In my professional work, one thing I have heard over and over again is people asking me, “what would you do?”
When faced with a tough situation, with something they want to know, they often don’t want me to tell them what the book says should be done. They want me to tell them what my heart says, what I would do.
As a Christian, I have seen believers who come to me express that same desire. They want to know what I would do if I was in that situation. Don’t get me or them wrong. The bible and Christ is the standard, not me. They care greatly about the bible, but as growing believers they want to see someone else that they trust apply the scriptures to a situation do it than they want to hear how it is done or could be done because many times, they have read what the bible says but just don’t interpret and apply it. For example, many believers who desire to get married know that the bible says that two cannot be unequally yoked. A believer shouldn’t marry an unbeliever. That’s easy. But some believers aren’t exactly sure what to ask from God in a spouse that will be pleasing to God and also fulfill their wishes at the same time. Knowing how some trusted believer applied the bible to their own decision of choosing a spouse speaks volumes to them than quoting the scriptures. They learn much more that way. The apostle Paul exhorts believers to follow his example in many different places in his letters. We learn from each other. God created it that way.
That was Jesus’ method of teaching. His disciples lived with him, they knew everything about him. They knew when he went to pray, when he went to get a shower, when he went for a bathroom break, they learned not from having Jesus tell them how things can be done but by actually seeing him do them.
That method of learning and teaching is the most effective method, one that can be done even through books. The downside is that, this method opens the author’s personal life up to cynics and critics and reveal how they live their personal lives and practice their faith more than a book that is written in a formal, almost impersonal way (like a science textbook) would. You have a situation where one method is more effective because it ministers directly to the reader, showing him/her a real life example of someone doing it daily and how they plan their lives to do it, which makes it easy for the learner to feel that they too can do it and actually will follow through more often than otherwise. And then one method, again formal, impersonal, doesn’t open up the author’s personal life but also doesn’t help the reader as much. The motivation that comes from knowing that “if he can be disciplined to pursue God persistently like that, I too with God’s help can do same” is missing when books are written impersonally.
After considering both sides, I’ve decided to take the route Jesus took in teaching. To present things to you in a way that will open my personal life up but that will be more beneficial to you, the reader and present the teaching to you in a way that you would understand and feel like you were watching me go through the steps with you, or even teaching you directly. Telling you the way I actually do it daily, not how textbooks say it should or could be done. I will let you know clearly when I bring in equally viable alternatives to how something can be done so that you may also try it on your own and see what works best for you.
I pray that if my little sacrifice of privacy is anything, that the Lord will turn you into an avid devourer of his word.
