Watch out non-Christians, you may not like this one, even though you should. You would if you are being objective. So try. Anyways, I am just going to make an observation that has most likely been made by billions before me, but oh well. I hear it is good to be reminded of things, and maybe it hasn’t been made billions of times. My observation is that there are many cultures of talents and hobbies (i.e. worlds), and usually people think theirs is far superior to anyone else’s. At least this is true of young people like me.
So. Perhaps I should give examples of what I mean by a “world.” I live in a few worlds. I live in the music world, at the moment the chess world, the philosophy world, and the programming world, just to name a few. Within those worlds are other worlds too, for example I lived in the experimental and contemporary classical music world for a while. I never got deep enough into chess to find sub-worlds. I mostly live in the theology world of philosophy I guess, but it is very hard to categorize philosophy because it is a web of connections. In the programming world I once lived in the JustBasic world (to my shame), and now am mostly in the java and C worlds, and often float from world to world in those two, such as from the GUI world to the algorithm world to the theory world.
In every world, there are a few things distinctive to that world that other people would not know. For one, it has a specific vocabulary. In the music world that could include trip hop, Thom Yorke, MGMT, the musical saw, minimalism, many things. In the programming world there are classes, objects, linkers, IDEs, Stack Overflow.com, errors as opposed to warnings, and much more. Every world also has common knowledge that comes with time. For example, in the chess world you learn that the center is powerful and that knights start off very valuable and lose value as the game thins out. Things like that. Anyway. Finally, every world also has a community of fans and support organizations. Pokemon has Bulbapedia, the Internet has reddit, and Trekkies have conventions. When you are in those places, you are living in that world. I hope this gives you somewhat of a picture of what I mean when I say “world.”
This is the part which could make non believers frown. Just assume that this portion of the Bible makes sense, cause it really does.
When I started thinking about this, 1 Corinthians 12 came to mind. Not the reference, the idea. I had to look up the idea to find the reference. The idea I thought of was the Diverse Church, or the fact that the Church is “one body with many members.” The reason the Church is diverse is that it is made of people, and people are diverse. The Church has different worlds within it just like everything else. 1 Corinthians talks about gifts people have, while I am mostly talking about knowledge. But those two things are related: you refine your gifts with knowledge and experience.
Now for some application. I’ll start with application within the Church. I mentioned that there are worlds within the Church and I will now name a few. You could be a scholar, a pastor or preacher, a missionary, or a layperson. All of these require very different knowledge and skills, all are necessary, and no one is an expert of all of them. In addition, each of these has subworlds within them. You could be a scholar of the Old Testament, the New Testament, systematic theology, apologetics, all kinds of Biblical things. You can be a missionary to a distant nation, somewhere in your own country, or even just to the local bad part of town. Each of these subworlds also requires different skills and knowledge. Now, as the Bible says, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” So if one person doesn’t feel comfortable helping out with your local ministry, it could very well be because God does not want them to, it is for someone else to do. Of course, we should all try to stretch ourselves and “earnestly desire the higher gifts,” so, person being asked, don’t make that an excuse to be lazy. But what I am trying to emphasize in this post is that just because someone is not doing the religious thing you are doing does not at all make you better. All jobs in the Church are important, even just living out your faith in everyday life.
Phew. Now for other thoughts. The same thing can be applied to all the other worlds I was talking about. Let’s say man A is manly. He knows all about how to get things done and can fix all the cars. In the world. Now take man B. He doesn’t really care about that stuff, but he knows how to fix computers and solve Internet difficulties. Both live in one world and don’t know much about the other’s world, and both skills are essential. I would wager that if man A was asked to help man B out with some manly project, he would swell with pride about how weak man B is. But, if man B was asked to help with man A’s computer, he would swell with pride about how stupid man A is. Guys, c’mon. Either of you have the ability to do either job. It’s just that you chose differently. Neither of you are superior. Sadly, the same goes for thinking. Some people like philosophy and knowing things, some honestly wouldn’t care if it were shown that a meaning to life could not possibly exist. Now everyone should have a basic grasp on all essential skills, but division of labor works for a reason.
Sigh. I feel like I rambled more than usual on this one. I also seem to be saying that on many of them. So either I ramble on all, or none. People have complimented them, so I guess I could semi-safely assume they are all decent. Yay. Well I’m definitely rambling now. I should conclude.
In conclusion, don’t be a know-it-all. Everybody knows things you don’t know and everybody can do things you can’t do. In the Church, some people are made for one ministry and some are made for another. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.'” When you do come across something you have no experience of, try it out! Join a new world! If you have been doing something so long you don’t even think about it, don’t belittle those that aren’t at that level. At one time, you were at that same level. Finally, try to look at the world with this idea in mind some time. It’s fun. When you are doing a task, try to realize all the things you have learned about with it. When you are cooking perhaps, try to think of all the time you have spent in the cooking world, learning, discovering new recipes, and finding out what does and what doesn’t work. It will be interesting.
Thoughts of a Novice 