LIVING AND LEARNING

Joshua 15:1-63; Luke 18:18-43; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 13:9-10

“But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.”

“Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever,
for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death!”

“Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.”

My Mom had a favorite saying when her youngest (yours truly) was acting too big for his britches: “I was as smart as you are at eighteen, and I’ve gotten dumber ever since.” This usually was said in preparation for some form of discipline, so it did me no good to ague with her. But woe unto me if I ever agreed with the statement. Some things just aren’t meant for a response. Only as I got a little older did I realize she was not complaining of losing gray matter. She was, of course, talking about maturity. The older we get, the more we understand how much more there is to learn about ourselves, others, the world and particularly God.

Yet, how we bristle when someone else tries to educate us. How dare they set themselves above us, or pretend to be better? Their line to the Almighty is no more direct than ours, their information no better. We tend not to learn much new as a result. This is a genuinely bad idea. When we stop learning from those God puts in our lives to teach us, we live in ignorance of the blessings He wants to bestow.

Over the last several weeks, I have been involved with a number of others in attempting to restructure a major ministry of our church to better position it for predicted growth over the next decade. The process has not been easy, but we were progressing until we hit an apparent impasse when we brought our plans to the church proper for approval. Feelings were in danger of getting hurt; noses (mine included) already were getting seriously out of joint. So, I prayed. And as it so often is, the answer was almost painfully simple: follow Matthew 18. Do lunch. I did, and learned the brother I thought our greatest barrier was only being prudently cautious for a variety of good reasons unknown to me and actually is our biggest advocate when long range plans are on the table. Who knew? Certainly, I never would have if I had not been obedient to God, or if I had simply assumed my initial disappointment was justified and irreversible.

We give up on ourselves and others too soon. Our willingness to sacrifice knowledge for pride is illogical and self-defeating. There is enough conflict in the world. I doubt seriously God wants us to create more by refusing to listen to each other. We may not understand. We may not appreciate what we are told. But if we attend with respect to those whose opinions differ, we might just learn something, in spite of ourselves. We might even make a new or deeper friend. And, if we get real good at submitting ourselves and our pride to the Will of God, we might just win a soul or two for Jesus in the bargain.