A few years ago, I took a class offered only to the volunteers at our church. It was a class specifically on how to read the old testament. This class had 2 required readings, and it was the first time in many years I was in a “classroom” environment.
There were a few differences from this class, than the classes of old. In high school (not so much college), I remember a few things that kept my interest and kept me from dozing off:
- Food
- A hot girl sitting next to me
- In class activities or other sort of engagement
In these particular classes:
- Definitely some sort of food
- Hot girls? Um… none. Or maybe there were, but mine eyes doth not wander.
- The engagement was absolutely there because of the timed table discussions.
I do much, much better when engaged and I actually tend to contribute some intelligent input when I’m not dozing off. However, there was another component to this class that has always been the bane of my learning.
Reading Homework.
I absolutely loathe reading homework, only because I am the king of procrastination and I get extremely distracted while trying to read. My main distractions are the backs of my eyelids.
Because of this, I spiraled down. In the first few weeks I did some of the reading, but by the last couple of weeks I was just showing up in hopes I could at least connect with what we were talking about in the table discussions. If we got on a verse or story in the bible, I was all in. If we started talking about the 2nd book? I disappeared. Basically, my engagement in the class was limited in weeks 5 and on, as I couldn’t reference what we were discussing all the time.
At first I thought I was extremely disappointed with myself since I felt like I didn’t even complete the class. I mean, I made it through all of the classes but I didn’t complete the “required” reading, which to me meant maybe I didn’t learn all about how to read the Old Testament like I originally wanted. This was not how I intended to go about trying to learn more about the word and who God is, but maybe that’s not always Gods plan?
I realized this, and was reminded about who I am and how I learn. It was a reminder that I don’t need to read or memorize every bible verse, or everything that so-and-so has written in order to be a good student, nor is it a requirement to be a Christian.
I think sometimes we get too caught up in trying to gather as much knowledge as we can, by burying our faces in the Bible and other reading material. It’s like we try to fill our theology cup to the brim without engaging in being the Church, and that… is definitely not a part of God’s plan.
