Perhaps church should create a discovery environment, where people make ongoing discoveries about God, themselves, other people, love, joy, and truth. Maybe we should move beyond precise explanations by an expert that take away our desire for discovery.
Church is about discovering God’s way of thinking, seeing, hearing, and living; not about affirming our way. When you lay down your comfort zone, spiritual discovery will flourish. However, defending your comfort zone quenches the Spirit.
Church should fill your heart with the ongoing discovery of amazing love; not just fill your head with religious information. Church is about discovering Christ, Himself, capturing and controlling your attention; not about you passively hearing facts presented about Him.
So what is spiritual discovery? It is becoming aware of God rather than simply learning details about Him — encountering Him, rather than hearing facts about Him.
Spiritual discovery breaks religious patterns, takes new paths, and is continually curious about and puzzled by God. Spiritual discovery is about open eyes rather than a full mind. It is about finding new spiritual realities, rather than rehashing old ones.
Spiritual discovery is a string of ongoing aha moments that produce wonder and awe. It is about opening up to new encounters with God, not just learning about other people’s.
Spiritual discovery is becoming more and more aware of God’s presence, not just learning about theology. Discovery embraces mystery, understanding tries to eliminate it — to explain mystery away.
Recently I felt prompted to pick up a book again that I found difficult to read about a week ago and had decided not to finish. To my surprise, it began to talk about church as a “discovery group,” and said: “It’s about discovering and obeying, not teaching and knowledge.” It also said:
“The process of group discovery of the Bible, group processing, and group accountability to obey God takes more time than teaching and preaching, but it yields remarkable transformation of whole families and communities when it is coupled with obedience.” –From: Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale
Experience discovery group church at The Salvation Army Berry Street in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday mornings at 10:45 am. — 225 Berry St., 37207.
A few quotes to facilitate your discovery . . .
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is the illusion of knowledge.” –Daniel J. Boorstin
“The discovery of truth is prevented by preconceived opinion.” –Arthur Schopenhauer
“Definition is the death of discovery.” –Tom Shadyac
“Intuition is more important to discovery than logic.” –Henri Poincare
