Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do
also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And
whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
If
you love Me, keep My commandments.
And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
A
little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.
Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My
Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them,
it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I
will love him and manifest Myself to him. (NKJ)
Jesus was the most brilliant man who ever
walked the earth. Although He never took an Intelligence Test there is no doubt
that His ability to think clearly was exceptional. Yet he said it was better
that He should go away. How can that be?
The bell shaped
curve is designed to indicate the statistical point that 50% of all humans are
above the center point or Mean and 50% are below it on many attributes. There
is supposedly a balance of rich and poor, pretty and ugly, motivated and
unmotivated and also when it comes to intelligence. Look around and you will see that Garrison Keiler’s
weekly comment about Lake Woebegone is incorrect. It is statistically impossible that all the
children are above average. According to
the bell shaped curve, exactly 50% are above average and 50% are below average.
Only about 1% of all people are at the highest level of the IQ scale so the
number of certified geniuses among us is quite small.
Unfortunately, in
America a high IQ means one thing: An ability to remember book knowledge or
theoretical knowledge. In the church we sometimes say a person is so “Heavenly
minded they are no earthly good”. I attended graduate school with several
persons who were brilliant in the theories of counseling and working with
people. However, many of them had little if any practical ability to work with
people in need. Theory without experience will always remain in the realm of
doubt. More on this later.
What about Jesus?
Where would he have fit into the world of intellect and the ability to remember
essential information? What would have been his IQ score? Jesus would have
blown the top off of the test and the bell would need to be expanded to include
his abilities, gifts and talents.
People who lead
the churches of Jesus Christ need an average IQ. They need to think clearly and
handle a lot of information. All
pastoral candidates need to be above average in IQ. We must know something
about scripture, church history, the names and history of the congregation and
its people as well as numerous other facts.
Knowledge about delivering good talks is essential as is the ability to
motivate individuals to grow and change.
Perhaps no career has a higher demand for leaders who know how to develop,
motivate and shape groups. This makes a high IQ important. No professional
position I have been in requires as much mental power as the professional
ministry.
Jesus was the
greatest teacher, leader, motivator, change agent, caregiver, healer, and friend.
Yet, He said that it was better if He went away. He
also said that if we believe in Him we would do greater things than He. How can that be?
What a strange
approach to genius. Most brilliant
leaders seem irreplaceable, but not Jesus. Instead of causing others to become
dependent he did everything he could to delegate information, power and
ministry. As the world’s greatest leader
he did not develop dependent followers but other leaders. Just imagine; Leaders
making leaders! What a novel idea.
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