The Timid Internist (and other thoughts)

A couple of thoughts are lingering with me after having visited home this past weekend.

On Sunday morning I sat down with the college-age class for a few minutes. The Milliganders have gone home for the season, I was getting the chance to sit down with our home grown talent. Heather Hoover put me on the spot (in a good way) by asking me if I wanted to talk about the things I'm learning this year. To my surprise I really did want to talk about it, even though I was pulling my report from that hazy, half-formed part, place that I've been storing the accumulated thoughts and impressions from this year. So here are some blog thoughts:

1. The world continues to change. This is nothing new, of course. If you're around any academic setting for long (Christian or otherwise) you will quickly tire of the term "Post-Modern." While some view Post-Modernism as a new system of thinking, I subscribe to the "there is nothing new under the sun" theory. It has been around for a long time, though with different emphases. Basically, people are moving beyond a belief that science and the senses are the most reliable sources of knowledge. This opens up all sorts of possibilities for belief in almost anything.
   
2. Engaging Post-Moderns will require that we take risks because there is no one way to approach so many different beliefs. We can be sure we won't always be "doing it right." We will make mistakes. If the church (including Grandview) waits to get out into this new world and share Christ until we are certain we have all of our words and methods correct, then we will never speak a word to anyone. I think Jesus said something about burying gifts in order to protect them. If we really believe in the grace of God, then we need to do all that we can to invite others into the kingdom of God. If we don't get everything right, we have to rely on God'sl have grace--which we proclaim. If we are silent, our silence and inactivity offends God more than our mistakes. It is encumbant upon us to take educated stabs at doing the right thing.
3. When we were discussing these things in the college class, Randy Hoover mentioned how important it is for a doctor to take risks. He described a brilliant intern who knows everything a doctor needs to know, except how to take the risk. I suspect there is no such thing as certainty for doctors. Every diagnosis and prescription carries a level of guess and a level of risk.
4. And so we have to ask ourselves what we're willing to risk in order to invite others into the Kingdom of God, to invite others into the sphere of God's activity on earth. Will we risk being embarrassed? Will we risk investing our time and energy into the lives of others, fostering authentic relationships with people who are lonely? I can talk this way all day and the talk will sound good...and yet, when we actually spend the time with real people we find that it can be a difficult task. Lonely people are often people who struggle with painful issues. Are we willing to risk being there, with others, in the pain of their addictions, grief, and rejection? Because that's where Christ finds us, lives with us, dies with us, and leads us into resurrection.