I was walking through a bookstore recently and as I began looking at the titles my eyes fell on a book entitled Surrounded by Idiots. Now I’m not saying this is my experience; in fact, I work with some really smart people, but the title did intrigue me.
Its author, Thomas Erikson, observes that there were people he connected with and others he just didn’t understand. He called them weird and difficult people. And anyone he didn’t understand or who didn’t think or act like him was simply an idiot.
But the book is not about “idiots“. It is about difference and how we understand and deal with people who are different to ourselves.
Erikson came to see that “People are different. Some don’t care. They are always themselves because they’ve never reflected upon how they are perceived. The stronger your self-understanding is, the greater your probability of adapting to the people around you.”
So for Erikson, understanding people, including yourself, is the key. The apostle Paul put it this way: “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too” (Philippians 2:4).
In our churches we have people who come from different backgrounds and who see things just a bit differently. This is part of being in a community. And one resource that helps keep our community together and informed is Adventist Record.
Record seeks to build better understanding across our membership and within your church. The stories you read from week-to-week provide appreciation and awareness for what is happening in the Church in other parts of our Division and around the world. The news and Conversations sections give opportunities to see other perspectives, which you may even disagree with. And people like me write Insight, Editor’s note and message pieces aimed at challenging, educating and informing. Record’s purpose is to nurture faith, belief and community; educate in biblical beliefs and lifestyle; and inform about progress, challenges, events and news that is relevant to the church.
And we hope that as you read Record it helps to achieve this for your church community.
