The Demise of Illusions
A famous historian once said the most dangerous form of ignorance is the illusion of knowledge. This maxim has become very real to us as we prepare for our campus church project in Berkeley. On our journey, Janet and I have stumbled over three kinds of “knowledge” (so far) that have all proven to be illusion in their own way.
1. The Google Illusion: During the very anxious season when we were considering becoming planters, we comforted ourselves by doing research about the campus and community at Berkeley. Along with millions of others, we turned to Google to discern the answers to life’s questions. What we found was a huge quantity of information about our potential plant site. We learned, for example, that the median adult age is 31, that this adult is likely a single professional, and that Cal is one of the top- ranked universities in the world. Armed with more demographics than the Census Bureau, we headed to the Bay area for our first visit feeling that we understood some things.
2. The Sidewalk Illusion: About ten minutes after we arrived on campus, the statistics that had given us confidence in our own understanding suddenly seemed like pale abstractions. To be honest, we had expected to see a 21st century version of Woodstock reenacted on the campus. What we actually saw were extremely serious students walking by in silence on their way to the next class. Our Google illusions experienced something like a hard drive crash, only to be overwritten by the kind of shallow assumptions that are developed in a first visit. So, maybe the numbers didn’t tell the whole story, but now we had actual field experience, meaning that we had walked around for a few hours, eaten Indian food, and sipped Peet’s Coffee. Certainly experience couldn’t mislead us?
3. The Relationship Illusion: Talking with people about the planting project after a couple of visits was a lot more fun than just reciting the statistics. Now we could tell stories about the “look and feel” of the campus and city, including the homeless guy smashing bottles against a wall and life on the street after dark on homecoming weekend. We also collected sound bites about Berkeley that helped us tell the story of our emerging mission. For example, I will quote William Gibson’s comment that, “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed” to make the point that Cal is one of the recipients of that uneven dispersal. All of that was fine, until I realized that telling stories about coffee houses and repeating clever quotes was not the same as actually knowing anyone in the community.
There is no “Berkeley Barbara,” a perfectly representative 31-year old single professional, or “Berkeley Ben,” a prototypical 20 year old engineering student. Our new community is the home of cultural creatives (some in training and some at work) who highly value the atypical.
While numbers and experiences help, only relationship is going to crush the last of our illusions so we can actually discern what God is already up to our community. Berkeley is not the “site” for a “project,” it is a community that is home to individuals whom God loves more than I ever will.
How have your illusions met their demise?
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fantastic post, Doctor. The real thing just can’t be rushed, can it?
You’re motivating my next post… “shattered illusions.”
My illusions often meet their demise when I’m brave enough to admit they’re only presumptions, meaning I have to find out what’s really out there.
My favorite illusion is that I’ve cleared out all the illusions and gotten to the heart of the matter. Two that freeze me are that I’m safe and that I’m in danger. More: What I say will endanger my reputation, or it doesn’t matter what I say because those who love me know what my intentions are and those who don’t, have already twisted what I mean into a conspiracy of sorts. I qualify and I don’t qualify. Passing the test means something and passing the test doesn’t mean anything. Where I am is where I should be. Where I am is not where I should be. Whatever the measure of success is at the moment. Finishing what I start (mostly applied to reading books. (I have ~30 pages left in O-RD to read.)) I am ahead of the times. I am behind the times. I am mature. I am not mature.
All of these and more are the illusions I dance with daily. As a Sceptic/Cynic/Believer/Knower there is no place to rest here. Am I what I am meant to be? Is there more to what I should be? Am I obligated to continue to remake myself, tirelessly, with the goal of ending up in a long robe, long hair and a long list of things I am clueless about? Peace.
Hmmm…not sure if words can do this justice but it is such a good post that I will try…I was bedazzled by the illusion of ministry…I had “aspired” to become a “minister” of the Gospel of Jesus without really understanding what that really means. Ministry is nothing to aspire to but I had treated it like just another profession. I had observed it from a bird’s-eye viewpoint for many years and the call of God on my life drew me in deeper. And then,....I was asked to “candidate” for the senior pastor job of a dying A/G church. I had been a youth pastor and associate up to this point and had never seen myself as a lead pastor….and once the weight of shepherding people and the responsibility that comes with discipling and nurturing and loving the unlovable ( I mean this lovingly) church people…my illusion as well as delusion was shattered and my eyes were WIDE OPEN!
Doc,
Thanks for challenging my Mind & Heart at Wisconsin Minister’s Winter Renewal. That’s what Jesus did to religious people, of which I am a third generation.
Most provoking idea for me was, “the minister’s job is not only to know the Bible, but the culture that it exists in” (Like the preacher of 100 years ago)
I love this post…although, I’ve been planning to move to Berkeley…I will be 31 and a single professional. So there will be AT LEAST one – Berkeley Barbara