Learning Is Often Preceded by Unlearning
Many people are educated well beyond their capacity for obedience. For those who have grown up in church, it can be easy to assume that learning is the sole way in which we grow as followers of Christ. Sadly, we have divorced orthopraxy from orthodoxy.
I’ve known Jesus for more than three decades. What I find so fascinating in this journey with Christ is that the more I encounter him, the more I need to unlearn. What I thought he wanted from me needs to be reimagined—constantly. What I believed about the kingdom of God needed—and, at times, still needs—to be reexamined. What I thought God felt about me needed—and, at times, still needs—realignment. I need to unlearn inaccurate perspectives, incomplete understandings and skewed values of life in the kingdom. My understandings of violence, power, identity, money, worry, the role of women in church leadership, national pride, poverty, prayer, relationships, race, the Holy Spirit and privilege (just to name a few) have had to go through a significant process of unlearning. In fact, they still do.
When Jesus arrives on the scene and begins his public ministry, he says, “The kingdom of heaven has come near [is here]. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). Repent—metanoia—can be translated as “to pull a U-turn.” Jesus is saying, “Rethink your way of life and how you’ve viewed God’s role in it.” In other words, unlearn. Rethink. Reimagine. And once you’ve done that, start to learn rightly. To unlearn is to repent. To learn is to believe.
Taken from Ministry Mantras by J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt. Copyright (c) 2016 by James R. Briggs and
Robert W. Hyatt. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426.
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