Albert Einstein once said,
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
Ministry, as with life, will always have its problems to solve. But the key to overcoming them is to consistently become smarter mentally and spiritually.
Special thanks to Mark Howell for the quote.
As a favorite professor of mine was fond of saying, “You can’t wash Ivory Soap.”
Sometimes, spiritually, our knowledge can reach far beyond our obedience. Being smarter will not always lead to a solution. Often it is more about our level of faith and ability to surrender to God than it is seeking a solution on our own. Remember His words, “for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Could it be that perhaps God purposely puts us in situations where we don’t and/or can’t have/find the answers so that, in the process of surrendering the problem, HE alone gets the glory?
Gene,
I believe that God is the key ingredient to all of our problems, but I also believe that we as Christians have a valuable role to play in meeting Him halfway there. God will not place us in a situation that we can’t handle. If we want to grow, we must continue to learn more spiritually and intellectually to be able to through God solve more difficult problems. And of course, as you said, obedience is also key.
-Kent
Actually, God will not place us in a situation that *He* can’t handle. And nowhere in the Bible do we find God telling us to “meet Him halfway”. Indeed Christ said, “Follow me and I will make you…” (Matthew 4:19). “I will make you” is pretty clearly putting the effort on Christ’s end. That’s very different from “Follow me, put in a good effort, stretch yourself, and we’ll meet in the middle somewhere…”
Einstein is an enigma, because he was both brilliant and full of himself–never mistake smart for wise, as they are not the same thing. I suppose Einstein quotes always irk me just a bit on ministry sites, because though he often talked about “God” he was not a believer and became quite antagonistic toward Christ-followers, especially late in his life. He sounds good from time to time, but he’s just not in line with Scripture.
Or maybe it’s just really late and I’m frustrated waiting on this computer to render my video file…
Gene,
I understand what you are saying, and I agree. But let me reexplain myself so that I am crystal clear. By meeting Christ halfway, I was not talking about taking the journey through a problem alone. I guess that is the faultiness in the abstract way we Westerners talk and think. What I meant is that we have a role to play too. In Salvation, Christ solved the problem, but we must confess with our mouth and believe with our hearts. Consider this obedience like you talked about, and I agree with you on. Now look at Moses. He did not want to obey God because he thought he lacked the speaking skills to talk to Pharoah. Moses actually wanted God to pick someone else like Aaron. To please Moses, God allowed Aaron to come along to do most of the speaking. But in this case, why would Moses be needed? Because of what he had learned. Moses was the only Israelite who had the education to understand Isrealite and Egyptian culture.
Obedience is great. But before you obey, first you have to know the laws. When God created the world, He established spiritual laws and scientific laws. Spirtual laws trump scientific laws. In addition to these laws, we must also learn to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. I seems like you are focusing on the Holy Spirit aspect while I am focusing on the laws aspect. Would you agree?
If God calls you to be a communications director, you can’t simply obey Him by going to churches and filling out job applications. Part of obedience is actually learning about marketing, design, media, and everything else communication directors do. Learning is part of obedience and growing as a leader whether we like it or not.
-Kent