Search for Something

Not seeing the picture is frustrating.

Magic Eye pictures were all the rage in the 90s. The stereoscopic images would become 3D if you could just unfocus your eyes enough. I remember staring at them for hours. Sometimes I couldn’t get a picture to resolve, it would slither and slide tantalizingly just out of focus. But if someone told me what I was supposed to see, it would usually become clear. Just knowing what I was looking for made a difference in my ability to find it.

When you search, search for something. Of course it’s important to realize that there are a range of answers available to every question. Just as it’s important to admit that you might be wrong when searching for answers. But if you don’t even know what you’re looking for, the search will take much longer.

Define the win. Determine what will be true when you’re done searching for the answers that you want. When you ask questions that have tormented philosophers, theologians and scholars for millennia, you aren’t going to find an easy answer. What answer will satisfy you? How will you know when you’ve reached a conclusion?

Limit the parameters. If you go out searching for the meaning of life, you’ll never stop and you’ll never be satisfied. The disciple cycle must move from questioning to searching to discovery and then change. If your questions don’t lead you to live your life differently, you might as well become a philosophy professor. Pare it down to something manageable. Don’t try to find the meaning of life, try to find what you should do with your life today. Don’t try to understand the nature of God all at once, tackle one aspect of God at a time.

Create a process. The searching process might be different for you than it is for me. I like to read everything I can get my hands on and then let my brain sort through it all. I thrive in situations where disagreement brings out the salient points. Think about the ways that you learn best, if you do well with discussion, join a book club on the topic. If you work well by yourself, journal about your search. If you need direction, consider auditing a class on the topic. Create a process that lets you search and learn in the ways that work best for you.

Know what you’re searching for and how you’re going to find it before you begin. Otherwise you might not see the sailboat in the magic eye picture.

Hint, it's not a sailboat or a schooner.

You Find What You Seek

Search for a confirmation of what you already believe and, most likely, you’ll find it. Look for the reasons to keep doing what you’re doing and they will appear. Seek all the ways that your opponents are wrong and you’ll easily locate them.

Or, go after contradictions to what you already believe and you’ll find people who disagree with you. Suss out all the reasons why you should stop your actions and you’ll find them. Hunt for all the ways that your opponents are right and you’ll see a new perspective.

Searching for answers to questions ceased being about locating the correct facts about the time that Google indexed all the knowledge in the known universe (this may be a slight exaggeration). As the sage and philosopher, Homer Simpson said, “Pshhh, facts schmacts. You can prove anything that’s even remotely true with facts.”

Instead of looking for facts, figures and proof-texts that answer our questions, searching gives us the chance to weigh thoughts and opinions. We dig in to disparate viewpoints to see which one holds the most validity. This is a dangerous place, though, when the black-and-white world is cast off, the colors can be blinding.

It’s tempting to remain in a binary world. The answers are either ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ right or wrong, good or bad. Instead, searching leads us to an analog world with a range of answers that merge together. The binary system provides a framework for the immature. For children it’s appropriate that they should see the world in stark terms. Their young minds haven’t developed to the point of isolating subtle differences. Children are taught to not lie – binary. Adults use tact avoid giving offense – analog.

The same principle applies to matters of faith. Those new to the faith need firm boundaries within which they can explore and learn. However, maturity brings a multitude of shades and variations that need to be addressed.

Binary

·         The bible is the word of God.

·         The preacher teaches us about God.

·         Creation is good.

·         The church is God’s people on earth.

·         Good people go to heaven; bad people go to hell.

Analog

·         The bible was inspired by God, written by humans and copied by other humans.

·         Each preacher’s words should be compared to God’s word and examined for truth.

·         God created humans with the ability to do evil, creation was cursed and the world is suffering from disease, destruction and pain. God hasn’t fixed it yet.

·         Churches can be good or bad, church members can represent God or demonstrate hypocrisy. God hasn’t fixed it yet.

·         God redeems those who choose him and shapes them into heaven-citizens; he respects the wishes of those who don’t choose him and allows them to be apart from him for eternity.

Note: I’m not trying to start an argument about specific doctrines, these are just examples to illustrate the point.

How do you move from binary to analog? In what ways are you, or people around you, stuck in binary thinking?