Panacea Wary

Have you ever heard someone say something like this: "I think if I really loved God perfectly/the way I should/more, then X (sharing my faith, prayer, Bible study, etc.) would naturally follow?"

Let me state for the record: I am wary of this panacea.

Two reasons:

1. At what point do or will we EVER love God truly/perfectly/the way we ought? Answer: never. If we're waiting to grow or to attempt to grow in these areas until we get our love for God all in order, getting ourselves more cranked up to be more in love with God, then we'll never get to anything.

2. Nearly everything that we often list as "X" is a skill, not a natural ability: prayer, sharing our faith, Bible study, whatever. These are all learned abilities, there's maybe 2% of the Christian population to whom these things come naturally. In other words, even if you DID love God perfectly/truly/the way you should, you STILL would probably stink at sharing your faith until you sought it out intentionally.

The word most often used for wisdom in the Old Testament Scriptures is literally "skill in living." Skills are learned, not random outgrowths of other things. I might love football, but to be able to teach others how to play is a different skill set.

In fact, what I find most often my work with students is quite the opposite. As one of my fellow staff workers observed the other day: "It seems those who have only the smallest glimpse of Jesus [i.e. really young Christians and those who are passionately on the journey of being found by him] seem to be the most reckless about talking about him."

Indeed, the early passion of young faith is a powerful motivator. After that fades (as it always does, and this is not to be re-grasped-at but allowed to pass that we might grow into maturity) we must do the real work of growing into skillful living with Christ.