Irreducible Complexity

With one more week to go in our series, Being Useful, we are starting to get a lot more clarity on what the picture of a life that is useful to Jesus looks like. And what does it look like? Love. This week and next we are going to wrap up this powerful series by talking about the role love plays in the church and in the life of a follower of Jesus. Don’t miss a single part of it.

Irreducible Complexity

Some of the fiercest and most significant debates happen in places where nobody sees them.  These are often inner-disciplinary debates among scholars on a single topic.  And the stakes for these are a lot higher than it would seem.  For instance, a debate among mathematicians about the best way to solve certain kinds of math problems may look from the outside like a bunch of geeks arguing about esoteric philosophies that have nothing to do with the daily lives of normal people.  But, the winning side may very well have their ideas appear in textbooks—do they even use textbooks anymore?—and curricula for elementary students and, all of a sudden, a whole new way of thinking about math will be planted in the culture.  All of a sudden, what was once abstract academic jargon begins to have a profound impact on the lives of regular people who are far removed from the ivy-covered campus buildings of elite universities.  Hello: Have you tried helping your kids with their math homework lately?  Case in point. 

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 24:24

“The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver.”  (CSB – Read the chapter)‬‬

Sometimes a verse of Scripture means something obvious in its context, but at the same time points forward toward a broader, deeper truth that is foundational to a life of successfully following after Jesus. This is one of those verses. 

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Morning Musings: 1 Chronicles 19:3

“But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, ‘Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he his honoring your father?  Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

According to the wisdom of the world, the best way for a new leader to establish himself in his position and among his peers is with displays of power and strength.  Hanun was convinced by his counselors that in order to show the world that he was a king not to be trifled with, he needed to respond to David’s offer of sympathy after the death of his father by treating the servants sent to bring the message poorly and humiliating them.  The message was: This is what will happen to your whole kingdom if you mess with me.  His counselors apparently didn’t know much about David.   Read the rest…