Thinking Too Much?
I have not blogged in a couple of weeks. This has been a fairly busy time. This past week, I was at a conference with some good friends and I was even able to make connection with an old friend I had not seen in several years. It was a good week, but one that was not really deep in conversation. Because of our surroundings, it was difficult to get into deep conversation.
I do enjoy a good debate. Most of you know that. In fact, I was in a session where a presenter made an assertion, about the millennials, that from my experience and from my research in my former appointment I found completely wrong. It is interesting when you challenge a presenter. She later said that she would talk to me about my thoughts later in the conference. We did not get that opportunity.
There were several points in the conference where I found myself disagreeing with the presenters. I did find myself in agreement with many of the presenters. I also found myself thinking that many of the thoughts presented in some of the sessions I attended were not well-thought out. I found myself playing out different scenarios in my mind where they could be right. Even though I found myself at a Christian conference, I saw what I thought were infiltrations of a world view that really was not a Kingdom view. Much of our discussion was about law suits (a reality of life) and how to discipline.
I know the subjects were important. I wondered if our response was more relationship-building than legalism if our results would be different.
I started sharing my doubts with some colleagues. One of them looked at me and said, "Larry, the problem with you is you think too much. You should just do what you are told and accept the facts as they are." There may have been some truth in there.
I have lived my life in recent years asking questions. I ask lots of them. I don't often take things at face value. It does not always sit well with people.
For much of my life, I was a person who just accepted the company line or the latest pop theology. There was always this nagging in my gut that there was much more than what I had been told and taught. In recent times, I have found that more people have expressed many of the same feelings I have had about faith and theology. They have told me that thought they were the only ones who thought that way. I am now finding that there is a silent group of people who have taken to questioning the status quo. These people are not cynics, they just want the best for the church and their lives.
There is this dynamic tension though. There are times when we need to accept by faith and follow. Yet, I believe that we have become a culture where the questioning of the government, our bosses, and other leaders is often viewed as somehow a sign of just being an unhappy person. Thinking outside the box is rarely encouraged, even though we live in a culture that is customized and ever-changing. I believe we need thinkers in this world.
Where do we strike the balance? Can we think too much? Can we over-analyze? Do we somehow stifle faith when we think too much? Are we just malcontents? I know this is somewhat of a continuation of the last post. I want to know where the balance lies.
So with all my posts I want to know, what do you think?
I do enjoy a good debate. Most of you know that. In fact, I was in a session where a presenter made an assertion, about the millennials, that from my experience and from my research in my former appointment I found completely wrong. It is interesting when you challenge a presenter. She later said that she would talk to me about my thoughts later in the conference. We did not get that opportunity.
There were several points in the conference where I found myself disagreeing with the presenters. I did find myself in agreement with many of the presenters. I also found myself thinking that many of the thoughts presented in some of the sessions I attended were not well-thought out. I found myself playing out different scenarios in my mind where they could be right. Even though I found myself at a Christian conference, I saw what I thought were infiltrations of a world view that really was not a Kingdom view. Much of our discussion was about law suits (a reality of life) and how to discipline.
I know the subjects were important. I wondered if our response was more relationship-building than legalism if our results would be different.
I started sharing my doubts with some colleagues. One of them looked at me and said, "Larry, the problem with you is you think too much. You should just do what you are told and accept the facts as they are." There may have been some truth in there.
I have lived my life in recent years asking questions. I ask lots of them. I don't often take things at face value. It does not always sit well with people.
For much of my life, I was a person who just accepted the company line or the latest pop theology. There was always this nagging in my gut that there was much more than what I had been told and taught. In recent times, I have found that more people have expressed many of the same feelings I have had about faith and theology. They have told me that thought they were the only ones who thought that way. I am now finding that there is a silent group of people who have taken to questioning the status quo. These people are not cynics, they just want the best for the church and their lives.
