THE PERILS OF A PROVIDED FOR PEOPLE
I sent a copy of
the Bible Study I developed, Following
Jesus & Walking With God: A Year’s Journey Through the Gospels to a
friend of mine. When I spoke to her
after she had received it she said she didn’t realize she would have to do the
work required in it; she thought she would just read it. I laughed and said, “Clearly you don’t know
me very well”. I thought about that
phone encounter this week as I had two of those “cringe” moments at what I heard
coming out of the mouths of people who I would describe as mature Christians.
The first “cringe”
moment came when a Pastor friend of mine, who I watch over the internet on
Sundays, began his sermon with these words:
“I realize how spoiled you are as a congregation. You don’t have to bring your Bibles to church
because we put the scriptures up on the overhead screen; you don’t have to take
notes because I have prepared a study sheet and it is in the bulletin; I spoil
you because I love you.” CRINGE! Twenty or so years ago when he was my Pastor
he would tell us to “be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who ‘received the word
with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily
to find out
whether these things were true.” I hold
those words to heart and have continued to exercise my Bearean spirit daily.
The second
“cringe” moment was while watching a group of Bible scholars from a Bible School
I once wrote an
essay on The Perils of a Provided For
People and realized that I was hearing the roots of that condition from
mature Christians and began to wonder if they are not also the roots of the
condition of too many Christians and Churches today. I learned in my Behavioral Science studies
that over protective parents of children can be just as harmful as under
protective parents. It seems the over
protective ways of the world have snuck into the Church as well, and we are
suffering the perils of that.
The person who
gets the most out of a class, a workshop, or a sermon, is the one who did all
the work in preparing it; the reading, researching, working it through,
kneading it, and getting it ready to present.
The material has gotten deep into the mind, heart, and soul of the
preparer. Those who attend and listen to
the finished product may get temporarily inspired and may learn the surface of
the topic; but until they work it all out for themselves they will not benefit
as much as the preparer. That material
is theirs and so is the transformation that comes from it. Predigested food loses most if not all of its
nutrients, so I would suspect that predigested thoughts and ideas do the
same. It will not produce a satisfied or
sustainable growth.
Each of us must do
the work. Classes, workshops, and
sermons are all fine, but each of us is responsible and will benefit greatly
from doing the work just as the teacher, workshop leader, and Pastor must
do. I have benefited most from teachers,
workshop leaders, and Pastors who teach me how to do the work rather than
simply presenting the results of their work.
This is especially true in the Spiritual life where transformation of
the heart is the goal of all we learn with our mind.
QUERY
Do I have a Bearean spirit? Do I examine for myself with the help of the
Spirit of Truth all that is told to me by my teachers?
Am I aware of the perils of a provided for
people and therefore be willing to do the work necessary to fully and
personally understand what I am taught?
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