One of the most disturbing things I have seen, both in myself and around me is the propensity to test everything by personal experience.
Is this always wrong? No. However, I have noticed a disturbing tendency for even Christians to disagree with a sermon, a doctrine, or a Bible verse not because of any particular reason besides the fact that it just rubs them the wrong way.
This could go in a number of directions, but one direction is coming up.
A prime example is the idea that God knows the future. Many Christians simply hate the idea that they are not surprising God with their good deeds. That God is not relieved that we did something in obedience, like God is up in heaven thinking, "I don't know, if Thomas doesn't talk to John about me, it might just ruin everything!"
the thinking is, "If people believe that their actions don't make any difference in how things end up, then they won't do anything." The thing is, if you only act in hopes that your actions will have some incredible significance in history, then you are only motivated by your own glory anyway, and as Christians, we are called to be motivated by love for God.
Would you do something for God if no one noticed? If it cost you a lot, and people not only ignored it, but scorned your actions as selfish and prideful? Is it enough for you that God has noticed?
As Christians, we do use our experiences to test what is right and wrong. However, that is not our ultimate court. Our ultimate court is God's word. Beware when you feel more passionately about your experiential sense of right and wrong than the Biblical right and wrong.
