Sponges Rather Than Funnels
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does he prospers.
Psalm 1:3
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I served as a youth director and rather consistently I experienced tension between my personal time with the Lord and studying the Word to teach it. I italicize tension intentionally. I was often told, whether by pastors I knew, conferences I attended, or books I read, that I should make sure these two were separated. For ministry leaders there can be a temptation, often due to a sense of busyness, to forsake personal time in the Word and instead use their time with the Lord as an opportunity to study for whatever they’ll teach next. The encouragement to maintain a quiet time that was separate from teaching preparation was for good reason. When I fell into the temptation to use my time in the Word as a study session, I would eventually realize I was distant from the Lord and dry in my walk.
During these times in my life I was studying in order to faithfully teach and lead others, which certainly I wanted to take seriously (James 3:1). However, by only using my time in the Word as teaching prep, my spiritual walk suffered. I am not alone in this struggle. I see this often in the lives of ministry leaders who teach regularly or in seminary students who are diligently studying as they prepare for ministry. Much like it did for me, the Bible can become another textbook on their desks rather than the living and active Word of God that it is meant to be central to our lives (Hebrews 4:12). Here lies the tension I mentioned above. The counsel I was given repeatedly was to make sure that I kept my personal time in the Word separate, while also diligently maintaining good study habits for teaching. However, although I believe balancing these two disciplines is a worthwhile pursuit, I want to put forward another possible discipline that might be more in line with what the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
Over the years I have sought to see the Bible as the wonderful, life-giving Word of God it is rather than a lifeless textbook. But to do that I have had to change the way I view myself in the moment of studying. I seek to see myself more as a sponge than a funnel. Funnels are a means of taking a large amount of something and passing it into another container. There might remain a bit of residue on the inside of the funnel but not very much. In other words, to see yourself as a funnel means you primarily see yourself as a teacher; as someone who passes on information. This is not a bad thing. We need more exceptional teachers passing on biblical knowledge. However, the breakdown can happen when the teacher doesn’t retain much of the information once he moves on to the next lesson or sermon. Of course this isn’t true for every teacher/preacher, but I have experienced this personally and I have heard this struggle from other ministry leaders. In contrast, a sponge absorbs until it cannot retain any more and then passes on what it contains. In other words, to see yourself as a sponge means you primarily see yourself as a worshiper studying to teach. You’re someone who relishes what he is studying and from there passes along what he has learned. It’s a bit like memorizing rather than meditating. I couldn’t tell you how many previous seminary students I have spoken with who haven’t retained what they learned in Greek or Hebrew only a year or so after graduating. When I was a student I would be required to memorize information for a test and once that test was over I quickly forgot what I had “memorized.” I may have stored information in some short-term vault for quick access, but I had not truly memorized anything and that was proven when I couldn’t tell you that information again within a week. Now, actual memorization is a good thing. I have memorized passages of Scripture, phone numbers, people’s birth dates, my social security number, and a whole host of other information that I have actually put into long-term memory and will likely remember until I die or my brain begins to fail (though I think this process has already started). A big difference in why I have locked away some information more than other information is its importance to me. I am more likely to retain information that I care about. So if I consider myself as a funnel then my primary goal is to pass along information rather than retain it. However, when I consider myself as a sponge I soak in what I have been studying since Scripture is far more precious for me to understand and retain than other information like birthdays or phone numbers.
How then do we function more like a sponge than a funnel when we are studying God’s Word? Although this answer may seem frustrating, it likely will require you to slow down and take more time in your study. Pastors and seminary students may struggle with this one because the next thing is always coming. Sundays are 7 days apart and there needs to be a whole new sermon prepared. This in part is why I believe expositional preaching is so important. Expositional preach affords you the opportunity to take your time to study and work your way through a biblical text. You might have a sermon with three points one week and one point the next because in studying your soul was gripped by the wonder of a truth in that text. Let that wonder overflow into your preaching as a sponge no longer able to contain substance. Let your wonder come out in your sermon. Give yourself permission to relish the text rather than move too quickly to identify two other points for the sermon. Worship as you study. Seminary students can feel similar pressure. Each week, or even multiple times each week, there is a test you need to prepare for. Students can’t choose to only answer some questions because their souls were gripped by a wonderful truth and they decided not to study the whole passage.. However, my encouragement to seminary students is still to slow down and worship as you study. Slowing down for a student may need to look like taking less classes and prolonging their time in seminary, or it might mean lowering their GPA expectations. Rather than finishing in three and a half years with a 4.0 GPA you may finish after five or six years with a 3.0 GPA, but Lord willing your soul will be overflowing with wonder because you soaked in what you studied in the Scriptures.
What might functioning as a sponge rather than a funnel mean for our personal lives? Let’s look back to Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” I argue that the Scriptures don’t teach us to memorize anything. Rather, we are taught to internalize the Bible, mostly through meditating on the Word. “To store up your word” includes memorization, but the Psalm says more than that by stating “I have stored up your word in my heart.” The internalization and application of Scripture to your heart is where spiritual health grows. Psalm 1 paints the picture of a healthy fruit tree planted by streams of water with vibrant, lush fruit and leaves that never wither. The tree is a metaphor for a blessed believer whose delight is in the Word of God (streams of water). He meditates on the Word day and night (he’s planted) and all that he does bears fruit (prospers). The Psalmist is saying from the rising of your head until you lay it back down, meditate (ponder) on God’s instruction, and the result will be fruitful, productive living rather than sinning against God.
In your pursuit to balance your personal internalizing of the Word with persistent study for teaching/learning, may you be a sponge, letting the Word dwell in you richly (Col 3:16) as you absorb it rather than simply letting it pass on through.
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