The Freedom of (Un)Learning

Tracy Lawrence said it best when he said, "The only thing that stays the same is everything changes."

Because my wife is a 2nd grade teacher, I get to hear all about how much the education system has changed since I was in school. I've looked over her shoulder a few times as she graded papers and nothing has made me feel quite as dumb as looking at a 2nd grader's math homework. What kinda stuff are they teaching these days?? I'm sure all of you parents know the struggle trying to help your kid out with their homework. A math problem that used to be solved in a few steps now takes up a whole page to "draw" out.

Blakely has tried so many times to explain to me how she teaches her kids this new-age math, but I just don't get it. The way I learned to do long division and multiplication (the right way, I might add) is so deeply ingrained in me that it would take lots of "unlearning" of the old way in order to learn this new way of doing math.

This example may seem insignificant, but I've had this concept of unlearning that keeps coming back to me.

Whether we believe it to be true or not, we keep a firm grip on the things we know and allow them to basically form our identity. Our knowledge about different things contributes to who we are and how we live our lives.

What you know about your parents and the things you learn from them help form the husband/wife or parent that you are today.

The things you know about money and finances may contribute to the frugal or free spending lifestyle that you might live.

The ways in which we let "what we know" inform our identity and daily practices can be either freeing or enslaving.

I read this book a couple of years ago called The Ultimate Exodus by Danielle Strickland, and she spoke to this point at length. The theme of the book was centered around the Exodus narrative. Just a quick 30,000 ft view as a refresher:

-The Israelites (God's chosen people) were enslaved to Egypt for centuries

-God raised up Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and in turn, out of slavery and bondage -God revealed himself to Moses and established a covenant with him as well as the Israelites (10 commandments)

-God established a way for people to meet with Him through the tabernacle, priests, offerings and sacrifices...

-The Israelites, despite God delivering them from slavery and providing for them, reverted to their old ways and begin to worship other gods

-Moses interceded for them, and God made a new copy of the covenant and continued to provide a way for people to encounter Him through numerous laws and offering sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. All foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus once for all time to give us access to the Father.

Her main point in the book was this: the Israelites could not fully adopt their full identity as God's chosen, set apart people because of their failure to leave behind what they knew about themselves as slaves.

They could not experience the true freedom God wanted for them because of their unwillingness to unlearn their old way of thinking, their old behaviors, and their old way of living.

Lately, I've had conversations with others about how this applies to the way we approach God in worship as we gather in our services each week. Our past experiences greatly inform us on what we think worship should look like. Maybe you learned that the right way is dressing in your "Sunday best", standing in reverence as others led a hymn or song, being sure to remain reserved. On the other end of the spectrum, maybe your idea of worship is loud, charismatic, wild and untamed. This isn't an argument about whose form of worship is more "right", but instead an example of two very different styles of worship that give insight to how you were raised and the type of church you attended.

Here's the point....what if we are missing out on the freedom God intends for us to experience in worship because of ideals that we aren't willing to let go of? What if our approach in worship was less formed by our past experiences, our preferences, our agenda but rather our knowledge about and our response to who God is? The God who is with us in our suffering, who is actively working things together for our good and His glory (even if we don't see it). The Almighty God who created the universe that listens to our prayers and speaks to us. The God who, rich in mercy, took our shame and sin upon himself and died the death we deserved and now offers us forgiveness of those sins past, present and future. The God who adopts us as children into His Kingdom through our faith in Jesus Christ.

What if every week when we gathered for worship the offering of ourselves (Romans 12:1) and the sacrifice of our praise was an acknowledgement of his greatness, his power, his love and forgiveness? Submitting and surrendering what we think we know about worship to the all-knowing God who makes it perfect through Jesus.

What if our motive for singing wasn't based on our opinions of others, or our outward expression of hands lifted wasn't constrained by fear or pride but instead was out of joy, thanksgiving, and desperation for the hand of our Father?

I say this because these are things I had to (and still have to) unlearn myself, and maybe many of you can relate. As I strive to live into my true identity as a worshiper of God above all things, these are some of the "what ifs" that I'm consistently challenged with. But praise the Lord that He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us, transform us and remind us of the freedom we have to worship because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17).