We can’t learn from what we don’t read.

18Oct
by Jon Swanson

A conversation with me can be odd. 

A friend stopped by to catch up with me. We hadn’t talked for awhile, so we talked about some of the things going on in his life. In the course of our conversation, I asked him what he is reading. He thought a bit and said, “Other than the sport page, not much.” 

We kept talking.

My friend is having a tough time figuring out what God wants from him. Every time he touches something, it seems to break. And he keeps trying to figure out the lesson he is supposed to learn.

Eventually, I pointed out that he’s wanting to understand what God might be saying to him, but it seems that he’s depending on God to talk to him mostly through the sports page.

He smiled at me. “You know, as soon as I told you what I was reading, I thought about that.”

I know that understanding the Bible can be challenging. I know that we want a simple answer and we read a long story. We want a clear insight about whether we should become an accountant or an advertising executive, whether we should move to Taiwan or Toledo, whether we really have to forgive that person. And we read about tax collectors who give away their money and kings who sexually harass their neighbor’s wife and valleys of dry bones. And they aren’t what we think we need to hear.

But sometimes reading the Bible isn’t about what we can do with it, it’s about what it does with us. For my friend, the best way to figure out what God is teaching him is to learn how God teaches us.

I think he’ll be reading more than sports this week. And I’ll do some explaining for him.

7 thoughts on “We can’t learn from what we don’t read.”

  1. Todd Lohenry's avatar

    Todd Lohenry

    We also don’t learn from what we download to our Kindles but don’t open! I love the Kindle platform for many reasons; what booklover doesn’t love being able to carry a searchable, quotable library in their pocket. However, just because I buy the book and download it doesn’t mean I have mastered the content. It’s not like the scene in the Matrix where they stick a computer connection in the back of your head and download a new program that you master in seconds [although some times I think that would be really cool!]. Readers ARE leaders mostly because they do the work of reading and that alone speaks volumes. Thanks, as always, for your insights Jon…

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    1. Jon Swanson's avatar

      Jon Swanson

      I do this a lot, download to my kindle, and plan to get to it sometime. I finally today (Friday) told nancy that I was going to read while she was out, and sat in one chair reading a real book for 35 minutes. It’s scary that’s a big deal.

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  2. Cheryl's avatar

    Cheryl

    The question “What are you reading?” is a great lead in to help a person turn to God to find answers. I think I will use this with someone I know who is looking for answers right now. Thank you!

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  3. Rob Hatch's avatar

    Rob Hatch

    I think what I love most about this post Jon, is the fact that a simple conversation and a simple question about his life provided the space for him to reflect and identify something he already knew. What you pointed out was not advice, but merely an observation of his searching and his reading. He put it together, almost before you asked.

    Thank you for making space.

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