Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…
1 Peter 3:15 TLV
[W]hat can be known about God is plain to them—for God has shown it to them. His invisible attributes—His eternal power and His divine nature—have been clearly seen ever since the creation of the world, being understood through the things that have been made…
Romans 1:19-20 TLV
When I was a music teacher I would occasionally teach a music appreciation class, and one of my goals for my students was to be able to help them learn to expand their critical thinking skills and ability to substantiate their preferences based on more than just their own opinion through the avenue of music. For example, when presented with a genre of music I would ask students to tell me whether the music was good music or bad music, and why. It was understood that a complete answer to the question would never be, “I don’t know, I just like/don’t like it.” A person can never justify their opinion based on the merits of their own opinion. A student could discuss the lyrics, the rhythm, melody, tone quality of the singer or instruments, the complexity, the accuracy or execution of the performance itself, and that would require knowledge of these topics and how they work together in music. If a person can’t adequately communicate about a piece of music based on these attributes, then they don’t have enough information about music and therefore, may not be the best person to assign the job of music critic. While these were very thought-provoking and stretching lessons in music class, I feel these skills learned through these exercises will benefit those students for a lifetime in other areas such as politics and religion.
On the same lines, I admittedly get slightly annoyed when I see someone write a thank you card to someone else and they say something along the lines of, “Words just don’t describe how much this means to me.” (I have used this phrase many times, so I’m talking to myself as much or more than anyone else!) I understand the sentiment and what a person is trying to say when they say this phrase is the feelings they have are so much greater than the words they have to describe it, but then I say if you have that consistent issue, grow your vocabulary! That’s the exact purpose of words! To describe and communicate our feelings to someone. It sort of feels like you didn’t try hard to get creative and truly thoughtful when you were trying to express yourself.
We’re guilty of this when we begin to talk about God. In order to express what we know about God with words, we have to KNOW God and know ABOUT God. We can only stand on, “I don’t know much, but I know I love Jesus!” for so long before God will begin to push us into deeper realms of understanding. God gave us the ability to communicate and express our thoughts, feelings and understanding so that we could begin to use words to put flesh to the invisible, known qualities of God.
We won’t have adequate words until we know THE WORD and allow its truths to seep into our lives and consciousness. It takes time, and it won’t happen all at once. However, it’s very convicting when someone asks you a question about God or how He operates in the world and you don’t know the answer, but you know that you have the answer available to you in the Word and you just haven’t sought it out yet. I don’t ever want my lack of seeking or learning to be a hindrance to be able to share the reason for the hope I have in God. I am committing to grow my spiritual vocabulary with the truths of the Word, and I pray you’ll join me today.