Try Tackling a Terabyte Problem With a 90 Kilobyte Floppy

My wife's just a little out of date. Ooh. Taken out of context that could get me in a lot of trouble. Context?

Back when we were first married she worked at a retail home computer store. She was trained in both sales and as a service tech. That's right, my wife was a member of the Nerd Herd of its day. She knew her way around the inside of a box with a screw driver.

Most of her service advice began like, "Insert the floppy disc in drive A..." Remember floppys? A whopping 90 KB of storage! It was a big deal when the first 1 meg. floppy came out. The first computer we bought together had a massive 40-meg hard drive. Wow.

Did I mention that was 26 years ago? Her training has lagged a little behind the curve. In fact, that ship sailed a long time ago. We're past KBs, megs, gigs, and we're on to terabytes now. Trust me, you can't solve a terabyte problem with kilobyte skills.

Our walk with Jesus is a lot like this. When we first come to know Jesus he's good enough to us to only reveal the easy things that need to change. These are the lifestyle and attitude issues that can be solved with KB tools. Things like not using the "s" word when I'm mad. Or, not telling off-color and racist jokes.

The longer we walk with Jesus the deeper he gets into our lives. We move into MB issues like communicating and being romantic with my wife. It takes some of us while to realize a clean t-shirt, socks and a 6-pack won't get our wives in the mood like it works for us. (It might take a nice Merlot or Pinot.)

Over time we move into GB issues. God's greater purpose for our lives is much more than our own private walk. Jesus really did place me here, right now, among these people to allow his love and leadership to flow through me to bring them along in my journey with me. Tracts and canned curricula are good to a point. But there's sometimes a chasm between the point of the bible study and the position of the guys in the study. It requires a big ole' Jesus tool to span that gap so that lesson meets that guy where he really is. And Jesus gave me that tool to use.

Then, there are the TB issues. How do you know who's got TB tools? Husband of one wife. Kids who are Jesus-followers and are reasonably obedient. Not greedy. Not picking fights all the time. Sensible. Self-controlled.

TB issues involved leading large groups of people. If it were easy, any old KB person could do it. But Paul was clear with Timothy about not appointing a new believer to the post of elder. Elders still have to deal with individuals and connect lessons with lives. But, they also have to deal with groups (mobs sometimes) trends and culture. Elders need to know the past, have a great understanding of the present and be able to see into the future.

Anyone naive enough to believe that we've hit the ceiling with terabytes? Anyone naive enough to believe that once you've taken the role of an elder you're done needing to grow? This is where the hard work is required grow. As a new beliver we think growth is so hard. It's only hard because it's new. TB growth requires that you have developed the skill of hearing the voice of God in your life that goes beyond just the black and white on the page.

I would suggest not calling my wife if you have a computer problem. Likewise, I would suggest not calling any man to TB position if they're only competent with KBs.