Chapter 25—On Rereading Christ’s Object Lessons

Sometimes I have wished that I could come again to some great book that has been important in my life but has lost its freshness for me, that I could open it as if for the first time, without any intruding interpreter telling me how I ought to read it, without any accumulated body of experience distorting its message or dulling my perception or obstructing my response.WEWMM 189.1

In particular, I have sometimes wished that I could come to the Bible, especially the New Testament, as an entirely new experience. I have wished that with a mature and reasonably trained mind, but hopefully a yet unspoiled one, I could experience the exhilaration and illumination of that Book, freed from the body of preconceptions and misconceptions, or at least incomplete or juvenile perceptions, built into me over the years from sources outside the book itself.WEWMM 189.2

Out of such thoughts I decided not long ago to reread one of the books of Ellen G. White, as nearly as possible as if it were my first experience with her writings. In my effort to recapture a sense of discovery there were questions I knew I should ask, to see whether I could find within myself any residue of experience or attitude that might interfere with the fullest and most helpful response to that book.WEWMM 189.3

There was, first of all, the problem of familiarity, my mind’s tendency to run ahead of the words on the page, sometimes to let my eyes follow the words while consciousness slipped away to pressing but unrelated concerns. Could I, with special effort, experience the work in its freshness?WEWMM 189.4

Could I come to it released from certain influences out of the past—the dogmatism of well-meaning mentors who, seeking to impose their own attitudes through the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, emphasized some insights while seeming to ignore other very important ones, and whose understanding of the nature and function of inspiration was for a while an obstacle to my own understanding of how God deals with men?WEWMM 190.1

Could I purge myself of feelings of impatience or resentment at some who tended to use the writings of Ellen White as an argumentative club, prepared to put a period to any discussion by producing a quotation, usually out of context, but with enough finality to abort further discussion.WEWMM 190.2

It was certainly to be hoped that I would find myself released from such external influences as these that might hinder my free and fully responsive reading. Maturing intellectually and emotionally and spiritually involves, after all, recognizing and abandoning all sorts of premature and no longer useful feelings and conceptions.WEWMM 190.3

I might fear, however, that somewhere behind the reach of consciousness a residue from the past might still operate as an obstacle. I think of a passage from Browning in which a painter of the Italian Renaissance, now a middle-aged monk, Fra Lippo Lippi, recalls his early life and particularly the disapproval of his superiors in the monastery where his fresh painting on the walls seemed too much like flesh and blood, too real to be holy. Even now, he says:WEWMM 190.4

... the old schooling sticks, the old grave eyesWEWMM 190.5

Are peeping o’er my shoulder as I work,WEWMM 190.6

The heads shake still ...WEWMM 190.7

But I must assume that, having recalled and challenged these external influences that might have been hindrances to me, they could be considered exorcised and dismissed.WEWMM 190.8

More important than these external obstacles, of course, are those of my own making. Is it possible that as I read I may find myself resisting the message of the work because of some unwillingness now or in the past to accept the counsel of those writings? That kind of question comes closer home. Can I approach this book with complete openness to its message?WEWMM 190.9

Does such openness require the complete surrender of my own judgment? Does it mean I must surrender my own critical faculties? This is a crucial question, and its answer may have much to do with my success or failure in getting the fullest measure of instruction and inspiration from the work. The answer, I am convinced, is that my judgment and my critical faculties, trained as fully as possible and open as far as possible to the influence of the Holy Spirit, must be fully active as I read, so that my reading may not be simply automatic but will engage my whole mind.WEWMM 191.1

The book I chose to reread as if it were my first experience was Christ’s Object Lessons, partly because through the years I had found it a helpful and inspiring book, focusing as it does on Jesus’ most characteristic teaching. Partly, I suppose, because it is the work of Ellen White I have known the longest—for as a very young and not very successful student colporteur I had canvassed with Christ’s Object Lessons.WEWMM 191.2

Since that time I have read it in various ways—sometimes sequentially as one normally reads a book, sometimes searching for statements to support a point or clarify an idea, more often in connection with a class. When I used to teach Freshman English, it was my practice to use the “Talents” chapter as one of the first assignments, and I can still think of no better statement for the thoughtful consideration of students at the outset of their college experience, no more impressive motivation for making the most of one’s college opportunities, than that chapter, still my favorite section of Christ’s Object Lessons.WEWMM 191.3

Rereading the book, I felt more strongly than I ever had before the simplicity and directness of its expression. How perfectly appropriate it is to a study of the parables of Jesus, themselves so unadorned, yet beautiful in their spare simplicity.WEWMM 191.4

Ellen White expresses herself in the least egotistical of styles, never diverting attention from the thought to the manner of expression. It is a style that rejects display yet avoids flatness. As I read I thought often of a passage in The Desire of Ages describing the language and manner of Jesus in His ministry, since many of the qualities mentioned there she clearly exemplifies in her own writing:WEWMM 191.5

