After over a decade of pursuing truth; seeking and searching and praying for direction, I have accumulated more knowledge that I can assimilate in one lifetime. I assume that much of what I know will carry over, unless I tap into immortality on this side of life (which I believe is possible), and outlive my days. That is not a bad thought actually. There have been those who have attained such a reality, and I pay close attention to the lives of those we know about. Yet, with all my studying and pursuit, and after many, many hours of sitting under some really impactful teaching and preaching from some of the leading Christian mystics of our time, and those who have gone ahead (presumably), I still hold a posture that I “know nothing.” The challenge is, when I meet someone who knows less than I do because they have never been exposed to the knowledge I now have, and they pretend to know everything: that is a problem.
Our belief system is not as important as we think it is, if pursuing truth is our goal. We just need to ensure that at our foundation is our faith in Jesus Christ, and the work He completed on our behalf. That never changes. But our approach to faith, language, doctrine, theology, and everything else relating to our journey of faith will grow. There is no contradiction, though it may appear as such, but we know that the language and level of understanding of a baby is quite different from that of an adult. We must never lose our posture to be teachable because unless we are doing exactly what Jesus did, and even greater than that, then we have not yet attained to the “perfection” the Bible calls us to. This perfection speaks to maturity as a son of God, and has nothing to do with anything we can achieve in our own strength and by our own efforts.
We go to school to learn. We are taught by well qualified Instructors. But how the process by which being taught shifts us mentally and in terms of growth and development, we don’t really know. It is a mystery how an influx of information can move us from one level to a higher level of learning, which suggests that the best posture we can assume in this life is to always be teachable. Not in the sense that we only listen to those we deem more qualified based on the level of education that they have attained, but God can use anyone to speak on His behalf, and we cannot always tell when He is speaking to us through someone, so we must learn to listen to everyone.
Pursuit of truth is a never ending quest into the mysteries and depths of God’s very being. It is an adventure, an opportunity to explore through our own active faculties the treasures that are hidden in the darkness we see when we close our eyes. God encounters us every day in one way or form because He loves us, but most of the times we miss Him. One mystic believes that every human being encounters Jesus in physical form at least one time in their lives. We can easily miss that moment because we dismiss that homeless guy who was trying to get our attention, the waiter we decided not to tip, the stranger who needed help that we ignore, the child who was naked or hungry, the sick we failed to stop and pray for because of our demanding life and schedule. I believe, with all my heart, that if we pay more attention to the intricate details of our every day lives, we will have an encounter with Truth.
I want to say a special thank you to those who continue to join me on my crazy journey.
Shalom.
