Not Your Typical Church Lady

It's been a wild and wacky life. I've had the opportunity to work at many different places doing many different things. One thing that I've learned is that each job requires specific knowledge pertaining only to that job. The general public, unless they too have worked the same job, does not possess this particular knowledge and has no understanding of what you do or why you do it.

Here are some examples: In the heavy highway construction industry, three layers of asphalt are generally used when paving a new road: the base course, the binding course and the wearing course. Each layer has a specific purpose. The workers know this and assume that the general public does too. The general public sees road crews re-paving the same area three times and assumes that someone messed up. The workers and the general public are both wrong in their assumptions.

In the dairy industry, when the milk truck comes to pick up your milk, they will take a sample of your milk before they load it onto the truck. When they get to the dairy, they test that truck load of milk for antibiotics. If it tests positive, they begin to go through all the samples to determine which unlucky farmer accidentally milked a cow on antibiotics into his bulk tank. If you are the farmer who has added milk from a cow on antibiotics into the tank, you get to pay for the WHOLE TANKER of milk. There is a zero tolerance at dairies for antibiotics. The general public does not know this. They see commercials advertising "antibiotic free" milk and assume that milk in general must be laden with cow drugs. ALL the milk in the store is antibiotic free. You may drink with reckless abandon. Those in the dairy community know this. The general public does not. I cannot begin to describe the devastation that ignorance of the general public has caused to the dairy farmer. Lack of communication is a big factor. Those who yell the loudest usually get the most attention and dairy farmers are not known to be much for yelling.

The thing is, we can't know every single thing there is to know about every single job in the world. At some point we are all part of the "general public." When I take my car to the mechanic, I trust that he is going to find the problem and fix it, because even though I took basic auto-mechanics in 10th grade, I do not know everything there is to know about fixing cars, nor do I want to. When I need financial advice, there are very smart people working at banks who do a super job of helping me to navigate my way through things I know nothing about. They are very patient with me and I trust them. When I need computer or internet advice (I am as ignorant as a person can be in both of these areas) I've got a good friend who specializes in these areas.

In the spiritual world, there exists the same group dynamics. There are those who have a solid spiritual foundation, and, we'll say for lack of better terms, the general public. I am very guilty of assuming that wherever I'm at spiritually, everyone else is too. But that is not the case. Some are way ahead of me, they know and have experienced so much more. Others have not yet started on their walk with God. And so, as a Follower of the Way, I am knowledgeable, and yet, still a part of the general public, for there are many things I have yet to learn. I must remember that not everyone is on the same page when it comes to spiritual solidness.

In Acts we read about Philip. An angel of the Lord had told Philip to head down a certain road. Along that road he saw a chariot. Inside that chariot was an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading from the book of Isaiah. The Spirit told Philip to go stand by this chariot so he did and when he heard the Ethiopian reading Isaiah he asked the man if he understood what he was reading. "How can I," the man replied, "unless someone explains it to me." So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Philip listened and then explained to the Ethiopian about the scriptures in Isaiah and the good news about Jesus. (To read this passage in its entirety, please turn to Acts 8:26-40.)

If you are already a believer and follower of Christ, you are familiar with words and terminology associated with faith and contained in scripture. But there are many who are not. If you are reading this and have questions, don't be afraid to ask someone. Follow your heart to find an authentic and sincere person to ask. Those with authentic and sincere hearts will also be looking for you, much like Philip and the Ethiopian. We must all remember to find ways to reach out across the chasm that separates us so that all can be reconciled to God. Let us close the gap between " Believers" and "the General Public" while remembering that there is always more for all of us to learn.