"Experience is the best teacher" is an old saying. We may not hear or see it spoken so much anymore, but our society lives by it. It's the very shaky foundation of the our culture, and really, the world's shifting "morality". It's a very ambiguous statement.
For one thing, everyone has different experiences; so if experience is our teacher, everyone will be learning different "lessons". Many people will also perceive the same experience in different ways and glean entirely different perspectives from it. This is an amazingly chaotic way to "learn" life lessons. Compare it to a classroom. What would anyone learn about reality if everyone was told something different? No one would really know anything, yet everyone would consider themselves an expert...because no one else knows what they "know."
Secondly, I would like to ask, experience is the best teacher of what? Most of us will take any given experience and, if not guided otherwise, will base our beliefs, words, choices, and actions on the consequences of those experiences. Basically, we will make choices and develop beliefs that we think will bring us the most satisfaction and happiness, and at the same time bring us the least amount of pain and suffering.
These "lessons" will, again, vary widely from person to person. People live in light of "what consequences do I think this will have on me?" If it's something that we find feels satisfactory or fulfilling, then I will declare that it is right. If it's something that gives me only pain or discomfort, either physical or mental or emotional, I will declare that it is wrong. This system of thought is the foundation of relative moralism. No one can tell anyone else what is right or wrong because your experience has taught you differently.
But does experience teach you accurately? Is what you learn from your experience actually true? Are we willing to even ask ourselves that anymore?
True character and morality, and truth, cannot be based on experience. Experience based living tells us to live by the light of perceived consequences. This "standard" will shift constantly and will tread on others in order to fulfill its own purpose. True character and morality must have an unchangeable standard for everyone to live by regardless of consequences. Experience bases decisions on consequences. Character makes decisions based on an unchanging standard of what is right. Experience will cause a person to act selfishly, inconsistently and unpredictably...even when sometimes disguised as self sacrifice, in order to achieve a sense of self-worth, a false sense of strong character, or to appease a guilty conscience. Truth-based character will cause someone to be steady, dependable, trustworthy, reliable, and selfless.
How can we know what is true? Only the One who designed and created the universe, mankind and all the relationships we have is wise enough to teach us these things. And He has done it. He gives us truth in His word...the Bible.
Jesus said, "Sanctify them [make them righteous] by the truth--Your word is truth." (John 17:17). Just as physical truths are objective, so are spiritual and relational truths. Truth is the same whether we live to experience anything or not. Gravity is a fact whether I live to experience it or not. A lie is a lie, whether one is told to me or to someone on the other side of the world.
God's word means what He wants it to mean, not what I want it to mean. One of my favorite Bible teachers, John MacArthur, puts it, "What does the Bible mean if you are dead?" I don't have to experience anything to bring meaning to truth. It isn't relative to my experience. It isn't subjective. Truth dictates to me how I ought to live...regardless of the consequences. And only a Christian can live this way, because only a Christian loves truth and knows God enough to trust Him with the outcome of obeying Him. And as a Christian, pleasing God ought to be my only objective--not bringing myself satisfaction and avoiding pain. And by giving up these pursuits, by denying myself and being willing to die to my own desires and follow Christ, ironically, this is what will bring eternal satisfaction and eternal freedom from pain. Living for these things now and ignoring God's truth will bring the very real consequences of eternal dissatisfaction and pain. By pursuing our own perceived good based on our experiences, we ultimately lose everything truly good.
Christian, how do you live? Do your choices reflect a desire for particular consequences? Or do your choices reflect a reverence for God and His holy, righteous standards...leaving the consequences in His wonderful, loving, sovereign hands?
Non-Christian, as long as you live for self, you will never gain what you so passionately chase after. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "He who loves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Only when you let go of control, when you give up trying to please yourself, when you realize that all your pursuits are in selfish opposition to God who made you and gave you life, and that there is nothing you can do to change your direction, will you begin to find the way to life. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes through the Father except through Me," Jesus said. The only way to God is through laying down of your own pursuits, the trusting in Jesus' payment of death on a cross for your sins, and turning around, away from your selfish life, which is led on by your experiences, and toward godliness, led on by God's truth and righteousness...and enabled in Him to live this way.
Experience tells me to trust in myself, my senses, my intellect, with my limited knowledge and reasoning. The Bible teaches me to trust in God who has vast, perfect understanding and loving sovereignty over my life.
Experience tells me to listen to my heart. The Bible teaches me that my heart is deceitful.
Experience tells me to ask myself what I want to accomplish and to pursue that at all costs. The Bible teaches me to seek what God's will is and to pursue that at all costs.
Experience tells me that letting off steam makes me feel better. The Bible teaches me that my anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, that it multiplies sin in others, and fills my soul with bitterness.
Experience tells me to trust my instincts. The Bible teaches me to trust God's word.
Experience tells me to do what feels good. The Bible teaches me to do what is good.
Experience tells me that love hurts and should be given conditionally based on how I am treated. The Bible teaches me that love is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not easily angered, it is not self-seeking, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and it never fails. Love lays down its life.
