The Danger of Heart Thinking

Dr. Randy White

In Mark 2:5-8, Jesus says to the paralytic, brought to him by four faithful friends, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”  What happens next is the subject of this article.“And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:6–8, NKJV)Are Reason and Logic Anti-Christian?Many believers have adopted the idea that thinkers are missing out on the heart of Christianity. They have come to believe that God works and moves in mysterious ways, and therefore logic and reason, with their disdain of mystery, are not Spirit-led.First, does God really work in mysterious ways? We have heard this statement so many times that we may even believe it is a Biblical quote. It is not! Certainly God’s thoughts and ways are beyond ours, and “past finding out” (Romans 11:33) without His revelation, but there is no mystery after revelation has been given. In fact, much of the activity in the world today, especially as it relates to Israel, is only a mystery to those who are unfamiliar with the Hebrew prophets, who foretold these events thousands of years ago. It is not mystery that the Jewish nation has been reborn, it is the fulfillment of prophecy. (Perhaps one of the reasons this “God works in mysterious ways” theology is so prominent is because so many people reject a literal interpretation of God’s Word.) I am convinced that God has given us enough revelation that there is no mystery about how we are to live, what we are to believe, and what God is doing in our world today.So then, why does Jesus ask these Scribes, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?” He has just forgiven a man his sins. Is it unethical to ask reason-related questions about what this means? Or was the conclusion of their reason unreasonable?The word in verse 8 for reason is dialogizomai. It literally means “through logic.” The root word is logizomai (logic), and Strong’s Concordance says this word, “refers to facts not suppositions.” If the Scribes, who were experts in the Scriptures, were dealing with facts, did they make the wrong conclusion? The facts led them to believe that no one can forgive sins but God alone. This is very good logic. It deals with the facts. Under the Law, not even a Priest could declare sins forgiven, their work being limited to atonement (covering) of sins. Factually, the Scribes were perfectly right.So why did Jesus chastise them for this reasoning?Heart ThinkingThe reason of the Scribes was perfectly reasonable. The chastisement of Jesus was not for reason, but for the motivation for their reason, which caused the Scribes to make an unreasonable conclusion: that Jesus was not God.True reason would have taken this route:

• Foundational fact: No one can forgive sins but God alone.
• Jesus has just declared sins forgiven, thus he is claiming to be God.
• If sins are forgiven (literally, “sent away”), then the suffering of that sin would be sent away as well. (While this article will not take the time to build this case, the Scribes believed that sin was expiated in suffering. Once expiated, the suffering would be alleviated).
• Therefore, if this man gets up and walks home, Jesus is God, as he claims.

The Scribes refused to follow the path of their own logic. When verse 8 is read closely, one finds that Jesus does not condemn them for reasoning, but for reasoning in their heart. Since the heart is not the seat of reason, it is illogical to allow the heart to take lead in logic. As Strong’s says, logizomai “refers to facts not suppositions.”There is a place for the heart in the Christian faith, but the heart’s place is not in the thinking / logic / reason role.Scriptural Evidence“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?” (Mark 8:16–17, NKJV)The fact of the matter that was being reasoned was that they had no bread, but it was the hardened heart that was doing the reasoning. The only reason the disciples were thinking about no bread was because their heart said, “we have an insurmountable problem.” Had the disciples really reasoned with their heads, then they would have seen that there was plenty of evidence that lack of physical resources was no problem for Jesus. Be very careful when the heart takes the lead.Now, consider these instructions Jesus gave His Apostles about trials to come.  “Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;” (Luke 21:14, NKJV). Why did He want the Apostles to settle their heart about having a prepared speech to give the accusers? Because, when they were in prison and awaiting trial the next morning, their heart would be shouting, PREPARE YOUR DEFENSE! If they followed their heart, they would do exactly the opposite of what Jesus wanted them to do. And, following their heart and preparing their defense, they would miss out on the utterance that the Spirit would give them when they needed it. The heart needed to be settled in advance because it would be very restless prior to the trial.Be Ye Transformed…The Christian faith needs to be a faith that deals with facts. Let the heart have its role, but the heart (that is, your feelings), should never have a leading role. When it does, it will inevitably lead the mind to the wrong conclusions. The Scribes “reasoned in their hearts” rather than in their minds. Had their minds been in the lead, there is only one reasonable conclusion: Jesus is God, in the flesh.In conclusion, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is often the exact opposite of what is taught in modern, feel-good churches. Believers are taught to emphasize the heart and have what approaches a disdain for the solid information of a mind-driven, Bible-based, Scripture-grounded sermon. It is this kind of mindless Christianity that accepts that which is unacceptable in the Bible, and produces the shallow, Biblically illiterate Believer in the name-it-and-claim-it, number-focused churches that are in abundance throughout our land.