Omnivores
Jul/092
My family made a trip to Cade's Cove in Tennessee last month. We went in search of black bears, and we weren't disappointed. We saw several bears, including a mother and a very young cub. (That was an amazing sight!)
The first bear we saw was out in a field, lazily gnawing on some grass. Despite what some people believe, this bear wasn't interested in eating us, even though we were quite close to him. He was perfectly content to eat grass, because he is an omnivore.
An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and meat.
Now, before this post gets too "Discovery Channel," I do have a connection to make.
I'm more convinced than ever that we need to be omnivores in our spiritual life. In other words, we need a lot of variety in our spiritual diet.
For example, two of my favorite preachers are Steven Furtick and Charles Stanley. They couldn't be more opposite.
Furtick is young. He often preaches in jeans and t-shirts. His hair color seems to change weekly. And he is known to get very passionate and very loud.
Stanley is much older. I've never seen him preach in anything but a suit. And he has a very soft-spoken, conversational delivery.
I love listening to both these guys. They both challenge and stretch me, although they do it in very different ways.
That's why it's important to be a spiritual omnivore…to add as much variety as possible to your spiritual diet. Different preachers, different authors, different worship leaders, etc. all bring a fresh perspective. When you have a variety of people speaking into your life, it adds a dimension and depth to your spiritual walk that you would never get otherwise.
If you are an ACCer, then listen up…you need more people speaking into your life than me. You need to listen to other pastors. You need to read a variety of authors. You need to do whatever you can to broaden your horizons.
One word of caution…you need to be very careful that the voices you listen to are speaking Scriptural truth. That is the one litmus test you must always have.
But if this person is speaking the truth of God, then it doesn't matter who they are. Their style doesn't matter. Their age, skin color, or denominational affiliation certainly doesn't matter.
We really live in an amazing age. Thanks to the internet, we have a wealth of Scriptural teaching available at our fingertips…for free! We have absolutely no excuse for not expanding our spiritual diet.
Make a conscious effort to listen to a different voice this week. Be an omnivore.
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3:08 pm on July 28th, 2009
Along the same lines, I've been thinkin' about Ephesians 3:10 lately:
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,"
The word "manifold" means 'manifested in a variety of ways'. I believe that the wisdom of God is manifested in as many different ways as there are people through whom it is manifested. From the quiet service of the elderly woman to the listening ear of the dear friend to the loud and boisterous pleadings of the over-zealous preachers on Sunday morning! All are manifestations of our Beautiful Lord.
God is love, and we are made in his image–each one a unique image of love capable of a different capacity of love. And when we begin to unify, the complete–or, manifold–view of God begins to come into view. Thus the importance of the Church to unfiy under the banner of Jesus. Let us celebrate one another's unique capacity to represent the wisdom and love of God.
Great thoughts, Mike.
2:18 pm on July 30th, 2009
Hi Mike! Someone showed me this post, and I really love the concept. I've been looking for a good way to express this concept for some time. You'll probably hear me rip it off very soon. Keep up the great work.