ya know?

Have you ever heard people say things like: You know better than that. Or, I know, hang on, argh! I know that I know the answer. Or, I just know, don’t ask me how, I just do. Or, I know what you’re thinking. Or, I know, cuz I read it on Wikipedia. Or, I know, cuz it’s in the Bible.

Knowledge is a very mushy subject, as in grey mushy between the ears, but so is perception, and imagining, and dreaming, and insanity. What do we know, and what do we think we know? How does what we don’t know impact what we think we know? Furthermore, how much do we have to know, to say we know? I know how to play a piano—a little—ok a few bars of Mary had a little lamb. Mike Janzen KNOWS piano, but ask him if he knows all there is to know.

Epistemology (the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity) is primarily concerned with propositional knowledge (A statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or opinion). The discussion requires many terms, I want to focus on two of them, justification and foundation. Every idea, notion, thought that we hold as knowable, must lean on or be founded on some truth. Like a child’s wooden building blocks, the top block is only as steady, or reliable as any of the blocks supporting it. Often when asked how we justify a point of view, a belief, we point to something else as backup. That usually works, until someone drills down asking, how do you know that? When this happens we often don’t know, “I just know” is our only answer. We always articulate the foundations of our own knowledge, or we’ve held that point of view for so long that it was evolved to the point of being unchallenged, and therefore most likely true. When we do discover a faulty block, we often defend it, or we justify it by introducing a new supporting truth. If we feel threatened, we often play a trump card, one that can’t be challenged. The ultimate trump card is “The Word of God.” To say that your foundation is the Bible, the inerrant word of God, certainly puts a stop to the drilling. It is a great repellant to critical thinking, but it may inadvertently retard healthy growth.

My conclusion? Most of what I think I know is really just belief. Most of what I know, has been shared with me, through people I’ve been told are reliable. I’ve been told. Some of what I was told to believe, and to treat like knowledge, was founded on “The Word of God.” Then I met other people who told me different things that were based on “The Word of God”. Then I was told they were heretics.

We have all come to appreciate the power and authority of knowledge. How do I know? I just know. It’s a trump card. You think you saw a man in a blue jacket? I know it was red. TRUMP. I know. The truth is we don’t know as much as we think we know, and we have no idea what impact what we don’t know might have on what we think we know. We all need to be a little more humble and just say it like it is, “I believe” and then be brave and open minded enough to say, “tell me what you believe.”

...about community

I've been thinking about belonging, for most of the past decade. We all need it, deeply. The most highly sought after form is belonging by invitation. To be chosen, rocks. To be chosen means we've been seen, recognized, and valued. However, to be first pick, first draft, captain, or valedictorian, has much greater value than to be in the middle of the pack, where your value may be that you are less of a liability than the next pick. Like those players that sports teams pick up, for the sole purpose of padding a future trade deal. In the middle you are just a space holder, and that won't fill your longing to belong.

Most of us don't get picked first, that's just a numerical reality. In fact, most of us don't get picked as much as we strategically position ourselves, even transform or conform, to the values of the community we hope to belong to. In effect, we hide our flaws and present our strengths. We lie. How many of us, when asked at a job interview about our collaborative skills, would say, " Well, actually I'm very creative, and make great use of critical thinking and deconstruction. Some call me recalcitrant, but it's all with a view to developing a better widget." Not likely, so we bend.

What we truly long for, and I believe this is universal, is belonging because we are valued, warts and all. We need to be seen, discovered, and embraced, or even better, engaged. This takes time, but few opportunities to belong are structured to listen carefully to those on the margins. Most communities operate on the basis of compliance, and conformity. You must observe the ways, demonstrate behavioural compliance, and then you can belong, although it will feel more like being passively accepted or even tolerated.

The whole idea of conforming to a norm in order to fit, is all about preserving the idea as defined by the founders. The fear of morphing into something else is the great concern. The problem is that the norm becomes the average, or the median of the interpretation of the original idea. Even when carefully protected by constitution and doctrine, the original is compromised. Normal is the space between a carefully filtered group of uniquely designed individuals. Normal does not exist, except as a way of generally defining a range or spectrum of acceptable expression. Normal is limited.

My conclusion is that churches, and even para-church organizations, are not qualified to call themselves communities–at least not organically. They are by biblical definition, a group of one accord, and that accord is often in the form of a creed, or at least a list of core values. Too often, churches are defined by a tried and (declared) true theological construct that is included in the "conform to these" list. Sadly, some even require that you leave all of your uniqueness at the door, believing there is nothing good within. This sure doesn't meet the need to be seen, discovered, valued and embraced.

If you haven't picked up on what I think community is, let me lay it out for you. Community is everyone with in the sound of your voice, that hears your voice, listens to your words, discovers the real you, and embraces that real you. The "Good News" is when you do that to others. 

^{Matthew 22:37-39}
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’


In my next blog I will wonder about knowledge.