. They won’t hold very long as, indeed, the Roman Empire’s “union” of provinces demonstrated when they attacked and overran the mother city!
So, since we have all we need in the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:17), why attempt to “enhance” it with man’s “wisdom?” It can’t work; it doesn’t work; it will not work. This has been demonstrated over the last generation by a host of eclectic counselors and theorists who, admittedly, have found no amalgamation of the two that does work. Why waste time doing what God has already told you can’t be done and, moreover, has told you what can? The Bible has what you need to solve all true counseling problems; in it are all things necessary for life and godliness; in it is all you need to know in order to love God and your neighbor. And then some! It’s time to toss the world’s “wisdom” aside, and get down to work learning how to use your Bible to help those in need of its guidance! You’ll find all you’ll ever need—and much more.
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