“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
– John 5:39
(Before reading the rest of this article, I would like you to read John 5:16-39 to understand the context of this verse.)
Jesus had a showdown with some Jewish leaders after healing a lame man at the pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath, the Jewish holy day when no work must be done. In his argument with them, he proclaimed that he and God are one, that he is God-in-flesh doing mightier things on Earth than John the Baptist to introduce people to God whom they had known from the Scriptures. I think that his biggest frustration was about the people’s reluctance to acknowledge him as God for he had cried out, “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.” The Jewish leaders did not want to accept Jesus because they thought that they had already known all there was to know about God. They had probably feared that their ego would be hurt if they accepted the truth as told by Jesus. So to maintain their pride, they stood by their own teachings and refused to accept anymore than what they already know.
This form of obstinacy towards Jesus came across my mind as I was reading articles written by freelance writer Gary Hayden. He wrote about the Beginner’s Mind – a concept of Zen Buddhism “which refers to having an openness, eagerness and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level.”
In Hayden’s article “Lose before Winning”, he quoted the renowned chess-player Joshua Waitzkin, saying, “It is not so difficult to have a beginner’s mind and be willing to invest in loss when you are truly a beginner, but it is much harder to retain that humility and openness to learning when people are watching and expecting you to perform.”
That wisdom is applicable even for Christians who need to grow in faith and passion for God. Most of us began our life journey as Christians by learning as much as we could from bible studies, just like children who soak up as much information as possible when they are learning an exciting new subject. We would devour pages of the Bible ravenously and allow the love of God to soak into our hearts. We would also jump to the beats of worship songs – unafraid of looking foolish sometimes – because it is an amazing, new experience for born-again Christians.
But how many of us eventually pray less and read the bible less because we think that we already know all there is to know?
How many of us have ceased to love Jesus more because we think that we are already secured in His love?
How many of us have stopped our feet from dancing for the joy of the Lord because we have become wary of the eyes that are watching us?
Joshua Waitzkin said, “Beginner’s Mind is approaching things with that wonderful, fresh, open spirit of a child. Children look at something and they just want to learn it. They soak in the information. They don’t worry about looking bad for a minute or two, or for 10 minutes, or for a few days, or for weeks. They just want to learn.”
It is no wonder why Jesus tells us to have faith like a child. It is easy to learn from Him when we are beginners, but when we start to age and grow in knowledge, we may have a tendency to feel proficient and pride ourselves in our years of experience. That is when it starts to get dangerous for us. Complacency will set in and slacken our passion for Jesus – our first love – and our hearts will grow calloused with every service and cell group meeting that we attend.
Just reading about the Beginner’s Mind as illustrated by Gary Hayden and Joshua Waitzkin has gained me some new perspectives about how I want to live my faith in Christ. Although I had read the Bible several times before, I will read it again with an open spirit for God to speak to me. I look at Jesus and I just want to love Him. I shall soak in His words and not worry about how others view me as I read my bible in the public. Just knowing His word is not enough; I want to explore new ways of living out loud with faith and love. You can do it too!
May 26th, 2010 by 
admin
No Comments »