You Are What You Read

Oops.

In writing my series on theology over the last year, I've been trying to find what I think are at least moderately original ways to explain important concepts. In some re-reading I've been doing the last few weeks, I've found that those ideas weren't even remotely original — I'd just forgotten that I'd read them. Some things I'd read more than twenty years ago were still rattling around in my head even though I'd lost the attachment of the author's name.

I find this encouraging. I read books I think are important, but once I put them down I have a hard time remembering what I read. Sure, there are ways to improve your retention of the material, but you can't remember everything (unless you're one of those people with a photographic memory who busted up the curves in school). Realizing we can still hold onto things we don't even realize we read makes me feel better about all those books I can no longer summarize off the top of my head. The big ideas may still be in here somewhere.

And so might the bad ideas. The encouragement is also a warning. I know I have read things I disagreed with that, over time, I came to accept. Some of those things I probably thought through and realized my initial objection was wrong. Others may have simply been an emotional response to something new that I overcame. But let's face it, we all get used to things we see and hear over and over. Our culture didn't have a long, reasoned discussion on the merits of same-sex relationships; we got used to it because of what we kept seeing on TV. Bad ideas can rattle around in our heads just as much as good ones, and in the process they can become accepted, like that grumpy guy at work you sorta like now or that ache you've become accustomed to.

So we have to be careful what we allow to take up residence in our minds. What we read, watch, and listen to can affect us more than I think we realize. Especially in our entertainment — if they can make us laugh or roll our eyes at something, they can change how we feel about it. We have to keep in mind the warning hidden in Romans 12:2 that we will be shaped by either the world or the Word.

Let us go forth in the knowledge that we are what we read (and watch and listen to) and make wise choices.


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