imdatruth: YOLU: You (Only) Lack Understanding

(YOLO) It is pretty catchy. I wonder what smart person came up with that one. For all intents and purposes it's dead on. You do only live ONCE...well, it depends on your philosophy of life, as some of our colleagues believe that they will reemerge as something/someone else after they die. It's an interesting take indeed.

So...YOLO, a perfect excuse to live recklessly (mostly for younger people) and to try anything to "see what happens". Granted I've had my moments where "I'll try anything one time", but to suggest I live "young and wild and free" because I "only live once" is somewhat of a loose implication.

Having been there at one point in my life I can't be too mad at them. After all, you've got to get experience one way or another and for many of us it is through these experiences that we come to learn about ourselves.

I'd like to buy another vowel though and replace the last "O" which generally leads to someone saying, "Oh no!" or "Oh my God!" with a "U" for understanding.

Seems more and more these days there's a movement here, movement there. People are upset about one thing or another. Fingerpointing has become the new favorite pasttime of America because we lack understanding....

Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV)

7 Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

Amen.

This should be really quick, easy, and painless...although it seems to never end that way :-) .

Jesus gave us the #greatCommission which calls us to go out and make disciples of all nations. One of the toughest things to do in making disciples is dealing with younger believers who get stuck in the mindset of "this is what the Bible says, I read it, and I know." In other words they more often than not take it verbatim versus trying to grasp what is going on. For example, in Gomer pt 2 I linked to a conversation in which YoungFly&Saved made the statement that same-sex couples will not be allowed to marry if they were the Commander-in-Chief. I hadn't thought about it at the time, but since when does the POTUS allow/disallow something?! #thinkOnThat

Anyways, I've had a number of conversations with YoungFly&Saved to try and get them to realize that 1)You're just starting on this journey, 2)You need to be open to learning more about what scripture is saying even when you don't agree 3)You need to get more understanding. Ironically enough throughout the discipleship process there where too many times to count where I had to urge them that there was more going on than what they knew and could see (this extended beyond studying the Bible). The funniest part for me had to be that they had asked me to work with them on better understanding the "homosexual" standing within Scripture and then later retorted that they "knew all they needed to know" which is far from biblical (i.e. Thinking you know it all).

One of the main issues when people try to use Scripture to suggest things have to be a certain way in society is due to the fact that they haven't really engaged the text. They did what we so often do many times, they simply read it. I'm not suggesting that you don't read it, but I am challenging you not to stop there.

Allowing one's self to continue in a lack of understanding causes you to be open to receiving a misconceived use of Scripture. For example, if homosexuality is wrong why do many Christians forget that the first thing they should do before saying anything else to these individuals is love them?! Could you at least do that? However, some of us won't even do that. I've heard of stories where families have disowned their own flesh and blood because their child is being "unnatural" and not the way God determined for us to be. I asked this question before and I'll ask it again, "Who do you know that was around when God created us?".

Hopefully you get my point by now. It is imperative that you seek to get understanding in everything you do in life. Ever have a conversation with someone and you can tell they don't fully know what they're talking about because they don't have as much information on the subject as you do?! That's what I'm talking about! Much is the case within the church and these debates that we have over what's a sin, if my Pastor can have a six-figure salary, and who is and isn't a false teacher; 90% of the people involved in these debates probably don't have half the pedigree (i.e. Training, Education, Skillset) needed to sufficiently add to the conversation other than their opinion. Getting understanding is about more than having an opinion, it's about being informed and WE ALL KNOW how much misinformation there is out there.

What's the 4-1-1?

If you haven't guessed much of what we as Christians have done regarding the "sin" of homosexuality and many other "acts" is that we have judged the people who are involved. You probably thought I covered everything in the other blog postings this week #notDoneYet

In the book of James 4:11-12, the author tells us not to "speak evil of one another". He goes on to say that if we do speak evil of a brother and judge them we become a judge and not a doer of the law because we have effectively spoken evil of the law and judged the law. I'm not fully sure what that means but it is a mouth full. The Message translation puts it in more of a digestive fashion:

11-12 Don't bad-mouth each other, friends. It's God's Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

Yet we continue to meddle in the lives of everyone. Not sure who or what told us it was our job, but we READ the Bible, right?! Verse 12 in the New King James Version reads as such, "There is one Lawgiver; who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"

Christ paid the price

Jesus is the Lawgiver that James speaks abouts. Hmm...that's odd. Haven't mentioned Jesus yet. Let's take a look at him.

As we know Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Here are some things to ponder, since we all lack understanding in some form or fashion.

1) If there was a tag amount associated to your life would you be able to meet the expected value before your expiration date? (Before you die)

2) Do you think you could provide God with interest in respect to the "price tag" associated with your life? (Think of a loan. You pay back more than just the loan)

Some folks might think well, "Jesus paid it all" therefore I'm "priceless". I won't argue with you there, but give me an estimate.

3) How much do you think you're worth to him?

Forcing you to put a number makes it more real because then you're able to "register" in your mind the "value" that your life takes on. Anyone can say, "Priceless. For everything else, there's Mastercard."

For the record while growing up and studying with other believers I never felt the urge to be spoken out against various things (e.g. Abortion, Homosexuality, etc.) It was interesting for me because I would always sit back and wonder where their certainty was coming from, especially those who "knew" the Bible. In many cases what I was witnessing was condemnation and judgment although my brother/sister at the time may not have realized that that's what they were doing. Either that or they were speaking this because they "didn't know no better" (i.e. It was all they ever knew). Don't have a view on an issue and express your thoughts with a strong fervor and not have an equally as strong commitment to studying/analyzing the issue.

SN: I made a comment one time in Bible Study not having fully read the Bible; knowing a little here and there, but mostly gave my opinion. I was then "corrected" by someone who not only knew more than me but also had understanding. I determined that this shouldn't happen again. I also ended up being given a New Living Translation Bible for my birthday not too long before or after this occurred. God knows the desires of our hearts. He put them there.

God gave us free will. We ate of the tree. We have knowledge. Let's get some (more) understanding.