authority vs. expertise
I had a great meeting yesterday with Conrad, a CSULA student from Australia. He got involved in the ministry in the fall while I was on sabbatical, went to Urbana, and is at a really great stage of growth with God. He has been praying about re-starting our men’s Bible study, so we got together yesterday to talk things through and come up with a game plan.
More than coming up with a great strategy or having super insight into male culture, I’m most excited about training Conrad in this because of how teachable he is, and hungry for God. Apparently his older brother is a youth pastor in Australia, and until recently, Conrad had never envisioned himself in any kind of ministry role. He confessed, “To be honest, I’m not really an expert in the Bible. I have as much to learn as I would want to give.”
I assured him that I think he is in a perfect place to begin to teach the Bible. We talked about Mark 1, where Jesus’ authority as a teacher, not the expert scribes, is highlighted in how what he teaches takes shape in tangible experience. That’s what made why his teaching had authority, because it wasn’t just audible, it was visible, tangible, experienced by those around him as real.
As Conrad has been praying, he had sensed that “we just need to focus on the foundation.” So we’re going to start off next week studying about being built up on a solid foundation. I couldn’t agree more. With all the craziness of the past several months since my daughter’s diagnosis with cerebral palsy, life has felt like an intense storm.
And while there is nothing that could have prepared me for the specifics of raising a special needs child, I’m so grateful for the ways my life has been shaped by the authority of Jesus’ word. Shaped by people who taught me with authority - tangibly, visibly, experientially - and influenced me about how I was building, or what I was building on. Somehow, I hope these young men experience the foundation shaping authority of Jesus’ word as well.
February 15th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I met him and L&I and excited to see how God continues to grow him…
February 20th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Hey Gringo! ;p.
I was just surfing Rudy Carrasco’s website and say your site in his blogroll ;p. I new Spanglish Gringo had to be YOU!
I love your words on authority vs. exertise. I’ve been leading a core group of Christian leaders and activists here in NYC in an effort to unite the church to advocate for the poor. It’s been awesome. Most of all, I’ve been thinking of how to train up the leaders of the movement. Jesus is taking me back to the authority of scripture. Thanks for the great reminder of the source of Jesus’ own authority. it didn’t come from the type of expertise the Pharisees had (though I’m sure he was a master of the scriptures). Jesus’ authority came from the way he let the scriptures live and breathe in his own life.
On a more personal note: I’ll be in town (L.A.) in April. I’d love to see you and Vero when I’m there. Let’s talk. ;p.
Love,
Lisa