Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Images and Understanding
Dan Edelen posted a while back on the value of images, but his set-up for the piece is the real meat as far as I am concerned:
And yet, we cling to our labels so hard and work so little to understand. I have said it again and again, such mostly demonstrates a lack of confidence in our own position, or at least a lack of understanding of our own position - we hold the label, but lack the understanding.
But the key to all this is the greatest trait of a Christian that so few Christians demonstrate - humility. You see it takes humility to admit our understanding is incomplete. (And lest I am accused of being holier-than-thou here, I probably lack humility in how I hammer on this point.) It takes humility to see the value in the others point of view.
You see, in the end, our faith rests not in what we know, but in who we know. Says Solomon:
Sometimes I get so tired of all this, and especially in blogging. Without face time our discussions turn into wars, without relationship, words assume too much significance. Humility is the only thing that can over come that.
That is my prayer for blogging and for each of us,
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When I think about many of the battles that rage in Christianity today, I can’t help but think that most result from a kind of theological blindness. We easily fall into oversights that see our position clearly, but cannot see what our opponents believe is obvious.You see, here is the thing: As creature, not creator, as subject not ruler, as servant, not master, as fallen human, not perfect God, our understanding will always be insufficient, limited, incomplete. Now corollary to that is the fact that the other guy must therefore have something of value in his incomplete picture.
The Holy Spirit leads into all truth if we do not actively oppose Him. Living lifestyles given to blinders will never let us embrace the fullness of God’s truth. Most of all, we will fail to see Jesus clearly.
How is it that we treat Jesus—as the blind men in the famous story treated the elephant—as pieces?
Any student of Church history can tell us about the rise of Roman Catholicism, the splinter with Eastern Orthodoxy, and the the coming of the Protestant Reformation. What we won’t hear, though, is how those churches chose which pieces of Jesus they wished to uphold.
And yet, we cling to our labels so hard and work so little to understand. I have said it again and again, such mostly demonstrates a lack of confidence in our own position, or at least a lack of understanding of our own position - we hold the label, but lack the understanding.
But the key to all this is the greatest trait of a Christian that so few Christians demonstrate - humility. You see it takes humility to admit our understanding is incomplete. (And lest I am accused of being holier-than-thou here, I probably lack humility in how I hammer on this point.) It takes humility to see the value in the others point of view.
You see, in the end, our faith rests not in what we know, but in who we know. Says Solomon:
How often we place our trust in what we know instead of who and how often that leads us down the path to unrighteousness.
Prov 3:5 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Sometimes I get so tired of all this, and especially in blogging. Without face time our discussions turn into wars, without relationship, words assume too much significance. Humility is the only thing that can over come that.
That is my prayer for blogging and for each of us,
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