Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Hebrews 5:14 – Living In The Real World
Can you imagine someone who is so smart that they are dumb? Sounds, crazy enough to be true! This paradox is explained very simply where someone has “book sense,” but no “common sense.” They are smart and educated, they just are not wise or street-wise. They score high on an IQ test, but have no idea about how to function in real life.
I recently read an example of this “Great Divide” in thinking in a young man named “John.” This young man was considered,
“one of the most brilliant students in the history of (his) college. And yet one day he could not open a very heavy oak door leading to a lecture hall. One of his friends reached for the doorknob and gave the door a shove that swung it open cleanly. ‘John’ was baffled at how they could open the door so easily. They were baffled at how he could not do it, nor understand how they did it. You see, he pushed in the middle of the door, and not the edge. In the class room he could diagram and explain torque. But the real world had no connection whatsoever to his academic studies. (Sparks of Genius – the 13 thinking tools of the world’s most creative people, pp.14-15).
He was so smart that he was dumb. Most of us cannot comprehend being as intelligent as “John,” nor as…dumb. And yet, I wonder if we are…but don’t know it. Do we have a spiritual “Great Divide” in our lives?
Geographically, “The Great Divide” is a ridge of mountains in North America, which separates the watershed area of streams and rivers that flow west into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow east into the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Getting from one side to the other would be difficult in the pre-flight days.
Just as there was a “Great Divide” in “John’s” “book sense” and “common sense,” I wonder if there is a similar “Great Divide” in our Bible sense, between great learning and practical living that is likewise difficult to traverse. Do we know how to apply what we learn? Do we know how to live a Christ-like life, or are we satisfied with being in the church of Christ?
The Inductive Study Method has three steps: Observe, Interpret, and Apply. Most gospel preachers are great at observing and interpreting. We know our Bibles, especially on doctrine. But does our book sense translate into practical living? We can define Biblically, but can we explain and practice Biblically? Do you every find yourself reading “our people” on hermeneutics, authority, and the work of the church, but reaching for denominational writers for information on practical living? Do you read “our brethren” on marriage divorce and remarriage, but reach outside of our fellowship for advice on keeping marriage happy and free from divorce?
Are we so technical that we are not practical? Let us learn from how God decided to teach us. How did God decide to teach us how to live daily, pure before His eyes?
The Gospel is not just words, parables, philosophies, or platitudes; although the gospel is told in all those forms. The gospel is flesh (John 1:14; Titus 2:11-14), lived in the flesh, suffered and triumphed in the flesh; the purpose to be ultimately imitated by us in our flesh.
That is the real transforming power of the gospel. God did not send a prophet or story teller only. God did not send just a teacher or philosopher. God sent God. The Father sent the Son in a form foreign to Himself to teach us how to live contrary to ourselves. And in living contrary to ourselves, the paradoxical truth is learned that in such living we live truly to ourselves. In denying ourselves we find ourselves. We learn to live like Jesus lived; and to die like Jesus died.
The weakness found in so many Christians’ lives is that the gospel is learned but not led; understood but not undertaken. To truly be a Christian, we must be Christ-like. Power is found in not just telling the story of the woman caught in adultery, but to be that woman, and to be the Christ who forgave her. Supremacy above self is discovered by not just seeing ourselves as the Pharisee who did not wash Jesus’ feet, but to become the woman who covered His feet with her tears. The weakness in so many of us is that we know the gospel story intellectually but fail to see the heart of it. The gospel is not just about knowing who Jesus is, but why Jesus came. It is more than just coming to save me, but encompasses coming to lead me to save others.
Too many Christians live weak lives because they fail to see the power in how the gospel story is told. It is told by being lived; and retold in us by being imitated to where the imitation becomes our reality. We become the gospel.
The doctrines of the Bible are supposed to have practical application in our lives. Notice Hebrews 5:14 – But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (NAS95)
Those mature in the faith have two characteristics: 1) They can handle solid food (mature teaching); 2) They use the mature food in their daily lives by practicing what they know.
Christianity is not just knowledge about eternal life. It is every day life. Learn it and live it.
Comments