At a conference I attended, I heart Alan Hirsch say something I wrote on my white board in my office. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows”. I am not sure if that is an original quite, but I like it and I remember it for a solid reason. I don’t want to become unteachable.
Have you met an unteachable guy? I am sure you have. They already know everything, even if they are wrong, they won’t admit it, if you show them they are wrong, they will find a way out of it. Most of us (I said us) on blogs tend to lean this way. We are pretty sure of our ideas, otherwise we wouldn’t write them down.
So here is my simple, unpolitical, non-theological and not so controversial question. Are you reading, writing, learning and blogging to learn, or to win? Do you read a blog to understand a new perspective, or just to find something to harp on? I have been accused of simply looking for a reason to grind an ax. . . or gripe or whatever. I know I have learned a lot from some of these interactions, and I hope I have said a few things that have made you stop and think and reflect. After all, none of us know everything, not even Dave.
Good word, Dan, and a good quote too. I will have to try and remember that one more than I resemble it.
Careful, Dan. You’re making sense.
Rejoice.
I love ya Doug!
Reminds me of the old canard by Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “We’re all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts” Or my favorite new billboard material by Josh J. Collins<–SHOUT OUT TO JOSH!!!: "Inerrancy and infalliblity are reserved for Scripture, not for our interpretation of Scripture."
I'll add that the scientific method is intended as a humility-based, evidence-driven approach to creating understanding. But Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) introduced the concept of a paradigm shift to explain the mob mentality and lack of humility that sometimes causes science to "stick" on old viewpoints when better ones are emerging. That sounds a lot to me like the problem of "teachability" to me.
I think it was Ken Hemphill’s original study course about Spiritual gifts that said “God loves you just the way you are, but He won’t let you stay that way”. That indicates to me, if true, that He always has something else for us to learn.
Being teachable is the only way to attain to that.
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
— C.S. Lewis
I believe the origin of the quote is Epictetus.
We were in college together, Epictetus and me.
A very dear friend of mine told me a direct quote from someone walking the halls during the height of an event that happened a couple of decades ago: “I’m here to get my degree but they won’t teach me anything here.”
He said it was a prevalent mindset for many walking the halls of a seminary back in the mid 80’s.
One of the reasons I like coming here to SBCVoices is I get to discuss things (mostly theology, because it is my favorite topic) with people who don’t always see things as I see them. That is good for me, because I really don’t learn a lot from people who agree with me. I am stretched when I interact with folks who see things differently. I think that is a good thing.
As for Bill’s comment above about the seminary student from a quarter-century ago, what a wasted opportunity. That is such a shame. I have learned so much from liberal-leaning, non-SBC non-American/conservative/evangelical folks in my life. I don’t agree with everything, but I have learned. For that, I am grateful.
Jim G.