Why Me?

This blog will chart my ongoing journey from a place of ineffectiveness and immaturity in my walk with the Lord to a life transformed by grace - as Jesus described it in Matthew 7 - from building my house on the sand, to building my house on the Rock.

This might beg the question, "why me"? What does a 27-year-old man, just beginning his career in counseling and ministry, have to say about matters of maturity and wisdom? What can a recent seminary graduate (M.A. Christian Counseling from Oral Roberts University) add to the field of practical theology? To answer this question, I'd like to borrow a response from one of my heroes, C.S. Lewis. In his book, Reflections on the Psalms, Lewis addresses his qualification to write such a work since he was neither a Hebrew or Biblical literature scholar. A few excerpts of his response:

If an excuse is needed (and perhaps it is) for writing such a book, my excuse would be something like this. It often happens that two schoolboys can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can. When you took the problem to the master, as we all remember, he was very likely to explain what you understood already, to add a great deal of information you didn't want, and say nothing at all about the thing that was puzzling you. 

The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten. He see the whole subject, by now, in such a different light that he cannot conceive what is really troubling the pupil; he sees a dozen other difficulties which ought to be troubling him but aren't. 

I feel inspired to write on matters of growing into a mature disciple of Christ, not because I know so much on the subject, but because I don't. The struggles of putting my faith into practice are all too current. I wouldn't dare minimize the value of the wisdom of the elders in our faith. As Lewis suggests, however, the flip side of mastery of a subject is difficulty in empathizing with the struggles of a novice. I have little formal training in Biblical languages, so as I share insight into nuances of Bible study, my hope is that it will benefit the beginner.

Having grown up in church, attending countless services and devotions, one can get the sense that one has heard it all. If there has been one core revelation in the last few years, it is that the basics of Christianity are everything. No further depth is required or necessary. The difficulty is putting the basics into practice. It doesn't get any simpler than to "love God, love people", but as we all know, it is easier said than done. This blog will explore how we can put God's word into the practice and become a Builder on the Rock. Thanks for reading and your comments are welcome!