Okay, I admit it. I was eavesdropping. Well sort of. I could only understand about three words out of each sentence. Oh, I could hear them just fine. They were sitting next to me. But, they were speaking a foreign language. The frustrating thing for me was that I had studied that language for three years! So why couldn’t I understand them?
At first, justifications poured into my head. “They’re talking way too fast. The accent is too heavy. They’re probably speaking slang.” But as I sat in that tiny one-room airport on a small, Alaskan Island, God showed me that the answer to this question is also the answer to a much bigger question that I had been asking Him for quite some time. What was really on my heart is why so many of us can “hear” the message that Jesus spoke but not understand.
If we were to be video taped for a week, 24/7, it would look like we only “heard” His every fifth word. How do we go about really living out Jesus’ words? Can we? When He said, “ I’ve come to bring life and life to the fullest,” was He speaking in jest?
As He laid out commands to love God with “all our heart, soul, mind and strength” did He mean it?
And when He repeatedly commanded that we “love one another,” I want to know how He expected me to do that! I mean doesn’t He know these people? And how in the world are they supposed to love me? I’m not that lovable.
“Wait a minute,” I thought to myself, “I know some folks who do get it. How do they manage?” After all, I thought, “people do learn foreign languages.”
And there it was, a small, quiet voice within me answering the deep question with a view of the past few years of watching foreign exchange students struggle to master English. They needed to immerse themselves, and so do we. To become proficient in living out what Jesus is calling us to, we need to immerse ourselves.
Intentionality
But what does that look like? Is this just another “pray more, read more, attend more” issue? No. It centers on a word. Intentionality.
Sometimes we think we are being as intentional as we can be, and it is only with hindsight that we see what else should have done.
I heard of a famous concert pianist who responded to the statement, “I’d give anything to play like that!” He said, “No you wouldn’t or you already would have.”
Exchange students are intentional about learning the language. They first study the language in their home country for several years before venturing out. Then, they make a substantial commitment of time, energy, and resource to come to this country and live for a year to improve their English. They do this by living with an English-speaking family, getting involved with all sorts of clubs, teams, and outside activities. So, they began to understand English in a variety of settings. Soon they are experiencing greater ease in communicating with a variety of people.
The Gospels speak the same message for us. Jesus didn’t just offer a course for an hour a week or even an hour a day. He called people to immerse themselves with Him and with many different people with different backgrounds, attitudes, manners (or lack there of), political aspirations, work ethics, etc. And it is amidst that backdrop that we see what “immersion” looks like. The Christian walk isn’t an hour a week, rather it’s constantly seeking God. Asking Him what it looked like for a bunch of guys working together on a fishing boat two millennia ago, and what it looks like for me to be in “fellowship” in my office, household, or organization today? It is asking God to give us the desire to commit to Him and others and the ability to seek and accept grace when we fail. We need to find others who are walking the same path and go together with them if we are to make it at all.
My prayer for you and for me is that we all come to understand and experience the joy of immersing ourselves in the life, love, and lordship of Jesus.
Send comments about this, or any, Coffee Talk to Rick Walston at: CES @ ColumbiaSeminary.edu
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