Eating crow is probably not on your bucket list of things to do before you die. I get that, but I have to admit that I have recently been fed a fairly substantial plate of “crow” by people who would call themselves good “friends.” Now to be fair, I’ve given them much reason to feed me this delicacy with the utmost of mocking glee! What have I done to deserve this “honor”?

Well for years I have been one of those annoying PC users who would “never switch to a Mac.” Well, I am now the owner of a MacBook Pro and several of my Mac friends have been loathe to let me live it down. My conversion process was slow. I went from being a Mac atheist (I’ll never switch) to a Mac agnostic (I’ll check it out) to a full fledged convert (I will buy a MacBook Pro) to a raving, somewhat annoying Mac evangelist (have I told you lately how much I like my Mac and that you too need a Mac!).

What morsel of spiritual truth could be contained in a techno geek story about the relative merits of Apple computers? Well it parallels our spiritual journey in many ways and the kinds of things we boldly and confidently espouse, sometimes to our own peril. The apostle Paul talks about his own journey and how he too was served up a plate of “crow” so to speak. Reflecting back on his life prior to his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus and the things that he adamantly defended under the guise of theological and spiritual fidelity, he says, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:7-8). Peter had a similar experience when in a vision a sheet is lowered and he is instructed to eat meat which “unclean” according to his Jewish heritage and beliefs. But three times the same message came back to him. Upon waking from his vision Peter is summoned to meet Cornelius, a spiritually seeking gentile to whom God had spoken. This was something which challenged some of Peter’s most deeply held beliefs. God was the God of the Jews, not the Gentiles but Peter ate “crow” and began his own conversion process of seeing the Gentiles as part of God’s plan along with the Jews.

In Bible College and Seminary I was very confident of many things related to my faith and would expound my theological beliefs with passion and conviction. Where Scripture was silent or obscure, I would bring certainty and clarity. I still expound my theological beliefs with passion and conviction – but I’m trying harder to leave the silence and obscurity of Scripture to “speak” for itself rather than shatter the silence with the chatter coming out of my “ignorance.” I eat less “crow” that way. Even a good hot dog is better than that!

Ken.