Deuteronomy 9:13(ESV)
13 “Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people.

James 1:22 (NIV)
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Intransigence. Intransigence is a stubborn refusal to change your views. The word describes us pretty well – when we know what we know and we refuse to do the research to know if what we know holds water or not. We get comfortable in what we think we know and refuse to test our hypotheses to see if they stand up to critical thinking.

We are stubborn. It aint new either. Deuteronomy was written around 1400 BC. We’ve had some time to try to get this right and, well, go figure.

It’s simple – if you think you know how things work, test them in reality, not in theory. Be prepared to entertain a better idea. Know what you know until you know something better.

Another truth – if it’s not in the bible, it’s not from God. Simple, straight forward truth. If it’s not from God, it’s not gonna be good. Simple, straight forward truth. If you don’t agree, please see above and do some testing, do some challenging.

You can build as many walls around your ideas as you want, but if they aren’t thrown up against what’s true, if they aren’t tested, if they can’t withstand the assault of critical thinking, if they don’t measure up to reality, what good are they? They might give you comfort for now, but they will surely cause you trouble down the road because they are designed to give you peace of mind, not peace of eternity.

God bring us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – the fruit of The Spirit. It’s not the fruit of the self, it’s the fruit of The Spirit.

So, the bible says to be aware of things that aren’t in there – of things made by men and deceivers. OK, that shouldn’t be to hard, right? All we have to do is not merely listen to the word, but also do what it says. It’s not that hard – do what it says.

Study, learn, challenge, critique, test. Kick the tires hard, hit them with a hammer. Be suspicious of your interpretation and make sure it’s not extra-biblical. Be wary.

Above all, when you know it to be true, do what it says, do what you know to be true.

Do, not don’t. God, not self. Intelligence, not Intransigence.