AN EMPTY BRILLIANCE
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "You are a great teacher in Israel yet you do not know these things." John 3:9-10
Education does not equal spiritual experience or wisdom. I can know how to speak fluent Hebrew or Greek, know the histories of all major biblical characters, and yet not know the heart of Christ. I can memorize hundreds of verse, espouse the major tenets of Christian doctrine and not know how to hear the voice of God. A Christian theologian can have a cold heart. A pastor can be a gifted teacher, exegetically, yet never have experienced the transforming love of Christ in his soul.
How do I know this? By experience. I was in my mid-forties, enjoyed several decades in Christian ministry, was raised in a Baptist church, even taught portions of Scripture and was respected in some circles for it, yet was absolutely bankrupt in really grasping the fundamental principles of what it means to be 'born again' by experience.
To be born into a physical family is to arrive totally dependent. I must be nurtured, led by the hand, taught by example, and mentored. Yet, when I came to Jesus, no one said, "This is how you experience your new Father, how to be raised by Him." Developmentally, I was supposed to start over in a spiritual sense. But I believed that my new found place in the kingdom involved learning via a textbook. No wonder, at forty five, I crashed in a heap of disappointment and disillusionment.
Nicodemus came to Jesus to be enlightened with answers but left with a profound stirring in his soul for relationship. Time with Jesus laid a foundation for a new kind of learning, the kind done at the feet of the Rabbi, Jesus.
Whatever I do not know, I want to learn at Your feet. I want to hear it in whispers and low tones. In Jesus' name, Amen
Christine Wyrtzen
Daughters of Promise
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