Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV

This passage taken from the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament is often used by Christians to put off and discourage critical questions. Christian teachers will sometimes present their own interpretations of Scripture on an issue followed by an appeal to Proverbs 3:5-6, urging the listeners to submit their intellect to “God’s word”. In effect, this is what such teachers are saying: “I am the interpreter of God’s will and the Holy Scriptures. You shall not challenge my views, which are God’s views. You shall not use your intellect or trust your conscience in this matter. You must submit to what I tell you.” Through a deceptive use of the Bible that disparages independent and critical thinking, conscientious people who want to obey God are thus made to stifle their own conscience and submit their God-given sensibilities and rights to other fallible, sinful human beings rather than investigating the issue and judging for themselves what is truth. They’re thus led to adopt the prejudices and blind spots of the teacher. Some are led into extreme and unhealthy practices believing that they’re following God’s word and will while they are inflicting suffering and trauma on themselves, finally killing their faith in God altogether.

Wisdom literature encourages critical thinking. Interpretations of Scripture that encourage the stifling of the intellect and conscience go against the rationale of the Bible’s wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes). The book of Proverbs extols wisdom and understanding. The reader is from the very opening urged to pursue and value understanding, wisdom, righteousness, justice and equity above all else (e.g. Proverbs 1:1-6; 3:13-14).

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Proverbs 4:7, ESV

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer sets out on a mission to gain wisdom and understanding through personal experience, by freely exploring wisdom and folly, the pain and pleasures of life, but with a critical approach (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18). The book of Job tells the story of a God-fearing and wealthy man who, after losing everything he has in a series of calamities, challenges God’s justice in letting the righteous and faithful suffer. Rather than censuring critical questions or the use of reason, the Bible encourages it on several occasions (e.g. Genesis 18:20-33; Isaiah 1:18-20; James 3:17-18).

The healthy fear of God. In Proverbs 1:7 and 9:19, king Solomon writes that the “fear of God” is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Unfortunately, “the fear of God” has been an ill-used notion among many authoritarian Christians. Is the fear of God a kind of terror that threatens the intellect into silence and submission? If we let Scripture explain itself rather than jumping to our own conclusions, it becomes clear that this is not the case at all. Let’s have a look.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8, ESV

Notice how trusting the Lord and fearing the Lord are in this passage connected. The reader is encouraged to both trust and fear God. How does this make sense? How can you trust someone if you’re afraid of them? “Fear” is the English translation of the Hebrew term yare that can also mean to “respect” or “to show reverence”. God-fearing is an English term that indicates someone’s love, reverence and devotion to God. It’s only in this way that the passage makes sense. Trust and respect are intimately connected and support each other.

Therefore, “fearing” God in this context means to respect God. As mentioned earlier, the Bible demonstrates in various important passages that the fear of God not only allows, but encourages critical thinking or questions. One example is Abraham, who respectfully interrogated God about how God intended to judge the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-33). Listen to Abraham’s critical questioning:

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Genesis 18:22-25, ESV

Abraham repeatedly asks God if He is going to destroy Sodom if He finds only 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or 10 righteous citizens there, with the promise from God each time that He would not destroy the city for their sake. This story powerfully demonstrates God’s willingness to reason with mankind and listen to critical questions. In Isaiah 1:18, God invites people to come and reason with Him that He may justify them and blot out their sins.

What does it then mean to lean on our own understanding? In Proverbs 3, this is contrasted with trusting the Lord. Leaning on our own understanding here means to distrust God’s intentions and to ignore God’s input in our search for wisdom and understanding. Leaning on our own understanding is further paralleled in verse 7 with being wise in our own eyes, which means that we think or act like we know better than God. This delusion destroys our “fear” of God by leading us to disrespect God and treat Him as an equal or even as an inferior—as if God is biased, ignorant or prejudiced like humans. It is in this sense that we must not lean on our own understanding or be wise in our own eyes, but trust in God’s perfectly benevolent character and His divine capacity.

However, is trusting God one and the same as trusting the Church or Christians?

Using our God-given rights. The following clause in Proverbs 3:6 seems particularly relevant here:

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:6, ESV

We all have different ways of life. We have different ways of understanding God and living out our convictions. This is our God-given human right as free moral individuals. Our own understanding might even change over time as our knowledge and experience increases. Christians interpret the Bible differently, even if they are members of the same church. This reflects the natural diversity of human experience and perspectives. Diversity is in line with God’s providence, since it is our God-given right and privilege to know God individually for ourselves – to read the Scriptures, study nature, and judge for ourselves what is truth. This is what the Protestant reformation fought for—the individual’s right to follow their own conscience. Jesus Himself didn’t submit to the traditions of the Jewish leaders of His day blindly, but acquired a personal knowledge of the Scriptures. He could therefore challenge and refute the senseless views and practices of His day. This is how Christianity was formed—through critical thinking and the pursuit of personal understanding. While Jesus was fearless in His criticism of religious corruption and pretense, His devotion to and trust in God as shown in His regard for the marginalized and His teaching was unparalleled.

As Jesus’ followers, Christians have the full right and duty to follow in the same footsteps. Traditions are not above criticism. Doctrines are not above criticism. The Church is not above criticism. If we truly trust God, the promise in Proverbs 3 is that God will make our paths straight, even if our path leads us out of a belief system or a tradition or a doctrine that we previously held. When God makes our paths straight, He gives us moral integrity in our walk. However, if we are wise in our own eyes—that is, if our heart is prideful and not willing to receive God’s guidance and instruction, God will not make our paths straight. We’ll be left to the crooked ways and the fruitless and destructive outcomes of our own ego.

Proverbs 3:5-6 leaves room for diversity of perspective, faith and opinion among God’s believers. The promise in Proverbs is that God will guide all who trust Him. Jesus’ example demonstrates that it is possible to trust God and disagree with the Church. Jesus’ example shows that sometimes trusting God might require that we disagree with the Church.

Trusting God also brings health to our bodies, as research also indicates. Relying solely on ourselves in life—believing that our survival and well-being ultimately depend on our own efforts—will naturally breed anxiety and stress. Sometimes family and friends cannot understand or help us in our suffering. One may, however, find comfort and hope in trusting that God understands and is willing to guide, comfort and help. The Sabbath commandment in the Ten Commandments where we are commanded to refrain and rest from secular labor on the seventh day is a symbol of trusting in God’s providence for our survival and well-being rather than leaning on our own efforts and work. Trusting God’s providence and care for us leaves room for healthy rest and is beneficial to our mental and spiritual health, providing an anchor of joy, courage and hope through the trials of life.

When Christians present the passage of Proverbs 3:5-6 as a command to refrain from critically engaging with the Bible or with the Church we may know that they are not being true to the Bible or to Jesus Christ. True Christianity models after Jesus and is not afraid to question and critically investigate religious ideas and practices.

This is my testimony. What is yours? Feel free to share in the comment section below!