Christian ministers and Christian laymen, best answer to this please.?

Question

To see which group answers more thoughtfully, What would you tell a member of the congregation that confides they have only head knowledge, but has a problem with their heart knowing Christ? Yes, it was put that way. Do you first try to determine if they are double-minded, or ...?

Answer 1

NOTE: sorry long answer pls 4give spellin and typos :)

I love your question and I will attempt a logical approach by scripture for you. Lets look at the greatest command ment found in Mathew and Mark. ( both passages are from the NIV)
Mathew 22:34-38
34 ...the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Mark 12:28-30
28 One of the teachers of the law came...he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Heart, soul and mind. These are the invisible elements of a persons make up. The things in us that we have that are hidden but make us human. Granted the mind as a brain is tangeble as "grey matter", but the thing that makes it a mind is not. The electricity and chemical reactions that course thru our bodies is a wonder in and of it self and that my friend The Heart and Soul and Mind is that which is eternal in us.

Now before I digress to far, these elements are in man Jesus said they were, they must also be in Christ for He was a man as well, and the point is this we can connect with God on three levels:
the heart = emotionally
the soul = our spirit if you will, the thing in us that make each one of us unique
the mind = intellectually

The problem is that not all of these parts of us work well together and are at times imballenced. Too much head knowledge causes pride in our selves and we tend to become stuffy or concieted.

Too much heart knowledge, and we become to mushy about God and Christ and at times tend to emasculate or Lord and make Him for feminine, and loving (check out Psalm 50 if you want a description of the Lord that will really change the way you tink about God)

Too much soul or spirit and we tend to over spiritualize the way the Lord works, to the point "we are so spiritually minded we become no earthly good"

I love the way mark adds strengthto the mix, as it represents the physical being the total package, in that if all these 3 elements are working in harmony together and ballanced the the body will in turn follow, as it is controlled by these three intangeable things.

The only way to achieve ballance in any o the above areas mentioned especially the "head knowledge" part is to return to the basics.
"He that dose not know God dose not know love for God is love" 1 John.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to You" James

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't rely on your understanding. In all you ways acknowledge Him and He will show you which way to take" Proverbs

A person that lacks the basic understanding thast God is Love, must immerse themselves in this concept. The must develop that Father Child relationship and become submissive to the will of Him that set us free. Intellectually we will go our own way every time cause we use simple logic

If this is this & that is that + what I want = success then that's the way I will go.

God says go this way, forget this & that, forget what you want, take this harder path, and I will give you a reward where I am.
No worldly success, sacrafice and love and you will see a reward greater that you can immagine, and not only that but as timne goes you can get blessings along the way as my love spills out. When the blessing are few and far and the way seems hard I am with you always, with comfort and strength to endure.

God can meet anyone where they are spiritually, emotionally, and intelectually, and as they get closer to Him thru His Son Jesus, they begin to get ballance, or sanctification. I would pray a brother in the situation you describe above read 1 John, for several weeks then the Gospel of John, then Ezekel,
( the immagery of being taken into the river of God is what an intellectual worshiper needs-my opinion)

I hope you find this note helpful, and I thank you for the chance to respond
God Bless
B

Answer 2

You need to ask a lot of questions. Has this person accepted Christ in the past? Did it appear genuine? i.e. were there fruits that were evident after they were saved? If the answer is yes, then they have just lost the way and some good counseling will loosen up the heart a little bit.

If they have just head knowledge and have never asked Jesus into their life, then they need to talk to you or a minister about why they do not have the heart knowledge. Is it unresolved questions about the bible or Jesus? Is it because they did not have a father relationship on earth and have a hard time relating to God as a father? The list is endless.

Hang in there, pray for them, with them, and love them. Do not ge the bible out and thump 'em... use it when answering questions they have and to back up what you say, but ditch the Roman road and all that stuff..

Good Luck

Answer 3

I would have them first define what they mean by "Heart" and then ask if they know what the Scripture says about the "Heart". At that time I would review the Scripture with them to see if the "Problem" was simply one of Contextual Misunderstanding or not. If that IS the case, then I would show them Scripture that would offer Support that they could know for Sure, they were indeed Saved. If it is NOT a case of misunderstanding, I would ask them what they really think about Scripture and the Plan of God, Not the church, to see where they were at in relation to Scripture and the Plan with regards to the Holy Spirits' Conviction at this time. If I felt that they were under Conviction, then I would go over the Plan using Scripture to offer them an Opportunity to Believe. If it is Accepted, I would Rejoice and suggest that they set aside time Daily for the intake of Bible Doctrine. I would want them to devote a notebook of some sort to notes & questions they may have and be open to them as support. If they were Not under Conviction, I wouldn't Presume I could do more than the H.S. and simply continue to be Available to them. John-L.M.

