Estimated reading time: 6 minute(s)
I learned a lot this weekend. I think that was the goal, but it seemed like the stuff I was learning would have been considered peripheral. To me, it seemed important.
From the previous post, you know that I had an eye opening moment of seeing how much I am made to reflect God’s variety and difference. That was interesting. But only the beginning.
BOOKS
You may or may not know that I love books. Love them. We have quite a collection here in our house. All kinds of books, beautifully displayed on bookcases and shelves made by my Dad. We love the library, where we get books on loan for 2 to 6 weeks. We love library, and book sales even more! Fun! BAGS of books for only a dollar or two! Wow!
Well one thing you can find at conventions is books! Rows and rows of them. At discounts up to 90% off! Quite a deal! That was definitely a fun part of the weekend, but as we browsed, the line from Ecclesiastes coursed through my brain…
…Of making many books there is no end… – Ecc 12:12
Solomon realized that everyone has something to say, and always will. There will never be a book drought. And I think his revelation was fresh in my mind this weekend as I saw the vast array of commentaries on a vast array of subjects this weekend. The part that seemed especially interesting to me was seeing books by the same title, aimed at a different segment of the population. One book was released for: Men, Young Men, Your Sons, and perhaps more, though that’s all I can remember. We are very good at marketing, are we not?
As I thumbed through a few books, I just kept having the sensation that all this was meaningless – almost as the writer of Ecclisiastes did. All of this was very interesting to me, as I had a refreshing of my deep passion for writing earlier this week. What a strange balance! I love to write, and only long to do that… and yet I was seeing the futility of releasing my written thoughts into the massive sea of already written commentaries. Is it just adding to the noise?
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
Another thing that I love is to sit and listen to someone who has a lot of experience or knowledge in a field in which I have some interest. I love documentaries as well on the History Channel, National Geographic… all those. And again, this is something that conventions provide in abundance.
But this was another realization moment for me.
As we were listening to a speaker share from her heart some of the things that God had taught her, I realized that our western ways of information exchange are sorely lacking. I loved listening to what God had done in her life, but that is where it stopped. And, due to the layout of the room, and how the information was being presented, I am led to believe that is where it should stop. We are the pupils, she was the instructor. We present experiences as truths that should be applied to every person in every place at every time. Not on purpose, I don’t think. I believe that is an inherent shortcoming of the one speaker to an audience setting.
There are a couple reasons it did not work. First, the subject matter. We have tried for centuries to learn from the life experiences of other Christians (famous speakers, authors, and mostly our pastors who weekly share their thoughts on life with God from their pulpits). And listening to the wisdom and experiences of fellow believers is invaluable! But it is in the application of these ideas that we falter. We attempt to sketch them out just as they have been presented and lay them perfectly on top of our lives so as to gain the same blessing that the speaker has in their life. This does not always work because our Father is SO personal.
He has made each of us – EVERY one of us – unique. Completely unique. And so, his interaction with each of us is… unique. What works for one person in their walk with God may work for someone else, but probably not. So what we end up doing is feeling a strange sense of guilt that what the smart and “successful” speaker said is not working for me… must mean I am a bad christian! NO! We’re not supposed to live the lives that others have lived. We are meant to live with our Creator. Each step and each breath. Every move we make we make in him. We have one shepherd – Jesus. We are to heed his call, and follow his ways, and be like HIM. We can learn from our brothers and sisters in God’s family… but we should not assume that the way God chose to reveal himself to them, or work in their lives will also produce the same results in ours. They will not.
So we have this “expert” presenting ideas, while the masses listen and absorb and prepare to put into action. As I sat there absorbing, I thought… I wish I could interact! I just wanted it to be me and Jen and the speaker… and perhaps 5 or 6 other people. To learn from what she had experienced, and at the same time interject thoughts, ideas, and questions from my journey. To encourage her, and to widen the picture of who God is and how He works in our lives.
Isn’t that how we are made to function as the body? Sharing our knowledge and experience and wisdom with one another? “One Another-ing?” But we have this classroom structure to all of our information exchanges. We feel like more can be said if one person who has prepared their thoughts is speaking and the rest are listening. Couldn’t we gain even more if we all shared what we were learning from Father and didn’t try to give everyone else a pattern for catching God’s blessings… but helped them know him more through our lives lived with him?
Seems like that’s mostly what Jesus did. He spoke to large groups, but that was only a fraction of his teaching time. Most of his time was spent living life with his 12 disciples. And he explained truths more deeply to them. To the masses he spoke in parables. Jesus was much more concerned with loving people and touching their lives personally. A much more intimate information exchange.
Although I love to write books, and some may take any book I write that seems authoritative and try to lay the outline of it on top of their lives and expect God to act in the same ways… such will not ever be my intent. I know God is much to vast for me to contain in any book. No matter how thorough.
So I will continue to write, and share truth with the masses, as there is value in that. But I will long for the information exchange between a handful of people learning from each other, relationally.
Wouldn’t that be great?