If God learns things--Adam and Eve would eat the fruit of the Tree when given the chance, Abraham would sacrifice his son, Job would soldier on in tough times; but have some questions, drowning the earth isn't the solution to man's penchant for living apart from Himself--did he learn anything through his incarnation as Jesus?
Did he learn about the ferociousness of evil that would claim his life on earth?
Did he, as Dennis Green famously said about the Chicago Bears, surmise as he died: "They are who we thought they were!" ("It is finished.")?
If you aren't sure, I recommend you check out the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
It might change the way you think of what happens when goodness--love--takes on the condition of the despised to help them find wholeness. (The outcome still involves death and hope, but from a different perspective).
So when do you move ahead with the event, project, mission, trip, or dinner even without knowing the outcomes or predetermining what success will be?
Are you willing in love and compassion to take on the stripes of the downcast, the ignored, and unlovely to live out your understanding (and the organization's understanding) of the Gospel?
Or:
Does the Gospel not matter?
Does God know everything and there is nothing else for Him to learn?
What about you?
Those in the care of your leadership: what are you willing to take on so that they may find wholeness?
Would it kill you to find out?
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