Answer 4

It just goes to show that mind knowledge is not the be all and end all as some here would have us believe. It is also the reason that a great number of those who profess Christianity will sorely dismayed at the final judgment.

Christ spoke of this when He said,
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matt 7:21-23 (KJV)

That being said I would say to that person, “you have the word and you have the knowledge, now you must apply it.” True acceptance of Christ is not as easy as some, particularly atheists, seem to think it is. To have a complete change of heart regarding your life and how you live it and what you are living for is beyond difficult.

Not everyone that comes to Christ has a “Pentecostal Moment”, in fact most do not. I believe there is a time in ones life when their head knowledge reaches the heart and they are convicted by the Holy Ghost, but that is just the beginning.

Answer 5

You must have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with JC. Personal means you alone know. Relationship means it is not just you come now and you go later. It means no matter what, you are around for Him and He is around for you. No other religion mentions "personal relationship". When you go out to evangelise, it is the non believers whom you meet. Not everyone can accept salvation and not everyone will be saved, no matter what you say, what you do, how hard you pray and how much you fast. It is written already that there are some who are destined to reject. So they are not double minded. I have some head knowledge of some other religions in the world. But my relationship with JC goes back a long way and it is meaningful. Give them time. It is not you who win them over. It is God Himself. You are a planter who sow the seeds. You can also be a harvester. But the one who makes sure the seeds grow roots and grow up is God Himself. Do not make assumptions. Continue carrying out the Great Commission. One day you will see the abundant harvest.

Answer 6

Intellectual knowledge of spiritual matters is a bit complicated. Having 'book knowledge' of who Christ is does not necessarily provide for conviction of the heart which is a separate matter altogether.

It all boils down to do we live that which we know.

You can know religion yet not practice it. It doesn't make you a hypocrite, just another sinner among the hoards of us.

Life is a journey and not a destination and our attitudes evolve according to our acquisition of knowledge, continuing spiritual enlightenment and social awareness, and whether (or not) we strive to be the best person we can be.

Knowing who Christ is is not the same as "knowing Christ".

Answer 7

The person to me, does not sound to be double-minded,but rather, has either, "lost his first love" or has never been born again by grace through faith. I would walk him through the steps of salvation by faith and repentance....basically,reboot,by starting from the beginning....possibly, you may be able to pinpoint the root of the problem. I would need to actually talk with the person to understand what "HE" means by heart knowledge vs head knowledge(specifics in the term "heart knowledge, in his mind.( it could involve a simply explanation and is worth exploring,first).

In either case,I would stress the importance of spending quality time in both prayer and in the Word...and possibly assign a mentor to disciple him and walk with him....

At least he understands that there is a problem....that is a good sign...he is open and teachable.....

Just my immediate thoughts....Brother "Just Bob" has presented a very good answer to check out as well

Answer 8

This bothers me, as heart knowledge should come first...most of the time head knowledge never does come.
You believe with your heart...knowing Christ is only with your heart....I'm not sure if they are even single minded, they may just be testing you...

Answer 9

Determine?They are by the admission of the statement.Want an example?The late C.S.Lewis is accepted in the mainstream as a Christian.Yet in reality he was a metaphysical christian with pagan catholic leanings.So was his friend J.R.R.Tolkien.They admit it in correspondence.Many pagans respect the Bible and know it is true,but reject Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

hi, i'm a Christian and to answer your question. i'll surrender and help with the tire or get them some help. i don't care what faith they are. everybody has a coronary heart and being a Christian does not propose you are able to desire to RAM Jesus down everyones throat. It propose that Christianity has replaced YOUR existence and you recognize the affection of God. as quickly as I wasn't a Christian, i could have in all probability only drove previous a individual in choose, yet being saved enables me be a sort and greater compassionate individual. don't get me incorrect, if somebody desires to chat approximately my ideals or desires to appreciate greater approximately Jesus, i will flow there too (sure i will). with a bit of luck, somebody will see the easy of God in me and be interested in the easy not purely to a faith. Seriouly, the Chrisian faith angers me in some situations too. yet you are able to desire to locate what it means to you and not get offended by way of fact of others movements in it. Christianity is approximately YOUR courting not what others have performed. Make it own for you and you'd be cool! Peace!