Hey Guys,
If you've ever tutored math, especially if math is a couple of years behind you, this feeling may sound familiar. You know how a problem is solved but you do not have a good foundational understanding for the concepts behind those solutions. Being able to derive the answer versus understanding why the answer is what it is are two different things and it shows every time your student asks "why?"
It is like this with any knowledge, be it calculus or gospel truths. It is so easy to casually accept truths for truths and move on. To hear a sermon we like and not 15 minutes later, unable to recall what it was about. Ridiculously easy to read a book or a verse, be emotionally and spiritually touched; yet when the need for gospel centered truths arises, that knowledge is nowhere to be found. True understanding needs a bit of wrestling, it requires more work; and there lies the heart of the problem. We're so easily satisfied with being mentally tickled by some new concept or idea that we do not take the time to fully internalize. The loss comes when someone needs to hear that gospel centered truth, and we fumble for answers we ourselves do not truly understand. Furthermore, we are unable to preach such truths to ourselves simply because we do not retain what we never fully understood or appreciated.
Diligent contemplation is as much an act of worship as singing praise songs. Do we wrestle with the truth? Do we dig at the bits that confounds us until we make sense of it instead of giving it up as "higher theology" that belongs to the domains of pastors and "uber Christians?" Are we driven to understand God's nature, purpose, and workings throughout the pages of history? Can we articulate the reasons why we love Christ?
May we delight in knowing God as fully as we are intellectually able, that we may help others do the same.
Have a happy Wed...I mean Thursday,
Edward
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, " 1 peter 3:15
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
2 timothy 4:2
Singing Christmas Hedgehogs (thanks Christina!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HIGCgpHYB4
No comments:
Post a Comment