The same is true with social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and even blogs like this. The noticeable difference with social media, however, is the lack of face time. Your 600+ “friends” can fool you into feeling well connected, but without any real human contact, aren’t you just walking into the subway with your head down?

What do you think… does social media help our generation connect or further isolate us?

The theme of this book revolves around ego, and our fear of what others think about us. It is based on 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 (where Paul upbraids the church for thinking too highly of him, other leaders, and themselves).

There are three sections to the book,

1. the natural condition of the human ego
2. the transformed view of self
3. how to get that transformed view of self.

This follows the usual Keller-esque style, which is rephrased like this,

1. here is how humanity sucks
2. here is how humanity gets redeemed
3. here is how we respond to that redemption

He spends considerable time analyzing the nuances between pride, self-esteem, and humility, dropping a bomb in the middle of them all: “The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less” (32). His main point is that true joy comes from the freedom of others opinions (including our own), and only the Gospel enables us to do this.

Tim Keller is a beast. But at 44 pages, this one is a gem that is digestible in less than an hour. If you ever struggle with what others think of you, eat this book.

Buy it on Amazon.

We are only content with our faith when the senses that we do have (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) are overridden by an otherworldly experience. We want to feel something. I have seen college students who were at their most passionate when the Lord was speaking to them in dreams, visions, and prophetic words, only to crash and burn during the seasons when God was not present to bless in that way. They seem to judge this disappearing act solely on whether he “reveals” himself to them, not in the usual manner, such as Scripture, community, or common prayer, but in out-of-the-ordinary manifestations that override their five senses. These types of divine encounters are wonderful when they happen, and I believe they do. But we are addicted to them.

Anthropologist, Tanya Luhrman, spent years researching this spiritual trend. In a fascinating project, entitled, When God Talks Back, she points out that “the God of this evangelical church illustrates the dominant shift in American spirituality of the last forty years, towards a more intimate, personal, and supernaturally present divine” (Random House, 12). Millennials are all over this type of relational spirituality, as seen in the darkened atmospheres of gathered worship (such as the college ministry I pastor), individualized forms of communion, Jeffrey Bethke’s famous call to trade “religion” for a person, the way we always gauge “worship” by what we experienced, and countless other forms of expression that flow from our generation’s explosive passion and love for interconnected relationships, including the divine. I think these are mostly good things, until they come at the cost of necessity.

The Bible is a necessity, the essential precondition of the Christian life.

Worshippers that feast on supernatural affections may consider the Bible too archaic. It follows that those who favor supernatural encounters in prayer and worship, will sometimes do so to the neglect of reading Scripture, finding it too dry and unromantic. This gets exacerbated by any moment of felt need; prophetic visions can offer a specific answer in real-time, which seems much more suited to our fast paced, twitter-pated generation than tediously searching a dusty Bible hoping to find something relevant.

My guess, is that the times we do open the Bible, we open it without much of a plan. This simply reflects our faithless approach to those sensory overrides we cherish so much—e.g., we don’t need to plan or think when God is speaking to us directly through a prophetic word! And we don’t plan when we open up the Bible either, because we don’t view the Scriptures with the same intensity as God. Or the Hebrew believers for that matter.

Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg bring us into the world of the ancient rabbis, who “thought that study, and not prayer, was the highest form of worship…they pointed out that when we pray, we speak to God, but that when we study the Scriptures, God speaks to us” (Zondervan, L.417, emphasis mine).

Unfortunately, we want something more romantic, more sensational than what is found in books. When we do open the Scriptures, we gravitate towards the same lens we use to search for a sensory override in our prayer life and dreams. I find myself secretly hoping that when I open the Bible to a random place, an arbitrary verse will jump out and prophetically (and satisfactorily) address my specific situation. This does happens on occasion, and it is a wonderful display of God’s grace. But nine times out of ten, I’m reading something that doesn’t help me experience God at all, because I am looking for something that is not there: a sensory experience, and not the true voice of God. Paul said that all Scripture is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16, NIV). Peter said that men “were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:21, NLT). Scripture IS the voice of God speaking to you. We just have to move beyond reading an academic text-book, and listen for his voice manifesting itself in our lives.