There is this dynamic tension though. There are times when we need to accept by faith and follow. Yet, I believe that we have become a culture where the questioning of the government, our bosses, and other leaders is often viewed as somehow a sign of just being an unhappy person. Thinking outside the box is rarely encouraged, even though we live in a culture that is customized and ever-changing. I believe we need thinkers in this world.
Where do we strike the balance? Can we think too much? Can we over-analyze? Do we somehow stifle faith when we think too much? Are we just malcontents? I know this is somewhat of a continuation of the last post. I want to know where the balance lies.
So with all my posts I want to know, what do you think?
posted by Larry at 7:53 PM
7 Comments:
We think too much if we are paralyzed by the need to observe, the need to perceive - we must find ways to integrate our thinking into our being. Here's another way of looking at your question:
holy discontent
plunged into churning rapids
fueled by restless wondering
hallowed heart hunger
a sacred burr under saddle,
spurring on dreams of redemption
alert expectancy
bathed in mercy's passion
a spirit-wind stirring
I'm thinking way too much about ""thinking too much?""
At this point in my life I find satire in almost every experience I have with other people and try to apply it spiritually. I credit Larry David (creator of Seinfeld).
It work's for me!
Thanks Larry.
Your suggestion that there are "silent thinkers" reminds me of when I used to attend that DYL conference every year. After a couple of years of speaking up at that conference, people began to associate me as somebody who wasn't afraid to speak his mind. So, with that in mind, people started passing me notes during certain "discussions" (and by "discussions" I mean the sessions where the person in charge would spend an hour and a half letting us know that not a darn thing would be changing that year, but I digress). I would literally get four or five notes a session until, finally, I would speak up and share what was on so many of the minds of those sitting around me. Suddenly, however, those people would dissapear. I would speak up, get repremanded by the speaker (you know who you are) and then I'd look around at a sea of faces who weren't prepared to stand with me, though minutes earlier they'd written a note expressing exactly the same thoughts.
I have little time for silent thinkers. Silent thinkers don't change the world. They just sit there, wishing things could be different.
Tim - I too have the experience of being the one willing to speak - a lonely spot at times.
Larry - from someone out of my 70's growing up years - "I think, therefore I am, I think."
My brother (and several men in my life) have an innate ability to look at something, examine it once, take it apart and with all the piece in front of them, be able to put all of the pieces back together. I envy their capacity for searching with a question, "How does this work?" and finding the solution without misplacing the parts and understand the order they go back in.
I am the one who can get it back about 2/3 of the way and then am stuck - my question got me to a place that no longer had an answer.
I'm awful at fixing broken things. But I am devoted to helping fix broken situations. Thats when questions are never out of place. Especially if they can be connected with seeking the chances for change/protection/transformation/correction.
Think too much - its not really an overactive concern. This world can benefit from the careful thinking of caring hearts. But paralyzed by thinking - that is something to avoid. It is meaningless to sit in a corner and mull over questions and never do anything about them or about the pursuit of a right answer.
Our lives are frequently shaped by the questions we ask and the pursuit of their answers. Questions are crucial, but it is irresponsible to be lulled into passive thinking - questioning without a purpose.
my mom was fond of saying, Jeff, you think too much. Many of us thinkers would have to agree with that. In many cases we do. And in my 50th decade of life, I've learned to stop thinking about many things and just begin to act. I've become a more dedicated worker, a more peaceful and internally quiet listener, and more able to live the life of love God would want me to live. But one thing I wont ever be able to stop thinking about is how the church is to be in this world. And for me, the Church continues to be too self absorbed and critical of the sinner. Is it really possible to forgive yet not forget? Is it God only who has that ability?
I guess sometimes the problem with thinking is we use it as an excuse to not be bold enough to speak out or to just reach out and love and care. I wouldn't think half as much if I had the courage to stand up and declare the truth. Many times I think too much, because I don't speak enough or follow though in action..
Maybe a good blog would be to encourage people to not think so much, but to stand up and be noble and true. Declaring the truth of the Lord as He places it in our hearts and minds. The church needs strength and courage to move forward, not just simple following.
I'm gonna have to think about this one for a bit
Post a Comment
<< Home