Whitewashed tombs have a hard time seeing the scum within. The religious leaders got raked over the coals by Jesus. Whitewashed tombs! Now that's Jesus dishing out some serious heat!
Jesus dished it out to the whitewashed tombs. The whitewashed tombs tried to dish it out to others, without ever understanding it themselves. Finger pointing. We just make it circular. Jesus tries to teach us. We say, "yup, great message," and try to teach others without first digesting the teaching ourselves. If we are to be partakers in God's transforming work in this world, we must eat it and be slow to dish it.
Eat and digest the teaching for yourself first. You don't have to constantly be dishing it out, Jesus is pretty darn good at serving up a mean dish himself!
Friday, August 29, 2008
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4 comments:
Your point is well taken...though if we were all honest we would have to confess that we would never be "ready" to teach.
I think, along the same lines of your thought, that I NEVER teach. At the very least I never teach anything NEW. And, quite possibly, I should be able to say that "I" don't teach ever, but that I am the vessel God has chosen to deliver His message.
With that in mind, I think our modern dualisms are betraying us. The distinction between knowledge of the head (modern views of knowledge) and knowledge of the heart (classical and medieval) (as we have been discussing on Drew's blog) needs to be reapplied to our way of "teaching." We, I think anyway, need to realize, as you (Nick) seem to be saying, that we as Christian teachers need not only "know" the material, but also "believe" it in order for it to be an complete transfer of knowledge from God to us. And this will, by default, lead to a changed life that exhibits the radical change wrought by the Spirit of God. And, in this regard, purify our persons enough that God's message can flow through us in ways yet before unseen.
With Hope
yes, this is true. eating brings a harsh reality though. the plank is bigger than the splinter and hard to remove. good thought here!
Nick,
I appreciate you always writing, I'm always curious as to what's rattling around in that head of yours.
I must say you take a negative slant on things many times. Christians need some encouragement too brother!!
Maybe it's just how I read it, I don't know. Keep writing.
Sorry man that's me Derek writing the comment, not Amanda.
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