He Thought I Was Lazy!

Suggested Reading: Hebrews 5:11-6:3

Before I graduated from high school I had taken five years of Spanish, starting in 8th grade and then every year through my senior year. Toward the end of my senior year, I was in the Spanish club and one day I stopped in the class to grab something . It was after school and I was the only student in the room. My teacher, Señor Nisttahauz, stopped me and began to chew me out. He began to jump all over me because, as far as he was concerned I was lazy. In his eyes, I understood the language, knew the syntax and the grammar, had a firm grasp of the vocabulary, but I was lost in a conversation. Señor Nisttahauz believed that, with everything I knew, I should be fluent and the only reason I wasn't was because I never practiced speaking Spanish outside the classroom. I knew enough to pass my tests (ace my tests) but he was convinced that if I didn't start practicing, I would be one of those parents who showed up at an open house with their own child saying, "Yeah, I took Spanish in high school and I don't remember a word of it." He rightfully berated me for my lack of practice beyond the classroom. Soon afterward, I began practicing outside of class and my Spanish fluency improved greatly.

In many ways, the Christian walk is like learning a new language. Learning the appropriate words and actions is one thing; actually practicing and understanding them is something else entirely. The author of Hebrews expressed frustration over this particular problem, saying to his readers, "We have a great deal to say about this, and it's difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand . Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God's revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness…" (Hebrews 5:11-13, HCSB). Essentially, the author argues, "You've been at the Christian life for too long to be at the level you are. You are inexperienced and lazy, so you can't handle the tougher things that a person in your position should."

Because of the sin that lives in us and the fact that our natures have been corrupted, many of the teachings of the Word of God run against the grain of our natures and are difficult, if not impossible, to understand until we begin practicing them. We may "know" the teachings in much the same way that I "knew" Spanish in high school, but until we start practicing it, until we start using what we know, we will never really understand the Word of God, and we will never mature as believers. Jesus told his listeners that the way to know whether his teachings were really from God or not was to make a decision to do the will of God and not simply know it (John 7:17).

Has your understanding of the Word of God stalled in its growth? Have you come to a place where you don't understand as much as you think you should, where things don't make sense like you want them to? Maybe, you need to try putting what you know into practice, not just being satisfied with possessing morsels of knowledge.  You'll never be fluent until you start practicing. 

Misunderstanding the Father's Alien Cultures

Suggested Reading: 1 John 3:1-6

For me, fascinated as I am with linguistics and cultures, one of the most interesting things about James Cameron's movie Avatar was watching Sully slowly learn the alien language and culture.  During his first encounter with the alien inhabitants of the planet Pandora, an alien female saves his life from some local predators. Sully thanks her and she angrily tells him in English, "Never thank me for this," as she points to the bodies of the animals she had killed in his defense. A gesture of gratitude from him was seen by this alien creature as something offensive. She did not appreciate his gesture of gratitude and he did not expect disgust that she had to kill in order to defend him. They experienced a disconnect because they were from two different worlds and saw things very differently.

As we grow in our relationships with our Heavenly Father, there should be times when we experience a similar disconnect with the world around us.  There should be times when the world simply doesn't understand us because we see the world around us in a different light. 1 John 3:1 reads, "Look at what kind of love the Father has given to us so that we might be called children of God, and we are. Because of this the world does not understand us because it did not know Him" (SPT).

If we are God's children, we should see the world differently, we should hold different values, we should think differently than the people around us. And if we do then we will occasionally be misunderstood. There will be times when we simply don't make sense to the people around us because they don't know God.

When you look at your life as a believer, can you recall instances when your relationship with God was directly or indirectly responsible for people misunderstanding you? If so, that is to be expected for a child of God. If not, you may need to practice living out your Father's values.