Speaking the Language

In 1-Corinthians 2:14-3:15, St. Paul again helps us understand how we connect with the Lord and just how important it is in our everyday living. He begins by saying: "Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. 'For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

The light of Christ and the mind of Christ have truly come into the world. Trying to understand the Spirit is much like experiencing a foreign language. If we hear a foreign language spoken and we have not studied it at all, it has no meaning whatsoever to us. If we have studied it in school or have lived around people who have spoken it we can catch on a little.

In order to clearly understand, speak, or write a language different from our own, we must engage in a discipline of studying the mechanics and the spirit of the language. As we become knowledgeable we must practice by speaking with others who can speak and understand the language. And then when we become fluent in the language we can teach others who are trying to learn.

We don't always realize how separated from God we are and what it will take to get our communications reactivated with Him. How many of us are spiritually like the person who has no background in a foreign language at all? How many of us are spiritually mature to the point where we can only get by in a pinch? How many of us are fluent in the language of the mind of Christ?

It is a wakeup call for us when we compare our spiritual growth with learning a foreign language. We see that we have a long way to go and much work ahead of us. We must pray and meditate in the Spirit and on the scriptures on a daily basis in order to come closer to the Lord our God and understand Him.

We must study God's Word and visit those who have spoken or written on the scriptures. As with the person learning a new language, we must come together in a community to learn and receive support for our journey in the Lord. As we are built up spiritually in our Christian communities, we are called to pass on what we have learned about the Lord.

In our natural lives we struggle to give the Lord a bit of our time. We think that we must take care of our worldly chores before we can take time out for the Lord. After all, our jobs are putting bread on our tables and money in our pockets so that we can survive. Where we are fooled is in thinking that we need to take care of natural world issues first. We think that time with God will hinder us in our worldly chores.
                                                                                                                                                  

On the contrary, a deep relationship with God, which requires daily discipline in the Lord, will actually see us through our worldly chores with better successes than any other way. Having the mind of Christ is a prerequisite for everything else.