“He made truth beautiful by presenting it in the most direct and simple way. His language was pure, refined, and clear as a running stream.... His illustrations were taken from the things of daily life, and although they were simple, they had in them a wonderful depth of meaning.... Deep, unprejudiced thinkers received His teaching, and found that it tested their wisdom.... The most highly educated were charmed with His words, and the uneducated were always profited. He had a message for the illiterate; and He made even the heathen to understand that He had a message for them.”—Pages 253, 254.WEWMM 192.1

When I had finished my reading and sat quietly reflecting on the experience, certain impressions dominated all the rest. I feel whenever I read a remarkable book as though I am curiously in touch with the mind and personality of its author.WEWMM 192.2

One of the marvels of the Written Word, of course, is that through books one can live with persons who are in many ways superior to those he lives with and with whom he shares his daily responsibilities. So in this reading I felt the inspiration of that association. It was not really a matter of new insights—I had known the book rather well. It was rather the stimulation of fresh response to what I already knew, or of reinforcing and strengthening my awareness of certain truths, or of reassurance about concerns or perplexities in my own life.WEWMM 192.3

My response, naturally, was partly the result of the questions I was then thinking about. My attention was caught particularly by those statements that spoke to my present need. In a sense, such a book becomes a new book to us each time we read it, because our needs and problems differ from time to time. I often found myself wondering, when I came upon a previously marked passage, what particular problem or what special need had made that passage eloquent to me? What was I concerned about when I had marked it for special emphasis?WEWMM 192.4

Mrs. White identifies three major themes in the ministry of Jesus: (1) the paternal tenderness and abundant grace of God, (2) the holiness of God’s character and His Law, and (3) Jesus Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.—Page 40. These are consequently the major themes of Christ’s Object Lessons. In this reading I was especially aware of emphasis on the first, “the paternal tenderness and abundant grace of God.” Possibly it was because I was then particularly burdened for certain persons who seemed wholly indifferent to the Lord’s claims that I found it reassuring to come upon repeated references to the way God reaches out for those who are not reaching out for Him, to His compassion and concern for the indifferent, the hostile, and the rebellious.WEWMM 193.1

“We may task our imagination to the utmost,” she says, “and then we shall see only dimly the outlines of a love that is unexplainable, that is as high as heaven, but that stooped to the earth to stamp the image of God on all mankind. Yet it is possible for us to see all that we can bear of the divine compassion.”—Page 129.WEWMM 193.2

I was impressed as never before by the number of references to the Christian’s privilege and his obligation to share the love of God with others. The passage that spoke it most impressively to me was this one:WEWMM 193.3

“Love is the basis of godliness. Whatever the profession, no man has pure love to God unless he has unselfish love for his brother. But we can never come into possession of this spirit by trying to love others. What is needed is the love of Christ in the heart. When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within—when the sunshine of heaven fills the heart and is revealed in the countenance.”—Page 384.WEWMM 193.4

As one concerned with learning and with higher education, I could not help being encouraged and stimulated by an emphasis not only on the importance of the truths we have inherited, so to speak, but also on the necessity for that kind of study that opens up new truth to us. My own spirit warmed to such statements as this:WEWMM 193.5

“In every age there is a new development, of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new.... But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form.”—Pages 127, 128.WEWMM 193.6

These and many other impressions rewarded my rereading of Christ’s Object Lessons. But what I felt most strongly, and what inspired me most throughout my reading, was the depth and the intensity and the sensitiveness of Ellen White’s personal response to the Scriptures. They obviously had great immediacy for her, a pressing reality, a vigorously present life. Repeatedly she warns against distortion of their message, rebuking those who make the Word of God mysterious and obscure and in doing so rob the Bible of its power. If so, the hearers cannot cry out, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”WEWMM 194.1

Always concerned with the education of the young, she wants the Bible to be so taught as to be, forever, a living book. “The Bible will not become a tiresome book to the student. Under a wise instructor the word will become more and more desirable. It will be as the bread of life, and will never grow old. Its freshness and beauty will attract and charm the children and youth. It is like the sun shining upon the earth, perpetually imparting brightness and warmth, yet never exhausted.”—Page 132.WEWMM 194.2

I often sensed that Ellen White’s heart must have burned within her as she spoke of the Scripture and the gospel message it embodies. Here, for example:WEWMM 194.3

“In those who possess it, the religion of Christ will reveal itself as a vitalizing, pervading principle, a living, working, spiritual energy. There will be manifest the freshness and power and joyousness of perpetual youth. The heart that receives the word of God is not a pool that evaporates, not like a broken cistern that loses its treasure. It is like a mountain stream fed by unfailing springs, whose cool, sparkling waters leap from rock to rock, refreshing the weary, the thirsty, the heavy laden.”—Page 130.WEWMM 194.4

I was surprised to note that I had not marked it before. Reading such passages I realized that I had never known personally anyone who responded to the words of Scripture so fully as Ellen White seems clearly to have done, and the greatest benefit from my reading of Christ’s Object Lessons was, I think, new stimulation and new motivation to make that Word central in my own experience and a desire to seek a fuller and more intensely personal response to it than I had ever known before.WEWMM 195.1

Loma Linda, California
October 1, 1972