ONE SOUL AT A TIME

By Akin Ojumu

Communicable and Incommunicable attributes of God are terms theologians use to describe the qualities of God that humans can or cannot also possess respectively. These terms are also called the Transferrable and Non-Transferable attributes of God. 

Genesis 1:27

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

When the Bible says that man is created in God’s image, it’s actually referring to those communicable (i.e., transferable) attributes of God that humans also possess. These would include such things as love, mercy, goodness, holiness, justice, wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, reasoning, creativity, imagination, and thinking. Inasmuch as humans are endowed with all of these qualities, however, we have them to limited degrees. No human being is able to manifest any of these attributes as fully and completely as God does.

Conversely, the incommunicable (i.e., non-transferable) attributes of God include God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Others are the sovereignty, immutability (His unchanging nature), self-existence (i.e., aseity), infinity, and eternality of God. No amount of human effort can confer on any man the incommunicable attributes of God. These are the exclusive preserve of the Divine.

As earlier mentioned, cognitive prowess is a communicable attribute of God that humans possess. The ability to use the mind, to reason, and figure things out is a reflection of God’s image within us. However, because of sin, the mind of man has been corrupted. No matter how much we try, the thoughts of our hearts and the imaginations of our mind are constantly in rebellion against God.

Genesis 6:5

“The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.”

Psalm 36:4

“They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil.”

Psalm 19:14

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

Yet, we often think that we use our minds to determine what’s true. Somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that we use reason to decide on what’s right. Well, the reality is that our cognitive faculties have been compromised by our sinful nature. Human beings are most often not the objective, rational creatures we like to think we are. One area where our mind reveals its blighted nature is our propensity to engage in motivated reasoning. 

Motivated reasoning is a cognitive bias where individuals, consciously or subconsciously, allow their emotions and desires to influence how they perceive and process information, often favoring evidence that supports their beliefs while dismissing contradictory evidence.

Consciously and unconsciously, people have the tendency to use their minds not to rationally consider facts, but rather to strengthen their bonds to their tribes. Now, I’m using the word tribe here in its broader context, and it encompasses any human social group to which people may belong. A tribe is any affiliation, be it geographical, ethnic, cultural, social, political, economic, and of course religious. It’s any association with which people feel a connection, belonging, comfort, safety, and security.

Because of fear of isolation or ostracization, people tend to believe things that will endear them to their tribes and are reluctant to believe or say anything that could potentially cause them to become persona non grata in their own circle of influence. So, they build an impenetrable wall around their mind and thought process, leaving open only a tiny gate through which information received is subjected to a rigorous screening process. What they let through this narrow opening is information that aligns with the values and positions of the tribe. Any contrary or contradictory information, regardless of credibility or validity, is summarily dismissed and outrightly rejected.

Unfortunately, this tribal motivated reasoning is the bane of church folks today. They’ve become so tethered to and entrenched in their denominational tribe, their ability for rational and objective reasoning is lost. Scared shitless of getting ostracized from their denominational tribe, they never question or challenge what their daddies-in-the-lord say. 

It doesn’t matter how ridiculous what their pastors say, they process it in such a way that makes it palatable for them to swallow. Even in the face of irrefutable evidence that their spiritual fathers are a Bible-twisting heretics, defiantly, they contort themselves into pretzels in an attempt to rationalize the heresies.

Recognizing the predilection of church folks for motivated reasoning, charlatans exploit this weakness and use it to ingratiate themselves and propagate their false gospel. Impostors succeed in leading believers into error because they appreciate the proclivity of people to want to remain within the tribal fold. Because the gospel hucksters understand that church folks have an unshakeably strong tribal loyalty, they burrow themselves into the Body of Christ and, from within, they spread their poisonous garbage and carry out despicable acts.

Under this set of circumstances, discernment ministries (aka exposing error and promoting truth) and apologetics get all the more difficult. In the ding of the noise of the bullhorn of highly regarded and revered charlatans, the insignificant and inconsequential people sounding the alarm often come away thinking nobody is paying them any attention. Because they lack huge following and have no reputation like the impostors, it often seems they are not breaking through with their warning cries. As the lone voice in the wilderness, the very people they are trying to save see them as rebels and troublemakers.

Here’s my word of encouragement to anyone who can relate to this sort of frustration. Winning people en masse over to your side by your superior argument shouldn’t be the goal. Be circumspect. Limit your expectations. Aim for the low hanging fruit. Like the secular musician, Sting, said, ““Men go crazy in congregations, but they only get better one by one.” Your goal is to make a difference, one convert at a time. 

Luke 15:7

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.”

And it’s for this reason that I’ll never cease to warn everyone who is hearing the sound of my voice – well, reading the words of commentary, is more fitting. You may hate me for what I’m saying now, but I’m confident a day is coming, and I hope it’s very soon, when you’d thank God that I said it.