Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”
I can’t figure out what this verse means. I’m trying to look at it in the context of the passage, which is Jesus talking about not judging others.
Is Jesus saying that we shouldn’t give out time to sinners? I don’t think that’s what it’s saying, because that wouldn’t make much sense to me.
I could look at a commentary.. But I’d rather hear from all of you and your thoughts.
So… Calling all you seminarians. Or just people who want to chime in. 
What do you think?
I’m gonna start a new series. As you can see by the title, I’m naming it Theology 101.
I think a lot of Christians aren’t entirely sure what they believe in. We live in a culture where everything is just fed to us and we don’t feel a need to independently search out our thoughts and foundations. We end up just leaning on the people around us to know the right things.
I love theology. I love learning about it and reading about it and asking quesitons about it. It only becomes confusing because lots of academic people use huge words and complicated charts and graphs when talking about God. I find myself in an in between world. I’m minoring in religious studies, so I know a fair amount of those fancy words and charts. I also have no desire though to consider myself a true theologian who spends all of his time studying and writing articles. I want to be somewhere in the middle.
Having said that, there are a few things that I believe are fundamental to Christian belief and thought. There are often differing viewpoints on those beliefs and thoughts, and I’ll do my best to present multiple sides. The idea behind this series is to make theology accessible to everyone, and I’m very confident that can be done.
Are there particular questions or topics you would like to see discussed?
Saturday I partook in my first ever online Sabbath. I went offline. For a whole day.
It is much harder than it seems. For me at least, one of the first things I do in the morning is check my e-mail. When I have 1o or 15 minute breaks my default is to go online and do some Twittering. The last thing I do at night is check sportsillustrated.com for scores and big news – I cant even wait to see it in the paper.
I almost didn’t know what to do with myself on Saturday. I woke and just kind of froze. I went and got some coffee, I read for a while, cleaned my room, did some of my RA obligations. I was incredibly productive. It was so freeing.
It’s almost like the online world has me on a leash, and I need to go back to it every so often to check in. This is part of the downfall of living in an instant culture. We want everything immediately. The most popular person is often the one who has “inside knowledge” about something, or is up on the latest trend.
What if the most popular person was the one who loved and served the most? Weird concept, huh?
I do not want to be on a leash. I’m going to try out this internet sabbath thing for a while.
Maybe you should too.
Think about it.
P.S. I got the idea from Anne Jackson, who has a great post about boundaries and technology.
Notes from Immersion last night. Justin spoke a little bit about silence and then we did some Lectio Divina on Psalm 91.
- “God speaks in the silence.”
- 1 Kings 19 – God appeared to Elijah in a gentle whisper, not in the fire or earthquakes. Translation: God is not always the loudest voice around us. We have to pay attention.
- “We always say ‘I’m so busy!’ Guess what? Everyone is!“
- Two options: 1) You’re not actually busy, and just spending four hours a night watching your favorite TV show, 2) You actually are too busy, and you don’t think you need a break.
- “Our bodies are meant to rest.”
- “Busyness has become a badge of honor. We actually put value in it.” // KILLER line. That is SO true, especially on a college campus. People who win student awards and such are usually just those who are in the most activities. No offense to anyone who has won, I’m just sayin.
- “Jesus was not the energizer bunny and neither are you.” – He took quite a bit of time to rest and retreat. Even God rested after creation and made it holy in Genesis 2.
Biggest takeaway for me? We put value in being busy. I want to create more intentional times of rest. Remember, Jesus says loving God is the most important thing we can do. It is possible to serve too much and not take care of yourself and your body, and it can actually detract from your relationship with God.
What about for you?
Think about it.
P.S. I’ll have a post coming soon on my thoughts from our divine reading of Psalm 91.
