Little talks
It's been such a long time since I last posted and an unbelievable number of things have happened since then!!! I'm incredibly thankful that God uses for good Satan's attempts to destroy our faith and beyond grateful that my worldview has essentially remained the same, but perhaps deepened in dimension, expanded in perspective and increased in strength. I guess I've gone on an incredibly long and adventurous journey only to return more convicted to the same values I once held true at a previously more visceral level.
Then vs now haha (yes I drew this lol)
I guess spending close to 2 years in a foreign place with 10 months in consecutive the second time really peels away the layers of your mind, and nothing is quite the same anymore. How do you put it? Words don't quite do it justice really - akin to taking a trip into the stratosphere and descending back again, then trying to describe the experience using language of previous - it kinda falls short. I guess I don't really know where to begin, but let's start with conversations with B. Sometimes I feel like those precious moments are like miniscule glimpses into the enormosity of God's perspective (yes we usually are boxed into cubicles, heads down, tucked comfortably into spaces, unable to see beyond our present four walls), and for a while, just a while, the crowds, streets, shops, tables disappear and it's just... the bigger things you know? More than facts, people, events, even more than feelings or emotions towards something. We talk about many things: friendships, hopes, tensions between two competing concepts (biblical meekness vs being pushovers, head knowledge vs practical applications), awkward situations, futurel goals, ambitions, motivations behind ambitions, funny realisations about the quotidian (how cool is a banana?? it is a miracle!!! art is a miracle! science is the discovery of existing miracles!!!) but most of all, how everything, everything traces inevitably back to God and his amazing wonderful goodness and majesty :')
Some of the topics we talked about that I found especially precious this week:
1) Our approach towards/structure of christian community
It is often inevitable that we take an largely head-based approach towards the study of God/the Bible, especially in context of the immediate social and political environment. Community (Even christian community) values intellectual rigour, analysis, elegant concepts - it is presently (and sadly) one of the few ways you are likely to even have your views considered on equal ground with others. Even then, there often exists an implicit hierarchy - the smartest, most eloquent, most well-read are most influential. This then often perpetuates a vicious circle where intellectual rigour is valued over and over again. Unfortunately, this often draws attention away from God towards ourselves. Rather than celebrating the wonder of God and letting that awe of His glory transform the way we lead our lives, we immerse our heads excessively in the technical complexities of a passage, trying to work out for ourselves what its details necessarily mean - predestination vs free-will/hierarchy of angels vs man.... things that matter relatively little, things that we will probably never find out, and even if we do, will again be challenged in the near future by yet another "compelling argument".
My issue is not that we should refrain from engaging intellectually with the Bible. Rather, my issue here is that the products of that intellectual process should then spur us towards practical life applications such building community, deepening our personal walk with God, showing love for those who have less than we do, engaging non-believers (not intellectually mind you) but in deeds of love. (*)
God has given us two basic but important commandments:
1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart
2) Love your neighbour as yourself
- He has also bestowed upon us the precious but limited gift of time.
My simple question based on these two premises is then this: Is debating about theological conundrums therefore a sensible use of time as opposed to alternatives such as those mentioned above(*)? For me, it elicited few practical applications, possibly alienated some who felt unable to engage intellectually at a comparable level, and had little future impact on unbelieving society beyond those four walls.
B and I were talking, marvelling, at the extent of which the intellectual capacity of those in christian community had the potential to draw in unbelieving Christians and strengthen the faith of present believers if channeled towards outward-angled endeavours, rather than being used as a source of cognitive stimulation for members of the in-group.
Another series of pictures to illustrate what I am saying!
The yellow and orange dots are the "products" of debates/discussions/proper theological studies.
Rather than 1) bouncing them off each others' heads within an exclusive in-group, these products should (by the work of God)
2) transform our hearts! and thereafter impact those beyond our immediate christian circle of friends.
Oh goodness. Okay I've written up till this point only to discover that it's now half past 11 and I have morning classes at summer school tomorrow.
More to come!
Gosh the limitedness of my own mind and time (ALWAYS TIME) frustrates me to no end.
