This week I watched a video about a recent, problematic cult leader and their evil deeds. Seeing such things makes me sad and angry every time. Not only about the religious cults themselves but I feel the same way when seeing the followers who believe the leader to be a god or a being of that level, accepting immoral behaviours and continuing to suffer because they are afraid that they will not be saved if they reject them.
At a missionary organisation during university, I had met a person who had the gift of teaching. He once said, ‘Having no common sense and too much common sense is different, and immorality and super morality are also different.’ The point is that no matter how much God surpasses common sense and morality, he does not ignore them. Fundamentally, common sense and morality are laws created by God to rule the world.
Some people may not understand the choice of closing a store on a Sunday when there is an opportunity of sale. However, the choice should not be criticised as the day of Sabbath allows us to worship God and focus on establishing a relationship with Him especially when we easily neglect him during the busy week. This may not make sense to some but that does not mean it is senseless.
When Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, although he was not born through a normal marital relationship, that doesn’t mean he was born through an adulterous relationship either. In other words, he surpasses all morality but does not disregard it.
However, cult leaders and heretical priests do not hesitate to commit falsehoods and immorality in the name of truth and salvation. Moreover, their followers consider it a strong faith to accept it blindly and end up giving them absolute obedience. Even if it is not to this extreme, we also sometimes tend to ignore common sense when seeking God’s guidance and signs. We expect God to express His will in a mysterious and extraordinary way and jump to conclusions even when it does not make sense.
At one point in my life, I earned to hear God’s voice and experience miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. However now when I seek God’s heart and will, I try to carefully weigh and examine the thoughts objectively. This is because I realised searching for miracles is not the right attitude for good faith.
God is so personal that he wants us to grow to be self-reliant and wants us to develop our ability to view things objectively. This is why the Bible emphasises life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance countless times showing us that if we start to ignore common sense, we then start to lose all sense and judgement.
