I love infomercials.
These days, I hardly watch any TV. But back in the day I would get sucked in on Saturday mornings by these costly, hour-long commercials that promised to solve all your problems for just four easy payments of $19.95.
My favorite was by far the Magic Bullet. Oh my gosh, that little upside-down blender thingy could make sauces, dips, drinks, omelets, ANYTHING, it seemed, with just one, two, three pulses! It was captivating.
(And I do feel justified in liking this one because I’ve had friends who have actually gotten them and they actually ARE as awesome as they seem. The Slap Chop, however, not so much.)
Of course the weight loss ones are impossible to click away from as well. I actually purchased some Beach Body workout videos, before they got super cool with P90X. (Of course, I got P90X later as well and ended up adapting it to P45X.). I also got the Windsor Pilates videos.
Come on! I wanted to look like that! (I shake my head now at what I looked like in my 20s and can’t BELIEVE I wasn’t satisfied. The ‘problem areas’ I thought I had = hilarious.)
I remember excitedly sharing a recent workout video series purchase with a friend and telling her everything the infomercial said.
“This stuff really works!” I told her, even though they had yet to arrive in the mail.
She rolled her eyes and grinned at me. “Lindsey, they ALL work if you actually DO them.”
Hmph. Smartass.
But I have to say now, and even at the time, she made an excellent point. Watching the infomercial didn’t do anything for my health. Buying the product didn’t change anything either. And as unbelievable and unfair as THIS is, they didn’t even make a difference sitting on a shelf in my house. Isn’t that ridiculous?
I recently read a study that said of all the people who sign up for online webinars, only about half actually ‘show up’ and less than ten percent actually APPLY what they learn.
Sounds about right.
I love to learn. I’m constantly reading: self-help, psychology, Christian living, marriage, parenting, coaching, business, etc. I took an online nutrition class that basically ruined my life (and potentially saved it). I regularly sign up for free webinars, and usually manage to dodge the sales pitch at the end. Usually.
But what good is all this knowledge, if I don’t DO anything with it, if I don’t USE it in my life?
Isn’t that what we do?
We spend money and time learning and getting degrees containing information that may or may not make it into the world. (Or even onto the wall, in some cases. Where the heck is my diploma?)
We watch the news to arm ourselves with ammunition for the next argument instead of gathering intelligence to trigger change.
We go to conferences and read books about living a fuller life, get inspired by the possibilities, and then Monday morning shows up like midnight after Cinderella’s ball, and all the magic is gone.
And we start to resemble the people of Athens in Acts 17, who ‘spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas’ (v. 21).
Where are the action verbs? Where is the doing? Where is the forward motion?
The writer of Eeyore, I mean, Ecclesiastes was searching for meaning everywhere. Wealth, pleasures, power. But the first thing he tried was knowledge and wisdom (1:12-18).
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.I said to myself, ‘Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.’ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
James scolds us in Chapter 2:14-17:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:2:
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Meaningless. Dead. Nothing. These are not words I want associated with my life and ministry.
We’ve all heard the quote, ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’
But I might go so far as to say, ‘People don’t care how much you know. They just need to know you care.’
Subtle change of wording. Huge change of meaning.
If I’m really honest with myself and God and you, I would say that all this learning, reading, conferencing, webinaring, Bible studying may very well be a beautifully disguised stalling tactic.
I shudder to think about the discrepancy between the hours I spend learning versus the hours I spend serving.
Now, do I think God is against Bible studies and conferences and learning and growing? Of course not! Yes, study. Yes, go to conferences. Yes, learn, grow, improve. But not at the expense of action.
In my case, the learning and knowing is leaving no time for DOING. And I fear that one of these days, God is going to do that thing where He corners me and communicates so clearly that I can’t pretend I didn’t hear Him:
You know what? You’re grounded. No more conferences. No more books, except the Bible. No more sitting around and talking about and listening to ideas. You know enough. I’ll repeat that: You know enough. There are people out there who know a lot less than you do who are doing a lot more to bring My kingdom. Go DO something.
Put down that book and call someone who is lonely. Better yet, go visit them. Show up. Unannounced. With food.
Go buy a bunch of supplies for a shelter for women coming out of sex trafficking. (Yes, that means you have to go shopping.)
Go strike up a conversation with that homeless guy who hangs out under the overpass on Summerlin. He’s always reading something, so you have that in common. If you must read, why don’t you go sit next to him and read together so he’s not alone?
For heaven’s sake, for MY sake, just GO. You know enough, My child. More than enough to make a difference. Your knowledge can’t compete with the ministry power of your hands and feet. Knowing must be balanced with doing.
Action is so much harder. It’s inconvenient. I’d have to, you know, move and stuff. If I’m studying and learning, I can sit on the couch in my house in the air conditioning with a Diet Coke, my laptop and a book.
I learned about a new book a couple days ago and was describing it to Brad.
“Isn’t that so interesting? I’ve never heard that theory before. Do you think I should get it?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied sarcastically. “By all means, PLEASE buy another book. We’re running low around here.”
I didn’t feel like walking around my house and counting all the books I own. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to calculate all the articles and blogs I read online every day. It would take too long to figure out all the conferences and retreats I’ve gone to in my adult life.
But I did work up the nerve to go count all my Bible study workbooks, as they’re all stacked in one place.
Anybody want to take a guess? 10? 15? 20?
Nope. 40. There are 40 Bible study workbooks in a pile next to an overstuffed bookshelf in our upstairs sitting room. Several of them are repeats. I have more Bible study workbooks than years of life on this planet.
I haven’t been on 40 mission trips. I bet I don’t even spend 40 hours A YEAR serving.
A shelved faith doesn’t ‘work’ any better than a shelved workout video. If I want to see results, I have to DO something with it.
And this is an easy place to get stuck. Okay, okay, I’m convicted. I need to DO more things to bring the kingdom, not just learn about it. Got it. So now what? Then we can spend YEARS waiting for God to clearly point us in some direction.
I’ve found (when I’ve actually DONE the thing) that it’s much easier to course correct once you’ve begun forward motion and momentum than abrupt starting and stopping.
Serving should be an ongoing lifelong activity, just like reading. I should always be in the middle of some service project just like I’m always in the middle of a book. And once it is completed, I should pick up the next one.
People don’t care how much I know. They just need to know I care.
And I care only because He cared first.