First a note. Last week I was at a large manufacturing trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. It was one of those weeks where I put in 18 hour days and had little time to think–or write. So my three blogs all suffered. Getting a good WiFi connection was a further hindrance.
Events this weekend started me thinking about knowledge and experience.
We study things–say the Bible–and put stuff in our heads. Perhaps we align with the dominant Christian theology that won in 325 AD (or CE if you’re a modern historian), where the definition of who is a Christian is one who agrees with a set of statements called a doctrine.
An example. I have some training in sports first aid, first aid, cpr and the Heimlich (used on choking victims). With a long career in coaching and refereeing soccer, I have a lot of experience observing many types of injuries on the soccer pitch and know what to do and what not to do.
Until Friday though, I had never been in a life and death situation where some of my training would have paid off. I arrived home late Thursday night from Germany. I had a dinner engagement on Friday evening. While at dinner, I witnessed a choking incident. Except that it didn’t look like one in the first 30 seconds or so.
Another man came by and thought the same thing for a few seconds, but he had experience and decided that there were enough symptoms based on experience plus knowledge to apply the Heimlich maneuver and save a life.
We are in a constant situation to save our lives. We know about grace. We know in our minds how Jesus and other teachers in the Bible taught us how to live. After all, most of the teaching we find there is about how to live–now.
But, do we have the experience to actually do the right thing?
Life is about being aware of our experience and our knowledge and then making the right decision when faced with a situation so that we remain aligned with God. It takes both experience and knowledge to grow into the life-with-God.
Faith Venture 
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