No Substitue for Experience

I was talking with a friend over lunch today who serves in ministry here in Austin. I was inspired by something he's doing --- on his day off he's substitute teaching at the high school where most of his students attend. We were talking about how most of the spiritual formation process in church today happens at the head level and rarely does it make it down to our hearts. The experience of faith has been overshadowed by the knowledge of faith. It reminded me of a couple things I'd read earlier this week:


"Jesus facilitated spiritual formation in his disciples by introducing them to life situations and then helping them debrief their experiences."
Reggie McNeal --- This Present Future


"...we have several challenges to meet. First, we must re-train our vision so that we can recognize the reign of God. This means sitting at the feet of the one who first recognized and announced the nearness of the kingdom. This means we should know Jesus better than we know Paul. I trust Paul wouldn't have it any other way."
Katie Hayes --- Evangelism as Companionship (The Gospel in Culture 14: 3/4)


I am struck that when it comes to Paul's words, most of what we talk about and dwell on falls somewhere in the doctrinal arena. However, we quickly, or at least I quickly gloss over Paul's goal in all his writings: pointing to Christ! Paul's focus in all that he says, all that he is about, everything he does, it's all designed to point back to Christ. So, why don't I spend more time looking where Paul pointed?

I guess the reality is it's easier to learn something than to live something. When you look at Christ, what you see is faith lived out. Jesus never just leaves it at the head level, he always pushes to the heart, he moves you to experience, just like his disciples. To understand Paul we have to understand Jesus, we must know him not just in our mind, but in the experience of our lives.