Simple Shortcuts

I enjoy my job. I like working with students, watching them learn and grow, & building solid relationships that carry throughout life. One of the things that humors me is how students assume they will know more than their teacher. I've been teaching the same English, Math, and Social Studies classes for years by now, and every set of students will challenge the correct answer at some time. Some students will challenge the answers all the time, thinking that they in their dozen of years of life have found some secret answer that will unlock the mysteries of Math and make the standard formula of hard work obsolete. But year in and year out, these "awesome shortcuts" are found to lead to wrong answers. "One day," I always say to myself, "One day, they will see that they don't have any secret answers, and that truth doesn't change because you want it to." Yet every class, year after year, tries the same thing.

But aren't we all like that? We look for shortcuts in life, in our relationship with God, and with people. We try to find a 'new' way to understand God, one that people have never seen before. We love the idea that we know something others don't. If you doubt that; go online and you can see hundreds of ads that talk about 'secret' methods or 'super fruit' or one 'simple trick'. In the end they are only there to convince you that you too can have secret knowledge.

When we look at God, we need to realize that He does not change, He is consistent in all He is and does. We try to find 'secret' ways of understanding Him. The Da Vince Code is an example of this attempt at finding secret knowledge, as are any parts of the early churches' Gnostic movement. In the end what we want is the same thing that Adam and Eve wanted- to have what we cannot have- ultimate knowledge.

So what's the point of all this? Well, good question. We as humans try so hard to look for 'better' routes, an 'ultimate' way of doing things, or 'super' foods we forget that we do indeed have the ultimate answer. We are to follow Christ. We get so caught up in our own understanding and concepts we forget that Christ wasn't just a sacrifice; He was our perfect example of life itself. If we really want to have 'one simple trick' then I propose it be this: Follow Christ.

Conclusion

We humans love seeking information. We have thousands of ways of doing it. We will ask all sorts of theologians, teachers, preachers, doctors, or talk show hosts how to do things. And as helpful as some of them can be, we need to remember to go to the source of all knowledge, God Himself. But just as those students do, we think we can outsmart God. My students get me sometimes, but we will never outsmart God.