What Would Jesus Undo?

I am in a group of guys reading through the book by Mark Batterson In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Unlike many of the books I recommend, this is not some weighty philosophical tome that requires a dictionary as a companion. Batterson's conversational style and real life examples make for easy reading, yet still provide the thoughtful challenges I am looking for.

A couple of things have come to light lately that seem to dovetail with what Batterson is saying. One of the most striking things Batterson says is that our biggest problem is not learning something new; it is unlearning things we shouldn't have learned in the first place. He calls upon the example of Jesus teaching the Jews what their two thousand year old covenant with God was really all about. They had been taught many things by rabbis which were at cross purposes with the intentions of God, and they needed reeducation, unlearning. He likens this to defragmenting a corrupt hard drive on a computer and installing new software to process reality properly.

There are areas in my personal life where I find this concept useful. Batterson suggests that we should collect experiences, not possessions. This is a lesson I wish I had unlearned much earlier than I am unlearning it. I learned to live with the idea that if I could afford the payments, I could own the things I wanted. Judging from the polls revealing Baby Boomer indebtedness, I am not alone in this one. Every once in a while I like to pull out the book by A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, and reread the chapter, "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing." Tozer reminds me that it is all too easy for our possessions to become the possessor. I need to learn that.

There are many examples in public life where some unlearning would be healthy. Washington needs to unlearn that they can spend money they don't have. Somewhere along the line the folks in our government have come untethered from the concept of fiscal responsibility. What's worse is that they also seem to continually learn that there are "rights" that are not to be found in any of the country's founding documents. The elephant in the room in every debate over healthcare reform is the assumption that every citizen (and even non-citizens) has the right to medical care. Another unlearning lesson regards unemployment compensation. I wonder if it is really the government's job to pay people not to work for up to two years. Why not three years? Why not for a lifetime?

There are many things in our spiritual lives we need to unlearn too. Christians need to unlearn complacency. We need to unlearn apathy. We need to unlearn that the responsibility stemming from faith begins and ends on Sunday morning. We need to shed the bounded set mentality and embrace a centered set view which better represents the attitude Jesus seemed to have towards reality. Yes, there are boundaries; no I am not advocating wishy-washy, anything goes doctrine. I just think Jesus' approach to the world was far more liberal (dare I apply that word to the Savior) than many evangelicals will admit. A little unlearning would be a good thing for most of us.