Listening Ears Hear
I wrote something yesterday in this post on Higher Learning or Life that I thought I would expand upon a bit today. It is the quote:
There is a transformation that is not planned or manufactured or even wish for, a completely new creation in which truth alone is master and not the efforts of my own mind.
This one sentence reveals my complete exhaustion with knowledge. I have concluded that our intelligence may have made our life easier in many ways, but it has also brought much destruction. We do not love any more than we used to. In fact, we use facts to divide and hate and punish. Our never-ending studies have not brought us any closer to the truth. I know we need to learn facts in order to live from day to day. But amassing fact upon fact in our brains is only impressive but it ultimately changes nothing. We are like a carpenter with tons of tools hanging off his belt. Impressive! But he can’t build the house! I was talking with a pastor recently who said he’s been preaching about grace for years and years, and when he talks with his people, he realizes that they haven’t changed their minds at all! They believe what they’ve always believed and will continue to do so. He’s deciding whether or not he wants to keep doing this for the rest of his life.
Our minds are hard, inflexible, determined and rigid. We take bits of facts and tack them onto our calloused brains like a bunch of sticky-notes. If the fact doesn’t agree with what we already believe, then we neglect it or change it to harmonize. This is human behavior. This is how our brains work. It is a machine intent on self-preservation, and that is its primary impulse. We must see this. This is fundamental!
Can we calm ourselves? Can we truly listen? There is true transformation that comes about by truth itself, and not my analysis of it or my grasping for it. When I listen and the truth is heard, that in itself transforms! And this can be heard anywhere at anytime. Jesus didn’t say, “Consider John 3:16!” He said, “Consider the lilies of the field.” Can we listen? For those who have ears to hear, let them hear!
The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Jorgen Klausen.
change, knowledge, naked pastor, transformation, truth Share This
Knowledge is a wonderful thing, but some have made it the end all, be all of their existence. There is a certain comfort in knowledge. It allows you to define your perceptions and existence. Many people “worship” at the altar of science because they think it explains everything they need to know about their lives and their world.
Religious people suffer from the same problem. Look at the Jews. They studied and memorized the scriptures in an attempt to be right with God, but what did Jesus say,
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)
I think that we are, for the lack of a better word, defined by our focus. It’s what sets us apart from everyone else. It seems that we religious types are always latching on to something, some special piece of knowledge that sets us apart from those unwashed heathens down the road. Things like baptismal regeneration, keeping the Sabbath, tongues as evidence of salvation, predestination, etc. And since that is our focus, it is pretty much all you hear us talk about.
What about Jesus? Are we willing to come to Him so that we may have life? Not just for salvation, but are we willing for Him to be our life. Are we willing to take our focus off learning about Him, and focus on learning from Him? I think this is what Paul was talking about when he wrote,
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2)
We should let nothing, not knowledge, nor doctrines, nor nakedness, distract us from the simplicity that is devotion to Jesus Christ.
the woman in the photo is beautiful.
here’s to the lilies!
I have sensed a certain desperation in you lately, or a despair. The break for me came from knowledge. Knowledge of the bible. The more I learned, the more I understood. The more I understood, the less sense the old stuff made. The truth shall set you free. That statement means a whole different thing for me, than it does for most other people. I assume the same for you as well.
Check out the last post on my blog. It actually has something to do with this.
Recently I shared with the students in my ministry that we have a tendency to revel in the knowledge that we have. Particularly the knowledge that we have of God. In some ways we’ve taken scripture and made it a scientific textbook. “I have this problem” “According to the manual Section Proverbs 4.23 says this is your answer”.
Before long we start to resemble the medical community that can’t decide on what the best treatments for our ailments are. Indicative of this view is constantly church shopping looking for the best prescription. In actuality though a deep fulfilling life in Christ does not come from knowledge or PHD’s or bible studies ripe with Greek intrepretations. Rather a very child like understanding that all of us who are weary and heavy laden can rest when we come to him.
they haven’t changed their minds at all!
I think that this statement very much is part of what influences me to be in youth ministry as opposed to adult ministry. In some ways (though by no means all!) youth have not yet made up their minds about many things. So rather than trying to correct wrong thinking, its a matter of starting the right thinking. Given, that’s not an easy thing.
Gary Wrote:
“I think that we are, for the lack of a better word, defined by our focus. It’s what sets us apart from everyone else. It seems that we religious types are always latching on to something, some special piece of knowledge that sets us apart from those unwashed heathens down the road. Things like baptismal regeneration, keeping the Sabbath, tongues as evidence of salvation, predestination, etc. And since that is our focus, it is pretty much all you hear us talk about”.
How often we seek to apply an untenable ‘litmus test’ to satisfy ourselves on issues related to faith which have absolutely nothing to do with true fellowship with God. We are indeed so like the Greeks, ‘religious’ in every way, but blinded by that very fervor to the life and truth that is closer than our next breath.
May we learn, like Elijah, to truly ‘hear’ and tremble before that still, small voice.
I read a book by someone who suggested that not only do we fill our minds with useless knowledge, but we then invent ways to make that knowledge seem significant–hence trivia games and contests!
It was a book by Marva Dawn who’s title now escapes me. There was a lot in the book that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but also a lot of challenging, thought-provoking…um…stuff.