How Do You Make Scrambled Eggs?
I want to get highbrow for a second . . . but not so much that I confuse myself! We have something important to chat about.
This is Backyard Conversations, our blog environment at One Hundred-Fold Ministries and I am Dave Scherrer, the President and Founder. Our attention here at this ministry is focused on the Gospel of the Kingdom – the greatest gift that, perhaps, you have never even heard of! And I want to ask you today here in the backyard while we are sipping iced tea – “What exactly is a paradigm shift anyway? And maybe a better question is, ”Who cares?”
Here is the deal . . . We all should know, and we all should care!
The talk of paradigms and paradigm shifts has become pretty commonplace. You hear it on podcasts and on the news. Science and business, education and entertainment, culture and climate; all speak of paradigm shifts. We hear it so much that we kind of lose track of what it actually means and what the implications of such a shift (or false shift) may be. And the way people talk about a paradigm shift in a cultural setting usually means that something big is happening, and often, something grave is happening!
Robert Fulford, in a column written for The Globe and Mail, describes paradigm as “a crossover hit: It moved nimbly from science to culture to sports to business.”1
But what, exactly, is a paradigm shift? Or, for that matter, a paradigm?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers the following: A theory or a group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about.
Keeping a big idea simple (sorta!), think of a paradigm shift as “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”
It happens all the time really, these paradigm shifts. I experienced a paradigm conflict not long after I was married. When I was growing up, I learned
to put a bit of milk in when making scrambled eggs. My mother-in-law witnessed this happening, and I was none-to-gently reprimanded
and told that adding milk to scrambled
eggs makes them soggy. I defied her, of course, and made my eggs just as I pleased. She, however, was not! Thankfully, neither of us carried a grudge and we went on to become friends anyway! But what we were experiencing was a battle of paradigms (and if you don’t add too much milk, it doesn’t make the eggs soggy, just saying!).
All of us are impacted by a host of influences; our personal history, our genetics, our current social environment, of course our parents and teachers. Famously in the news, we are seeing that our race or sexuality shapes the way we perceive “Truth.”
Now, here is where I want to settle in for today: How we understand the world or come to understand the truth (like milk or no milk in scrambled eggs) is a huge game changer. Typically we cannot see past our own perspective or paradigm. My way seems so natural and obviously right; at least to me. In a battle of paradigms it is not uncommon for each in the discussion to be saying over and over to the other in the debate, “You’re not listening to me!!”
That is because the paradigm or worldview we hold is like the air we breath or the water we swim in. We hardly notice it most of the time. It just is! And my decisions and opinions are shaped and formed largely without me noticing this subtle but powerful influence.
So here is where I start meddling!
Not all paradigms are in fact based on truth! Some are based on half-truths or even founded on boldfaced lies. For instance:
And watch out! Not all of them are based on the full “Gospel Truth”!
Over the next three blogs, I will be challenging you to look deep into the Scriptures with me. It is in the Scriptures alone (the Latin expression is Sola Scriptura) that we can trust ourselves to find the unvarnished truth about Truth. 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness . . .
I will be inviting you to challenge your assumptions about what it means to follow Jesus and to know what the gospel means. I want to encourage you! We will be unwrapping the largely unexplored and unappreciated Gospel of the Kingdom. As the eyes of your heart are enlightened by the constancy of the Scriptures, you will find refreshed, and even new, purpose, community, and peace!
This is Backyard Conversations and let’s talk! Find me at dave@100foldministries.org
And next Monday check the conclusion of our story of The Vase at Kingdom Offerings, our podcast environment.
See you back here in the backyard soon!
– Dave
——————–
1https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/07/18/486487713/what-is-a-paradigm-shift-anyway
2https://postbarthian.com/2019/07/12/six-paradigm-shifts-in-the-history-of-christianity-feat-hans-kung/
This is Backyard Conversations, our blog environment at One Hundred-Fold Ministries and I am Dave Scherrer, the President and Founder. Our attention here at this ministry is focused on the Gospel of the Kingdom – the greatest gift that, perhaps, you have never even heard of! And I want to ask you today here in the backyard while we are sipping iced tea – “What exactly is a paradigm shift anyway? And maybe a better question is, ”Who cares?”
