{"id":1953,"date":"2022-09-08T09:50:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T13:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1953"},"modified":"2022-09-08T09:50:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T13:50:01","slug":"taking-the-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/08\/taking-the-plunge\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking the Plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.

The Dead Sea is one of the earth\u2019s most extraordinary natural features.
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This large lake, located on the border of Israel and Jordan, is the lowest point on the surface of the planet \u2013 a full one-third of a mile below sea level. \u00a0It\u2019s not shallow, either.\u00a0 At one spot it\u2019s 997 feet deep.\u00a0 It is also assumed to be the saltiest body of water on earth.\u00a0 Since the lake has no outlet, it is the final repository of numerous minerals that are steadily leached into its waters from adjoining desert wilderness.\u00a0 With a saline concentration approaching 34%, it is nearly ten times saltier than the world\u2019s oceans.
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That has produced two novel effects.\u00a0 The first is that the Dead Sea, true to its name, is almost entirely devoid of life. \u00a0Apart from a few exotic microorganisms, nothing can live within its waters or along its shores.\u00a0
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The second is that the extremely high concentration of dissolved mineral salts ensures that its waters are far denser than fresh water.\u00a0 Human bodies, which are roughly 60% water, turn out to be considerably less dense.\u00a0 That means that people can actually bob like corks on the surface of the Dead Sea.\u00a0 In fact, no matter how hard you try, it\u2019s impossible to stay submerged beneath the surface.
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I learned all that 45 years ago in a Bible geography course at seminary.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to know<\/em> the facts, however, and even to get an A on the test, and quite another thing to believe<\/em> what one has learned.
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That became clear to me when I had the chance in 2007 to stand at the edge of the Dead Sea.\u00a0 I had come prepared.\u00a0 I was wearing my swimsuit.\u00a0 Other members of our travel group had already taken the plunge.\u00a0 They were laughing at the sensation of floating effortlessly.\u00a0 I could see them paddling out into the deep.\u00a0
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But I had a twinge of doubt.\u00a0 What if I was about to become the first person in recorded history to vanish from sight beneath the surface of the Dead Sea, receding helplessly into a sodium grave? \u00a0There\u2019s a big difference between knowing about<\/em> something and actually knowing<\/em> it from personal experience.\u00a0
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Here we should pause to point out that churches, especially in America, have succumbed to a serious misunderstanding concerning spiritual growth.
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It\u2019s widely assumed that if we teach well, preach with passion, and convey all the nuts and bolts of what it means to follow Jesus, our listeners will take it from there.\u00a0 But it simply isn\u2019t so.\u00a0 Studies clearly show that mastering theological data isn\u2019t enough for someone to grow in Christ. \u00a0Knowing God requires something more.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
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What does it mean to believe?
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Historically, Christianity\u2019s brightest teachers have spotlighted three Latin words \u2013 Latin being the western church\u2019s theological language of choice from the earliest centuries through the Middle Ages.\u00a0 Each of these three words designates one of the necessary components of saving faith.\u00a0
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The first term is notitia<\/strong>, from which we derive the word \u201cnote.\u201d\u00a0 Think of taking notes in class.\u00a0 In order to know something, we need the right data.\u00a0 If you want to swim in the Dead Sea, it\u2019s crucial to know the chemistry and buoyancy of saline solutions.\u00a0 If you want to follow Jesus, you\u2019ll want to dig deep into the stories of his ministry, his death on the cross, and his resurrection.\u00a0
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The second term is assensus<\/strong>, the origin of the word \u201cassent.\u201d\u00a0 Now we\u2019re talking about personal conviction.\u00a0 I happen to know that Goodyear makes tires.\u00a0 That\u2019s notitia<\/em>, or entry-level knowledge.\u00a0 But I also happen to know that according to Consumer Reports<\/em> and the experience of many trusted friends, Goodyear makes excellent tires.\u00a0 And I personally believe those reports.\u00a0 That\u2019s assensus<\/em>.\u00a0
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It\u2019s worth noting, however, that I don\u2019t have Goodyear tires on my car.\u00a0 The last time I went tire-shopping, my current brand was cheaper.\u00a0 Even though I admire and assent<\/em> to the goodness of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, I\u2019m currently not committed to their product.
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What I\u2019m missing is the third Latin term, which is fiducia<\/strong>.\u00a0 This represents the crucial transition from knowing about<\/em> something intellectually to knowing<\/em> something from personal experience.\u00a0
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Fiducia<\/em> means putting my life into the hands of something or someone whom I trust will hold me up.\u00a0 If I put a set of Goodyear tires on my car, I\u2019m trusting they will hold up my car on the interstate.\u00a0 If I plunge into the Dead Sea, I\u2019m trusting that the salt will hold me up above the surface.\u00a0 If I abandon myself to Jesus, I\u2019m trusting that he will hold me up if my bank account goes to zero, if a good friend shatters my heart, or if I feel overwhelmed by depression or fear.\u00a0
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We need to dismiss, once and for all, the idea that faith in God is an irrational leap into the dark.\u00a0 That idea appears nowhere in Scripture.\u00a0 When we\u2019re acting in concert with all three of the words we\u2019ve just mentioned, faith turns out to be a leap out<\/em> of the darkness into<\/em> the light.\u00a0 It\u2019s not belief without proof, but trust without reservations.\u00a0
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The devil, by the way, as James reminds us (James 2:19), is fully up to speed on both notitia<\/em> and assensus<\/em>.\u00a0 He has all the right data about God and believes every word of it.\u00a0 But he has no interest in fiducia<\/em> \u2013 no intention whatsoever of taking that third crucial step.\u00a0
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Back on the salt-encrusted shores of the Dead Sea, I did take that step.\u00a0 I strode out into the water, let myself go, and lived to tell the tale.\u00a0
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Faith in Jesus is more than just knowing important facts.\u00a0 It means coming to believe him with your whole body \u2013 your actual life, that is, and all the choices you\u2019ll make today.
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So do your homework.\u00a0 Draw your conclusions.
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Then take the plunge.\u00a0

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here. The Dead Sea is one of the earth\u2019s most extraordinary natural features.\u00a0This large lake, located on the border of Israel and Jordan, is the lowest point on the surface of the planet \u2013 a full one-third of a mile below sea level. \u00a0It\u2019s not shallow, either.\u00a0 At one spot it\u2019s 997… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[464,127,141],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belief","tag-faith","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1955,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions\/1955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}