To whom will I listen...?
For one thing, everyone has different experiences; so if experience is our teacher, everyone will be learning different "lessons". Many people will also perceive the same experience in different ways and glean entirely different perspectives from it. This is an amazingly chaotic way to "learn" life lessons. Compare it to a classroom. What would anyone learn about reality if everyone was told something different? No one would really know anything, yet everyone would consider themselves an expert...because no one else knows what they "know."
Secondly, I would like to ask, experience is the best teacher of what? Most of us will take any given experience and, if not guided otherwise, will base our beliefs, words, choices, and actions on the consequences of those experiences. Basically, we will make choices and develop beliefs that we think will bring us the most satisfaction and happiness, and at the same time bring us the least amount of pain and suffering.
These "lessons" will, again, vary widely from person to person. People live in light of "what consequences do I think this will have on me?" If it's something that we find feels satisfactory or fulfilling, then I will declare that it is right. If it's something that gives me only pain or discomfort, either physical or mental or emotional, I will declare that it is wrong. This system of thought is the foundation of relative moralism. No one can tell anyone else what is right or wrong because your experience has taught you differently.
But does experience teach you accurately? Is what you learn from your experience actually true? Are we willing to even ask ourselves that anymore?
True character and morality, and truth, cannot be based on experience. Experience based living tells us to live by the light of perceived consequences. This "standard" will shift constantly and will tread on others in order to fulfill its own purpose. True character and morality must have an unchangeable standard for everyone to live by regardless of consequences. Experience bases decisions on consequences. Character makes decisions based on an unchanging standard of what is right. Experience will cause a person to act selfishly, inconsistently and unpredictably...even when sometimes disguised as self sacrifice, in order to achieve a sense of self-worth, a false sense of strong character, or to appease a guilty conscience. Truth-based character will cause someone to be steady, dependable, trustworthy, reliable, and selfless.
How can we know what is true? Only the One who designed and created the universe, mankind and all the relationships we have is wise enough to teach us these things. And He has done it. He gives us truth in His word...the Bible.
Jesus said, "Sanctify them [make them righteous] by the truth--Your word is truth." (John 17:17). Just as physical truths are objective, so are spiritual and relational truths. Truth is the same whether we live to experience anything or not. Gravity is a fact whether I live to experience it or not. A lie is a lie, whether one is told to me or to someone on the other side of the world.
God's word means what He wants it to mean, not what I want it to mean. One of my favorite Bible teachers, John MacArthur, puts it, "What does the Bible mean if you are dead?" I don't have to experience anything to bring meaning to truth. It isn't relative to my experience. It isn't subjective. Truth dictates to me how I ought to live...regardless of the consequences. And only a Christian can live this way, because only a Christian loves truth and knows God enough to trust Him with the outcome of obeying Him. And as a Christian, pleasing God ought to be my only objective--not bringing myself satisfaction and avoiding pain. And by giving up these pursuits, by denying myself and being willing to die to my own desires and follow Christ, ironically, this is what will bring eternal satisfaction and eternal freedom from pain. Living for these things now and ignoring God's truth will bring the very real consequences of eternal dissatisfaction and pain. By pursuing our own perceived good based on our experiences, we ultimately lose everything truly good.
Christian, how do you live? Do your choices reflect a desire for particular consequences? Or do your choices reflect a reverence for God and His holy, righteous standards...leaving the consequences in His wonderful, loving, sovereign hands?
Psalm 15:1-5: "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor,nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised,but who honors those who fear the Lord;who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved."
Non-Christian, as long as you live for self, you will never gain what you so passionately chase after. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "He who loves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Only when you let go of control, when you give up trying to please yourself, when you realize that all your pursuits are in selfish opposition to God who made you and gave you life, and that there is nothing you can do to change your direction, will you begin to find the way to life. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes through the Father except through Me," Jesus said. The only way to God is through laying down of your own pursuits, the trusting in Jesus' payment of death on a cross for your sins, and turning around, away from your selfish life, which is led on by your experiences, and toward godliness, led on by God's truth and righteousness...and enabled in Him to live this way.
Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:13: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
Colossians 2:13-14: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."
Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in The Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Experience tells me to trust in myself, my senses, my intellect, with my limited knowledge and reasoning. The Bible teaches me to trust in God who has vast, perfect understanding and loving sovereignty over my life.
Experience tells me to listen to my heart. The Bible teaches me that my heart is deceitful.
Experience tells me to ask myself what I want to accomplish and to pursue that at all costs. The Bible teaches me to seek what God's will is and to pursue that at all costs.
Experience tells me that letting off steam makes me feel better. The Bible teaches me that my anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, that it multiplies sin in others, and fills my soul with bitterness.
Experience tells me to trust my instincts. The Bible teaches me to trust God's word.
Experience tells me to do what feels good. The Bible teaches me to do what is good.
Experience tells me that love hurts and should be given conditionally based on how I am treated. The Bible teaches me that love is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not easily angered, it is not self-seeking, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and it never fails. Love lays down its life.
To whom will I listen...?
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