So I have had a lot on my mind lately. And because I have a problem with organizing my thoughts cognitively – I have to write them out. This is an abnormally deep post so please skip if you are looking for entertainment.
Lately, I’ve been hung up on this idea of intellect, and its place among the gifts God gives us. Personally, I admit I idolize this gift – particularly in others - which is great in itself, but I feel like Christians everywhere have made this idolatry okay. In fact, we almost pride ourselves in it –and we try to box people in with grades and test scores and trivial pursuit pop culture(ok maybe that's just me…). I’ll admit, I relate to a specific kind of intelligence, and I like being around people who know a lot and can challenge me and give me well thought out answers to the eternal barrage of questions that run through my mind daily. But is this the best kind of intellect? Why do we value this version of smart over other kinds. And why do we make it okay to do this? I feel that even in the Christian church – like I heard Greg Boyd say once “I thought that no intelligent person could be a Christian,” we separate people into intelligent and not intelligent. But I think there’s more to it that that – and I think that by calling someone unintelligent we are ignoring the gifts God specifically gave them (see Howard Gardners’ Theory of Multiple Intelligences for more info…). Like who’s to say that the guy who is really good at astrophysics is way smarter than a good drummer?
Anyway, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to come to terms with this – esp. since I really appreciate hanging out with people who know what they are talking about when it comes to worldviews and philosophies and such. But I’m just throwing it out there. I heard a sermon recently that called the things we think are so great about ourselves, our ‘false sense of self.’ And by ‘losing your life’ as Jesus says – we need to get rid of all our ideas that we think make us better than others, and come to see our worth and identity in Christ alone. If we could see that – then perhaps we could start seeing others in this way as well. I can only pray for that day to come I guess. Anyway, back to my unrelenting thought patterns - next post I promise will be on the best pop songs ever.
10 comments:
I know what you mean, and think that it's funny how different churches value different forms of "intellect". UR, for example, has it's semi-annual "Creo" for all of us to pay even more homage than normally due to the artists in the community. That's the kind of gift that's valued there above all.
Personally, I'm not that theological, nor much of an artist. Maybe someday I'll find a church that honors those of us who are detail orientated or highly organized. Then I'd be in business. :)
PS. Thanks for linking me. Blogger compliments are the best compliments of all. :)
i like your blog. you figured out how to link people. jeff nelson did too. so did everyone else i think...except me. i've looked several times. now i just saw a bright flash of light out of the corner of my eye and i looked only to see some guy welding. crapola. no intellect here.
we were all bummed that you ditched soup night in order to do whatever it is you did. i even set up the romance table. well i guess other girls showed up so it wasn't super strange. are you guys doing anything this weekend? If you do you should get a hold of me. of course you will probably read this in a week and then reply to it and i will see it in 3 weeks. Hi Laura.
mark
Hi Mark.
I just thought of something which is obvious - but maybe some talents make a bigger impact in the world than others - and that's why we value them. In that case, is it justified? Like anyone can carve wood. but can anyone be a doctor? No.
I don't know. I'm of the mind that God gives everyone talent in the means and measure He chooses, and can make any impact He chooses to with them if we choose to let Him have control. Remember, in the Bible He chose people who weren't really that important as well as the high up ones to lead His people, one of the reasons being that they couldn't take the cred for it.
It is with inexpressible emotion that I saw I made your list of linked blogs.
Anyway...some people are great writers but can't parallel park and some can decorate but can't understand conservation of momentum... It's excellent that we're not all the same. But I think you are onto something in your last comment. Think of someone like C.S. Lewis. I saw a lecture a couple weeks ago by the guy who led the human genome project. He was led to Christ by Mere Christianity. If society idolizes intelligence (I might disagree that they actually do...) it might be because ideas are an easily transported gift. Not so, decorations or parking talent....
Oh, the point of that was that intelligence might be idolized (if it is) because it is readily communicated, not because it's inherently better than other gifts.
Ok - I know society doesn't idolize it, but I think people who run in my circles, including me, do. But I'm just saying that by labeling someone as smart and not smart, we are missing things about them as a whole. And that how 'smart' someone is doesn't measure they're worth or what they can teach us or even if they can challenge us. What do you think?
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