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Tuesday, September 27, 2005
The Doctor Next Door
When I was a teenager a doctor moved in next door to our house. Maybe it's because I was 13. Maybe it's because I'd never actually known a doctor before. Maybe I was so impressed by the "toys" he was able to buy. Our families became fast friends.
He was the smartest person I'd ever met.
He knew the ins and outs of Kentucky's basketball offense.
He knew all about military mistakes in the Civil War.
He knew the specs or about the engine of his sportscar.
He knew all the theories of doctor's office business management.
He had all sorts of theories about marriage.
But he couldn't play basketball worth a flip.
He never was in the military and admitted that he couldn't shoot a gun.
He sent his car to a mechanic.
He took a job with another hospital because his business wasn't making as much money as he should've been making.
Both of his marriages failed.
But he was an intellectual of the highest order. One of the hardest things for a higher order intellectual is for them to actually DO the things they know about.
Which is kind of what happens in Luke 10: 25--27, from The Message:
"Just then a religious scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. 'Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?'
He answered, 'What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?'
He said, 'That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence--and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.'
'Good answer!' said Jesus. 'Do it and you'll live.'"
Remember we have the highly educated, formally trained, socially advantaged expert in the Mosaic Law asking a question. In fact, he states that he's trying to test Jesus. Don't make too much of that. It's really more like he's trying to take a poll. I'm not so sure it's an antagonistic type of question, but it's certainly one of intrigue in that he's trying to figure out where the carpenter and son of peasants stands on a crucial issue:
How do I get saved? That's how a first century audience would've interpreted that question.
The carpenter says something along the lines of "Tell me what you learned in 1st grade." Sorta asking this highbrow intellectual to say his ABC's.
So, he does. Quotes a couple of OT verses...the basics. Deuteronomy and Leviticus.
The carpenter rewards him. "You got it right!"
The confused smile likely wound up on the lawyer's face. "Of course I got it right. It's the ABC's for crying out loud. Any 6 year old would've gotten it right? What's this guy up to?
Jesus actually quotes more Scripture in v.27. "Do it, and you'll get saved."
Uh-oh.
It isn't intellectual anymore.
Now it's practical. Theology always has a practical application, and now the lawyer is face-to-face with it.
And, you know what? We're all face to face with it.
There's so much that we, as American Christians, know. We know so much about getting saved (using the first century understanding of salvation--that it has a past, a present and a future--which is used in a more encompassing manner than we use it today with our focus on the past) that we don't actuall DO IT.
So, for today, what are some key things that the typical Christian knows and simply doesn't DO? How does this hurt the Kingdom?
Brent 3:38 AM
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