my Strength Weakness: part thirst for knowledge [meet Steve Graybill]

Martin Luther King Jr. penned the following words from the Birmingham jail, “I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.”

I recently turned 42 and have been following my savior and mentor, Jesus, for more than half of my life. This relationship started out with things pretty black and white. However, the more I get to know this Jesus, the more I honestly believe that he is into paradox. I am not sure how I missed his quote, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first” for so long! However, this quote and my friend Brett’s idea behind a strength having the potential for being a weakness both fall into paradox which creates the tension that MLK Jr. so aptly described from his jail cell. The list of things I see as black and white these days is dwindling rapidly as I am embracing the narrative of tension.

So what is my strength that is also my weakness — or what is one of my strengths that is also one of my weaknesses? I almost actually typed out knowledge as my strength — but that would be very far from the truth! However, I do have a deep drive for obtaining knowledge. I want to know a lot about a lot so that I can make a deep impact for Christ. I believe that the more I learn about a problem the better equipped I will be able to solve it. There is certainly biblical backing for this. Mark 12: 30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

However, if I am not careful with this strength it can so easily distract me from the relational aspect of what it means to be a follower of Christ. I can very easily bury myself in books and neglect just about every relationship I have. Moreover, it leads to dependence on me rather than God—if I know enough about this issue, I can resolve it and completely leave God out of the equation which in turn will lead to pride. Finally, knowing this is one of my strengths makes me want to focus on it because it is easy for me. And this takes me away from the areas of conflict in my life, which involves me stepping out of my introverted cocoon and entering the “nonviolent tension which is necessary” for me to grow. Jesus was most often about building relationships, and while I believe that having knowledge is important I believe it is paramount to be in relationship and community!

to see a different strength weakness where Bruce Collins talks about PEOPLE

my new year’s evolutions

no, no, it’s not a typo, it’s a rethink.

the word ‘resolution’ should be good enuff because it comes from the base word “resolve” and if people truly resolved to do the resolutions they make [altho i don’t actually know of many people that make them – they seem to be this mythical beast that people avoid because they know they will lose the battle] then the world would probably be a better place, depending i guess on the resolutions being made of course.

i found this quote on one of my social networks today and tried to uncle google a source but couldn’t find one, so will have to dedicate to that ‘john doe’ of famous unknown author quotations, ‘A Non’:

“The distance between ignorance & knowledge is much shorter than the distance between knowledge & practice.”

and this i believe is true. we all know what we need to do to change the world, or at the very least make it a little bit better for someone else we know, but we too seldom convert that knowledge to action.

hence the title of this post – how are you going to evolve/change/grow/transform as you head into 2012?

like really? not a wish list or a dream list of that-would-be-nice ideas. i’m talking about making an actual plan… so when my friend Sam commented on what she would like to see happen next year, “maybe cooking” i jumped on and suggested she sign up for a basic cooking class…

because the resolutions generally start with ‘i’d like to’ or ‘it would be good if’

so “i’d like to lose weight” – join a plan, pick a diet, cut out fizzy drinks/chocolate etc
“i’d like to be nicer to other people” – pick a person, make a plan, volunteer somewhere
“i want to read my Bible more” – choose a time for doing so, cement it in your daily planner

it doesn’t matter so much what it is, but try and be more specific with your plans for 2012 so that your resolutions [what you resolve to do] become actual evolutions [changes, transformations] because as some wise oke once said “if you continue to do the thing you’ve always done, you will continue to get the same results you’ve always gotten.”

so, if you read this, i would dig it if you comment and let me know one thing you are planning on doing differently in 2012. and go!

for some ideas on good evolutions to consider, keep reading…