Here is the deal . . . We all should know, and we all should care!
The talk of paradigms and paradigm shifts has become pretty commonplace. You hear it on podcasts and on the news. Science and business, education and entertainment, culture and climate; all speak of paradigm shifts. We hear it so much that we kind of lose track of what it actually means and what the implications of such a shift (or false shift) may be. And the way people talk about a paradigm shift in a cultural setting usually means that something big is happening, and often, something grave is happening!
Robert Fulford, in a column written for The Globe and Mail, describes paradigm as “a crossover hit: It moved nimbly from science to culture to sports to business.”1
But what, exactly, is a paradigm shift? Or, for that matter, a paradigm?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers the following: A theory or a group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about.
Keeping a big idea simple (sorta!), think of a paradigm shift as “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”
It happens all the time really, these paradigm shifts. I experienced a paradigm conflict not long after I was married. When I was growing up, I learned
to put a bit of milk in when making scrambled eggs. My mother-in-law witnessed this happening, and I was none-to-gently reprimanded
and told that adding milk to scrambled
eggs makes them soggy. I defied her, of course, and made my eggs just as I pleased. She, however, was not! Thankfully, neither of us carried a grudge and we went on to become friends anyway! But what we were experiencing was a battle of paradigms (and if you don’t add too much milk, it doesn’t make the eggs soggy, just saying!).All of us are impacted by a host of influences; our personal history, our genetics, our current social environment, of course our parents and teachers. Famously in the news, we are seeing that our race or sexuality shapes the way we perceive “Truth.”
Now, here is where I want to settle in for today: How we understand the world or come to understand the truth (like milk or no milk in scrambled eggs) is a huge game changer. Typically we cannot see past our own perspective or paradigm. My way seems so natural and obviously right; at least to me. In a battle of paradigms it is not uncommon for each in the discussion to be saying over and over to the other in the debate, “You’re not listening to me!!”
That is because the paradigm or worldview we hold is like the air we breath or the water we swim in. We hardly notice it most of the time. It just is! And my decisions and opinions are shaped and formed largely without me noticing this subtle but powerful influence.
So here is where I start meddling!
Not all paradigms are in fact based on truth! Some are based on half-truths or even founded on boldfaced lies. For instance:
- Even though the ancient Greeks calculated that the earth was round (Pythagoras, 350 BC), up until the 15th century most western Europeans believed and trusted that the world was flat,
- For 10 millennia, humanity has looked at different races than our own – Samaritans, Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Asians, Indigenous populations, etc. with a judgmental spirit and even outright prejudice. This despite the fact that all of humanity are made in the image of God and deserve honor, respect, and love.
- Early Christian apocalyptic paradigm
- Early church Hellenistic paradigm
- Medieval Roman Catholic paradigm
- Reformation Protestant paradigm
- Enlightenment modern paradigm
- Contemporary postmodern paradigm
And watch out! Not all of them are based on the full “Gospel Truth”!
Over the next three blogs, I will be challenging you to look deep into the Scriptures with me. It is in the Scriptures alone (the Latin expression is Sola Scriptura) that we can trust ourselves to find the unvarnished truth about Truth. 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness . . .
I will be inviting you to challenge your assumptions about what it means to follow Jesus and to know what the gospel means. I want to encourage you! We will be unwrapping the largely unexplored and unappreciated Gospel of the Kingdom. As the eyes of your heart are enlightened by the constancy of the Scriptures, you will find refreshed, and even new, purpose, community, and peace!
This is Backyard Conversations and let’s talk! Find me at dave@100foldministries.org
And next Monday check the conclusion of our story of The Vase at Kingdom Offerings, our podcast environment.
See you back here in the backyard soon!
– Dave
——————–
1https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/07/18/486487713/what-is-a-paradigm-shift-anyway
2https://postbarthian.com/2019/07/12/six-paradigm-shifts-in-the-history-of-christianity-feat-hans-kung/