When it comes to faith one of the hardest things for me to do
is to unlearn something that I have taken to heart. Sometimes it is something
that I am certain is true but later find evidence to the contrary. Other times
a person that I respect tells me something and presents it as a truth they have
learned over a span of time. Later, I might discover that what they taught me
was true for them but not necessarily true for me. Both of these are different
than just learning something new that can be added into my knowledge bank. I
actually have to unlearn something, to untangle it from all the other thoughts
that it touches and (in some cases) to repent from the ways in which I have
passed on the erroneous information when I have taught others.
When I was in seminary one of the preaching professors told us
that the time we spent reading the Bible as pastors didn’t count as time spent
in personal devotion to God. He told us that we had to reserve time each day
for personal Bible reading. I took him at his word. After all, here was a
white-haired elder of the church who had spent much of his life teaching people
how to be pastors. His soft-spoken manner emanated nothing but concern for our
personal, professional and spiritual well-being. I assumed that this advice was learned during
his many years preparing his own sermons and classes and I was eager to put his
wisdom to work in my own life.
