Challenges and Pole Barns

*I know this is longish, but it's the best summary I could do*

When you read the Word, do you read it to "prove what you've you been taught", or do you read it to examine whether these things were so?

It's something that's been on my heart for some time. It seems as though there are aspects of our church culture that reinforce our human tendency to read the Bible (or any book for that matter) with the mindset of cementing what you think you already know.

While I don't believe it's beneficial to wipe your mind clean every time you open the Word so you have to start from scratch (there's definitely a building process), I do think we tend to gloss over some very powerful truths and maybe even completely miss them, because they're outside the realm of what we're comfortable with.

I was chatting with my mentor this morning, and we were discussing the 4 pillars of a church that the elders have developed from their study of the Word. Being from a construction background, he explained it to me in terms of a pole building.

His tendency was to start at these four pillars and begin adding on from there. He was picturing getting into the word to begin adding "brackets" onto the pillars so that he could get the roof on this pole barn. In essence he was willing to accept the conclusions that the elders came to as final and as givens and build from there. However, while this isn't "wrong" per se (I have a lot of confidence in our elders), we discussed how we're missing out on blessings and growth by not digging down in our study of the Word and examining the foundations for ourselves.

Who knows, we might even find a couple more pillars to add, or maybe we don't see why one of the pillars is there, or maybe we find that we should replace one of the pillars with another. Then our challenge becomes finding out why we came to a different conclusion. Talk with your elder. See why he came to the conclusions he did. Maybe he'll explain some truths to you that you missed, or maybe you'll explain some that he missed. It becomes a give and take - an accountability - and in the process your faith is strengthened. You become much better equipped to give relevant answers to a world screaming for answers.

Now, when your pole barn gets the roof on it, you'll not only realize the blessing of residing in a building that keeps the elements out, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing the building intimately. You'll know the foundation is secure; you'll know the poles are strong; and you'll have confidence the roof will withstand when the strong winds blow outside. Your pole barn will be a place where you feel confident inviting those in who are standing out in the rain.

Let's be noble Christians!

*disclaimer: So as not to be misunderstood, I want to clarify a few thoughts. 1. I believe strong cultures can be a very positive thing, if used in their proper context with certain limitations.
2. I believe the best place from which to examine our buildings from the foundations up, is from within the warm dry confines of the building that your parents hopefully built.I hope that makes sense. Feel free to question/challenge these thoughts!