It has been a while since I’ve talked about this topic in “public”. However, lately I’ve been feeling that I need to somehow address it… The initial idea of a title for that posting was “Tired of Christianity”, but then I decided not to shock you. How nice of me! :)
Unfortunately I’m not able to invest all the time I want in addressing the issue, but at least I’ll be able to lay out my worries.
1. One of my greatest struggles for the past three years has been in understanding the place of academics in Christian life. From one side I face the argument that education was necessary, it is still necessary, etc., etc. My concern, though, is not with the presence of education itself, but with the methods of education. And while in the Jewish world the connection between the Rabbi and the students was strongly personal and spiritual before knowledge-driven/oriented, today I notice that Christian education leans more towards the (I would dare to suggest) differing in this Greek Academy. To make that simpler, Christian education seems to be bound to the secular understanding of education in great measures. Christian institutions (sorry for the nasty word here, but it’s just for the sake of sparing me some more lines of explanation) – like schools, collegels, universities, etc. have inherited their curriculums mainly from the secular ones. This also reminds me of the trend ni many churches today to apply business models of leadership and communication to their ministry… Well, no wonder it doesn’t last! I’ll stand by for a while at that point – giving you an option to respond, as well as myself time to formulate further my words…
2) The drying out of the spirit. This has much to do with the previous point, but also with some other things. My struggle began when I was starting to face the pressure of academics. To be honest, at times it can be difficult to decide where to invest more time – in the quiet place, or in the study room. In addition, it’s interesting to consider what influence the continuous academic talk on theology can have on one’s hunger for the Word of God. Sadly enough, today I read my Bible more for getting a grade, than for getting God, which is a bit ironic. The drying out of the spirit, I believe has much to do also with the Christian environment one finds themselves in. One good thing of it is that I recognized the importance of a strong community… of prayer. Too bad that most of the time this came to me via negativa (just throwing out some big words here…). The disappointment in Christians for me personally has been a great issue. I know that often I expect much of myself and others, but at the same time, I’ve been dealing with this issue also shoulder to shoulder with others, who see the same thing. So, that kind of makes me feel that it’s real.
Now, I think I’ll stop here. I mean for now. :) I’ve been just writing out some basic thoughts, which need to be developed further, in order for one to be able to apply them. But my concern for the time being is mainly that these issues are brought to realization. Sadly enough, Christians often look at the outward performance, and let the spirit dry out… starve… wither… Well, not really… thank’s God, but nearly.
I believe the Lord has not left unnoticed my attempts to crawl near him… And that’s my hope!
P.S. For those interested in a discussion – please, post comments. More on the topic will come soon.
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