Primal thoughts

Who knew reading a book could actually be fun...and could actually challenge you to change?

I have been reading the book Primal by Mark Batterson over the last week or so. I know I have posted a few times about how excited I was to get the chance to read this book...so I figured I better post some thoughts to live up to all of my hype.

As christians, we sometimes get caught up looking for the next big and new idea to grow - which is a fantastic exercise as long as it isn't at the expense of our core responsibilities. The older I get, the more I'm starting to cling to the basics, and this book did an amazing job of reminding me about how my walk started. It is amazing how quickly we can lose focus and jump on the latest bandwagon passing by with the latest fad about how to learn, be better at something, or simply improve ourselves without actually doing any work. Problem is, a lot of the time we don't need change, we need to be focused on what we are already doing.

Quick summary for those of you that will tune out with more than a few paragraphs - it's a great book and really challenged me to rethink life and how I'm walking through it. The back to basics reminder and the way it has lead me back to the beginning has been very refreshing. I'm looking forward to where this can take me and I'm sure you will all be a part of that journey (since I tend to blog my thoughts from time to time). If you are interested in picking up a copy (which I would recommend), info is listed below for where and how. Now, for a few more thoughts on this book...

I can't tell you how many times in my life I have thought that I just needed to read another book, or study another concept about spiritual disciplines, how to be a better christian, or whatever. I'm definitely in the camp that says the more you study and read, the better off you are. Problem with that thinking is you can fall into the pit where you never put into practice what you learn. Guess that's why employers want a candidate that not only has the degree, but also has experience - you learn so much more when you put into practice what you learn. For me going through school, the classes with the biggest impact on me were the ones where the teacher was able to teach from experience, and not only a book. I'm sure living my life that way would have a bigger impact on me and those around me if I could really work to understand and put into practice all the stuff I have read. Mark talks about this and how we tend to equate spiritual growth and maturity to knowledge acquisition and education, but head knowledge never has been the true test - we learn more and do less. At the end of the day, it's our actions that define us.

Since my attention span can wander quickly, I tend to lose focus from time to time - and this book really challenged me to rethink some of my strategy walking through life. One of the things Mark talked about was how to read scripture. One of his comments was that the bible isn't meant to be read reactively, it's meant to be prayed proactively. This is a definite paradigm shift in thinking for me - I have always read it to find meaning to what has already happened in my life. Thinking about it the way he proposed is a completely new concept to me. There have been many times when I have thought, "How cool would it be to have that kind of patience (or fill in the blank)?" My new goal is to be direct in my prayer - to specifically pray for what I would like in my life and watch him deliver to his promises.

Mark also talks about not conforming to what we think we should be - but to be ourselves and dare to be different. I think we get in trouble when we try to be some one we aren't - it's so much easier for people to see through us when we are pretending. Funny thing is, who we are is what people love about us. The differences and simple nuances we each possess are what makes life fun, and make each of us interesting - being ourselves is something I think we should all be challenged to do on a regular basis. To not have a work Kevin, and a different Kevin that shows up at home, on weekends, with friends, etc - to just be me all the time in every situation...sounds a lot less confusing and tiring to me.

Finally, this quote was one of my favorites in the book - "Loving is learning more and more about the one you love." How true is this? How many relationships get stale once you think you know everything about the other person? I have been married for 11 years now and I have a lot more to learn about my wife. It's the journey and the curiosity I have to get to know her more and more that keeps me motivated to try to find out new things about her all the time. I'm always amazed when I find something new about her I hadn't figured out before. Lucky for me (and not for her), I'm a guy and it will take me a lifetime to get to know her...and by then I'll forget the stuff I learned now so I can start all over again. This is the same concept in my relationship with God - I could study a lifetime and not even scratch the surface of who he is - but how much fun is it to work to learn more and more each day? Primal did a wonderful job of giving practical tips and ways to start and continue down this path.

If you are interested in this book, you are in luck - it's now on the shelves, or you can order it online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookschristian.com. I definitely recommend this book and would love to chat about this more with any of you interested - you know how much I love sitting at a coffee shop talking. It's almost January...sounds like a great book to start your year off with.

On a side note, you should check out the coffee house NCC runs in DC - pretty amazing place. It's called Ebenezers and all of the profits go directly to missions...crazy.