The Box
So there’s this box somewhere floating around in our minds or in our culture or something. I’m not sure exactly where it is because I’ve never seen it. I’m not even sure whether it’s like a cardboard box or more like a steel shipping container. But whatever it is, it’s apparently pretty bad to be inside it, so they say.
“You’ve got to think outside the box.” Hmm. Why? Here’s what I keep thinking – isn’t the box there for a reason? Aren’t boxes meant to keep things inside? I think I understand the point of the saying – people are trying to say that you ought to think creatively, unconventionally, find new solutions, new perspectives. That’s cool. But don’t forget the box. If there were no box then there would be no outside the box, right? I think what people ought to say is, “redefine the box.” If you haven’t found the solution inside the box, then your box is too small. Get a bigger box. Get a deluxe box. Maybe a different shaped box. But you definitely don’t want to be box-less. They have institutions for people who really think outside the box.
And I’m sure all my Christian brothers and sisters have heard this one before, “Don’t put God in a box.” Excellent point. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t put God anywhere, regardless of whether of not there’s a box involved. But I think too often some Christians are so determined to not put God in their box, that they don’t let Him in the box at all. Like my wife recently said, they end up "pushing God towards the supernatural or totally crazy." I used to think like that. God had to patiently teach me to let Him back inside the box, where He chooses to move in very natural and very rational ways. I think we ought to just say, “Don’t put a lid on God’s box.” Okay, that does sound a little silly now that I type it in black-and-white, but you know what I’m saying.
Don’t get me wrong. You gotta think big, think new. I’m just saying that I think the inside of the box gets a bad rap. What do you think about boxes?
posted by BenandJess @ 09:30
1 comments
1 Comments:
Interesting points, Ben. I've never thought about it that way. When people say, "Think outside of the box" I think mostly, they mean "Don't be afraid to examine and explore wild, unconventional thinking." This method is widely praised in various vocations as an energizing quality. Steven Sample, the President of USC and one of the smartest guys you'll ever meet, wrote a book called "The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership" where that kind of thinking is listed as the reason why institutions and people succeed.
But his point, and I think my point, is that these exercises in contrarian thinking are best used for doing things that are worth doing.
My buddy forwarded me this article about a guy who started the first independent hospital that exclusively serves the working poor. He was tired of folks not getting good health care.
That's thinking outside the box.
Or when a church or someone is like, "Okay, how can we tell guys about porn and how it's destructive." So they started XXXChurch. You can hear their story here.
Gotta praise that.
But there are other blown up boxes that needed to remain taped and structured. Like when a comedian, for example, tries to be as vulgar as possible to gain notoriety, that too is thinking outside the box. But it's not worth doing, so it's a waste of time. That's what I'd say. Maybe outside the box thinking only is useful when it's morally neutral items, or morally positive items.
In many ways, Jesus was outside the box. Challenging people's political and cultural understandings of who God was and what He was about. But then I argue with myself. Really, it wasn't that God had a new box, Jesus was just reminding people of what God had already told the world about himself. "Oh, but Dave" I remind myself, "Jesus changed everything when it came to how we relate to God, when that Temple Veil ripped."
I often wonder what boxes I have in my relationship with God. And I also wonder what areas of my relationship with God need more boxes.
I guess the only safe way to get rid of, or add, more boxes is to have God help. Otherwise, you're being pretty frighteningly arbitrary. And if you want to tell the world that there's a box, then you better be darn sure God agrees. Especially if it's about Him.
One thing's for sure: God definately loves Will Smith music.
Wrap that box up and tie it up. Ain't no changin' that.
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