Wish the clocks would stop! Endless mental energy without coffee/sleep/food! A limitless vocab bank! Nothing else in the world to do!
(Perhaps only in heaven)
Alas I am sadly still human.
Then vs now haha (yes I drew this lol)
I guess spending close to 2 years in a foreign place with 10 months in consecutive the second time really peels away the layers of your mind, and nothing is quite the same anymore. How do you put it? Words don't quite do it justice really - akin to taking a trip into the stratosphere and descending back again, then trying to describe the experience using language of previous - it kinda falls short. I guess I don't really know where to begin, but let's start with conversations with B. Sometimes I feel like those precious moments are like miniscule glimpses into the enormosity of God's perspective (yes we usually are boxed into cubicles, heads down, tucked comfortably into spaces, unable to see beyond our present four walls), and for a while, just a while, the crowds, streets, shops, tables disappear and it's just... the bigger things you know? More than facts, people, events, even more than feelings or emotions towards something. We talk about many things: friendships, hopes, tensions between two competing concepts (biblical meekness vs being pushovers, head knowledge vs practical applications), awkward situations, futurel goals, ambitions, motivations behind ambitions, funny realisations about the quotidian (how cool is a banana?? it is a miracle!!! art is a miracle! science is the discovery of existing miracles!!!) but most of all, how everything, everything traces inevitably back to God and his amazing wonderful goodness and majesty :')
Some of the topics we talked about that I found especially precious this week:
1) Our approach towards/structure of christian community
It is often inevitable that we take an largely head-based approach towards the study of God/the Bible, especially in context of the immediate social and political environment. Community (Even christian community) values intellectual rigour, analysis, elegant concepts - it is presently (and sadly) one of the few ways you are likely to even have your views considered on equal ground with others. Even then, there often exists an implicit hierarchy - the smartest, most eloquent, most well-read are most influential. This then often perpetuates a vicious circle where intellectual rigour is valued over and over again. Unfortunately, this often draws attention away from God towards ourselves. Rather than celebrating the wonder of God and letting that awe of His glory transform the way we lead our lives, we immerse our heads excessively in the technical complexities of a passage, trying to work out for ourselves what its details necessarily mean - predestination vs free-will/hierarchy of angels vs man.... things that matter relatively little, things that we will probably never find out, and even if we do, will again be challenged in the near future by yet another "compelling argument".
My issue is not that we should refrain from engaging intellectually with the Bible. Rather, my issue here is that the products of that intellectual process should then spur us towards practical life applications such building community, deepening our personal walk with God, showing love for those who have less than we do, engaging non-believers (not intellectually mind you) but in deeds of love. (*)
God has given us two basic but important commandments:
1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart
2) Love your neighbour as yourself
- He has also bestowed upon us the precious but limited gift of time.
My simple question based on these two premises is then this: Is debating about theological conundrums therefore a sensible use of time as opposed to alternatives such as those mentioned above(*)? For me, it elicited few practical applications, possibly alienated some who felt unable to engage intellectually at a comparable level, and had little future impact on unbelieving society beyond those four walls.
B and I were talking, marvelling, at the extent of which the intellectual capacity of those in christian community had the potential to draw in unbelieving Christians and strengthen the faith of present believers if channeled towards outward-angled endeavours, rather than being used as a source of cognitive stimulation for members of the in-group.
Another series of pictures to illustrate what I am saying!
The yellow and orange dots are the "products" of debates/discussions/proper theological studies.
Rather than 1) bouncing them off each others' heads within an exclusive in-group, these products should (by the work of God)
2) transform our hearts! and thereafter impact those beyond our immediate christian circle of friends.
Oh goodness. Okay I've written up till this point only to discover that it's now half past 11 and I have morning classes at summer school tomorrow.
More to come!
Gosh the limitedness of my own mind and time (ALWAYS TIME) frustrates me to no end.
Wish the clocks would stop! Endless mental energy without coffee/sleep/food! A limitless vocab bank! Nothing else in the world to do!
(Perhaps only in heaven)
Alas I am sadly still human.