Tabula Rasa...

...is, according to wikipedia, the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception.

it is a fascinating concept in so many ways. today i am fascinated by the origin of the word.

again from wikipedia...the term in latin equates to the english "blank slate" but comes from the roman tabula or wax tablet, used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it to give a tabula rasa.

i guess it was the first etch-a-sketch...

the origin of tabula rasa, or blank slate, is a perfect illustration of my philosophy of ministry.

there are few people here in the mid-western united stated (where i am a campus minister) that have simply not heard of this guy named Jesus. who know nothing about christianity and the church. the more prevalent problem is people who need to be brought back to "tabula rasa".

many people have been formed by thoughts and ideas that have been passed down generationally, either through a biological family or a church family, giving them a skewed understanding of Jesus and christianity.

colossians 2:8 says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

in this culture and society, human tradition has a tendency to win out over the ways of Christ. and so, much of the time, i feel like my role is to help people "heat up the wax" to return to the state of being a blank slate, to tabula rasa. because at that point, Christ can get a hold of them and as i love to say, "can mess them up in the best way imaginable".

i believe, in this world of informational overload, that in many different areas of our lives and at many different times, we will be greatly benefited from allowing ourselves to be brought by God to "tabula rasa" so that He can rewrite our "programming" to what He desires.

may we all allow there to be areas of our hearts that are like wax that God heats up and wipes clean.

colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ,"