The Smartest People Have the Most to Learn

26 posted on March 26, 2008

POSTED IN: Authenticity, Leadership, Makes You Think, Movies & TV

The purpose of today’s post is two-fold. The first is to tell you about what looks to be a great movie coming out in April called Smart People. At first glance it looks like some of the movies we’ve been seeing from Fox Searchlight in recent years (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine). I’m putting this one on my calendar to go see.

The second reason for this post is to share some thoughts that came to me after reading the movie’s tagline, ‘The smartest people have the most to learn.’

I know I’m not the only person to get inspiration for a message or blog post from crazy places like commercials, songs or billboards. Admit it, you’ve done it too.

The tagline from the movie echoes a concept about growing in our walk with God that I’ve been thinking about recently. For me, having grown up in the church, my journey of faith has been more about unlearning things I thought were true. I’m realizing more and more all the time that my preconceived ideas of who God is and how He works just aren’t true.

There are times I envy new believers who are developing a relationship with Christ after years of living without Him. Their journey of faith is so authentic because they don’t have years of religious baggage to get rid of. Their view of Jesus isn’t based on countless sermons, classes, conferences and books. It’s the spark of excitement that comes from discovering your first love.

I suppose that’s why Jesus said that if we really want to know who He is we have to come to him as little children (Mark 10:14-16) who are innocent and teachable. I think those of us in ministry have the most difficulty seeing Jesus for who He really is because we feel the need to always study and delve deeper to find those “hidden truths” that we can share on Sunday mornings.

We forget that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and that Jesus’ message was a simple one of loving God and loving others (Luke 10:27).

The smartest people really do have the most to learn.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am and is filed under Authenticity, Leadership, Makes You Think, Movies & TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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March 26, 2008

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1 patrowland said:

“I think those of us in ministry have the most difficulty seeing Jesus for who He really is because we feel the need to always study and delve deeper to find those “hidden truths” that we can share on Sunday mornings.”

That is so true… I think those that have the greatest faith have the simplest understanding of Love God and love others.
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March 26, 2008

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2 michael said:

we’d be so much better off if we just remembered god is love; love is not an intellectual reference point and it is not tangible.

once we think we’ve wrapped our minds around god, we should know we’re off. true belief is there because god put it there, not because we figured it out.
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3 evan said:

great site design.
i just started subscribing to your feed.
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March 26, 2008

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4 Brandee said:

Smart People… hmmm… I was a near perfect student in school, but when it comes to life, I have no clue on certain matters.

In December I ran into an old friend who I had not seen in at least 10 years! He introduced me to his wife and children, and brought me back to Church. I can’t begin to tell you how great I feel, Brad! A Sunday does not go by where I feel less burden on my shoulders, I am able to leave a little bit of my worries behind knowing God has always been there, waiting for me to hand it over to him. I’ve talked to Pastor Mark and I am ready to make the next step.

I think the fast-paced world we live in has taught us to run with the rest of the pack and not stop to check out the scenery or to pay attention to who is standing on the sidelines cheering us on.

Us Smarty Pants sometimes need a good “thunk” on the noggin as a reminder that we need to slow down occasionally. I made the mistake of thinking I could keep running after I found out I was sick in December. My problem is, I did not realize God was running along side me the entire time.

People come into our lives for reasons that sometimes only God knows why… I ran into my old friend a week after I found out I had cancer. I think God was planning this all along… He’s amazing, isn’t He?