A great way to start engaging the Scriptures beyond sensory override is to change your plan of engagement when you open the Scriptures.

Don’t read arbitrarily, cherry-picking verses, and hoping one tickles your senses. Try finding what the themes of each book, sections, and chapters are. Then when you find yourself in a specific situation that requires the voice of God, or are simply in need of being in God’s presence, go to the passages that pertain and let it all wash over you.

For example,

• Philippians is largely a book about joy in any circumstance. Keep that one in your pocket when you are feeling downcast. Read it, and let God speak to you through the words of Paul.
• Going on a long, difficult journey? Read the Psalm of Ascents (Psalm 120-134), which is what the Jews have done for centuries.
• Suffering? Read Job.
• Hopeless? Read the Gospels.
• Feeling dirty and unwanted? Read Hosea.
• Feel unqualified? Read Ruth.
• Feel overwhelmed by the world? Read Romans.
• Want to read the Cliff Notes version? Read Revelation.

You get the picture. Read with intent. Don’t just read, seek the redemptive stories that apply directly to your situation, and let them minister to you. The Scriptures are not arbitrary. For in them, God is weaving a magnificent story, and calls us to open up his Word and step into it by the present power of the Holy Spirit.  You may not feel a tingle, but you will be transformed, and you will “hear” the voice of God through the Word of God.

Bibliography

- Tanya Luhrman. When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God. (Random House, 2012) p.12

- Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith (Zondervan, 2009) l.417

There are four types among those who sit in the presence of the rabbis: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer, and the sieve. “The sponge,” which soaks up everything. “The funnel,” which takes in at this end and lets out at the other. “The strainer,” which lets out the wine and retains the dregs. “The sieve,” which removes the chaff and retains the fine flour. (Mishnah. Pirke Avot 5.15)

Let’s break this down…

The Sponge

The “sponge” is the person who listens and follows everything he/she hears uncritically. These are usually the ones you see on a CNN special joining some weird cult, or in less audacious circumstances, being governed by every “wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14, ESV).

The Funnel

The “funnel” is like your typical ADD high-schooler who nods while playing video games during your 20 minute speech, only to forget everything you said. It’s also me, if you’re talking to me while I’m texting. Don’t be that person. 

The Strainer

Dregs are the layers of unfiltered residue that lays at the bottom of a glass. A “strainer” might be someone who only picks up on the useless factoids, while completely neglecting the wisdom of a saying, sermon, or piece of advice. Example:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Matthew 23:23-24 (ESV)

The Sieve

Brianna bought me one of these to cook rice. It enables me to wash the exorbitant amounts of white starch from the rice, before steaming it. I get to eat the rice, without jacking up my blood pressure. My pastor, Britt Merrick, had a pithy description for handling the unobstructed flow of information: “Chew the meat; spit out the bones.” In other words, don’t throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater…but make sure you do toss out the bathwater! Leave in the information age (with bible teachers and college professors!) critically, and receptively.

In the words of Jewish researcher, Lois Tverberg,

[This parable] reminds us that we are not called to be parrots, unquestioningly repeating whatever we learn from a favorite teacher. Instead, we are to exercise wisdom and discernment, continually asking questions, weighing answers, seeking understanding, and grounding our beliefs within the context of God’s Word and the wisdom of Christian tradition (Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus).

Be a sieve!

Boston Prayer Tour || Introduction

Boston Prayer Tour || Day 1 (Video)

Boston Prayer Tour || Tim Chaddick on prayer tours (video)

Boston Prayer Tour || Morsels

Boston Prayer Tour || Day 2 (Video)

Boston Prayer Tour || Day 3 (Video)

Boston Prayer Tour || Images

Breathe in the city; exhale in prayer.

Below is a video for why we do prayer tours.

If you want to catch all the social media content streaming from the Cradle of Liberty by the 150 people involved, point your guns to this hashtag: #Pray4Boston

Why Prayer Tours | Boston from Reality.

Follow me on the internets…

• Instagram: @chrislazo
• Twitter: @lazochris