Again in 2021, I used to be laborious at work completely revamping this web site. Revamping it’s truly understating it: I used to be rebuilding it from the bottom up. Throughout that course of, I spent a substantial amount of time revisiting my weblog. There have been hundreds of articles going again over a decade. As you may think about, quite a lot of articles have been fairly cringe-worthy. I used to be nonetheless a reasonably new Christian again when this started. As a brand new Christian, I didn’t have the advantages of time and expertise sitting with and pondering concepts. I had youthful exuberance and enjoyment of discovering concepts that have been new to me—even when many have been very outdated concepts certainly.
I used to be nonetheless pretty immature.
As tempted as I used to be to delete these outdated articles, I didn’t. I stored most of them. Why? As a result of they encourage me to see how God has been at work in my life since all this started. I’ve grow to be a greater author, with out query. However extra importantly, I’ve grown in my considering and expertise. I’ve had time to wrestle and dwell out truths and ideas I solely knew in a theoretical means, as my youthful zeal has been considerably tempered by knowledge and expertise.
Cage phases, immaturity, and whiplash
I do know I’m not alone on this. Many people, when discovering and embracing new-to-us concepts, fall into what some have referred to as the cage stage. We learn a couple of books, take heed to a few sermons, or watch a bunch of movies on-line, and fall in love with an concept. We’re excited. So, in our zeal, we flip each dialog right into a passionate protection of a perception or idea we don’t totally perceive as a result of we haven’t had time to dwell it out.
The identical is true once we grow to be disenchanted with an concept. And this occurs when the cracks in its basis start to point out, or these we noticed as heroes of the religion are revealed to be frauds. In our disenchantment, we start reacting in opposition to what we could have as soon as advocated for, generally whiplashing towards an reverse excessive.
We’ve all been responsible of this at one time or one other. (And in the event you’ve not but skilled it, simply wait a bit of longer.) It’s a part of our (sinful) nature as human beings. It’s what utilitarian mindsets and social media algorithms reward. Quick, loud, and offended wins each time, particularly when it shouldn’t.
However it additionally leaves us with regrets. The Web is generally eternally, and our immature decisions will at all times be out there for anybody to see.
Keep in mind and embrace the uncomfortable for what it’s
I used to be tempted to delete many aged articles as a result of they have been a bit embarrassing. Some weren’t essentially flawed, however they don’t mirror how I’d talk at the moment. They’ve all of the marks of a youthful me wielding my mighty theological hammer of justice and generally getting in the way in which of God’s grace. Some are outright failures, the place I might have benefited from somebody smacking me on the again of the pinnacle.
However one thing as foolish and comparatively inconsequential as a bunch of outdated articles can also be a present to me. They’re a reminder that I’m, the truth is, maturing. I’m a greater author, sure, nevertheless it’s greater than that. It’s in each space of my life: in my marriage, my relationship with my children, and the way in which I work. Plenty of time has handed, and with it has come a lot of failure and many work—Spirit-empowered, faith-fueled work, however work nonetheless. Whereas I’m removed from good, there may be some tangible progress.
That’s why I stored them. In a way, they’re not in contrast to the stones the Israelites carried out of the Jordan and used to construct a memorial—a tangible reminder of God’s faithfulness to them (Joshua 4). And I want that reminder, even when it’s not about one thing that God did on so grand a scale. All of us do.
Whereas no matter factors to our previous immaturity will look totally different to every of us, all of us have it. And we’d like it as a result of, within the second, it’s not possible for us to see how God is maturing us. We’d like time and distance to see it. We’d like reminders of the place we’ve been to see the place we’ve come as we search to comply with Jesus. So what involves thoughts for you? No matter that factor is, you don’t have to linger over it, however don’t ignore it both. Simply bear in mind it for what it’s, and thank God for the way far he’s taken you.
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