“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking . . . but in your thinking be mature. ”
These days Twitter limits tweets to 280 characters. Interestingly, only 1% of tweets max out. According to one source, the "most common length of a tweet is 33 characters." However, if you set your sights on being a social media heavyweight go for 71-100 characters. That’s more likely to deliver the knockout punch.
Are you kidding me?! I have book titles that exceed 33 characters. And 100 characters (characters mind you, not words) is like revving my Dodge Hemi — it’s just warming up!
Brevity! Such is the world in which we live. Give us your argument in a sentence. Frame your response in seconds. And while you are at it, can you solve our problem as fast as a microwave pops popcorn.
Life rarely works that way. Superficial thought leads to a superficial life.
As to my life, I am loving the college gig. There are opportunities to pursue, problems to solve, and always questions to answer — and that is in the first two hours of each day. Gratefully, great people abound!
This college presidency has also upped my thinking game. Yesterday, I devoted da Vincian efforts to clarifying my thoughts relative to a campus challenge. It was a great exercise. Having worked up that cognitive sweat, I figured I might as well show it off. So I drafted my conclusions as succinctly as possible. Our campus needed my response, right?
Then I thought a little more!
There are times the campus does need to know the president’s thoughts, but perhaps this was not one of those times. Perhaps . . . the campus needed a little less of my thoughts and a little more urging to think. College is a great time for that you know!
Actually, thinking is everyone’s assignment. God wants us to use the minds he gave us:
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking . . . but in your thinking be mature. 1 Corinthians 14:20
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:3
If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8
Paul demonstrated careful thought on Mar's Hill (Acts 17), Jesus in his interactions with Pilate (John 18), the Bereans as they reflected on what they were taught (Acts 17), Abigail who averted a disaster (1 Samuel 25), and of course, the Proverbs are replete with insights as knowledge is applied to life through careful and prayerful thought.
My own education has taught me to be equally inquisitive and thoughtful. I appreciate what I have gleaned from Learning As Transformation by Mezirow and Associates:
We must become critically reflective of the assumptions of the person communicating.
Central to adult education is helping learners to critically reflect on, appropriately validate, and effectively act on their (and others) beliefs, interpretations, values, feelings and ways of thinking.
Social platforms and media pundits specialize in telling us what to think. Part of our challenge is learning how to think. The need to think is particularly acute when accusations fly (true, partially true, or not true) and emotions rise. The demand for change, solutions, and improvement can leave one in a reactive and defensive posture.
Browne and Keeley remind me that part of my job as a thinker is “sorting out relative sense from nonsense.” Amen to that. With their help, I have listed a few questions that sharpen our thinking on the issues at hand:
What does God say? This remains one of life’s essential questions.
What are the issues and the author's conclusions?
What words, phrases, ideas, or "facts" are ambiguous?
What are the underlying (hidden) value statements, assumptions, and conflicts?
What do alternative voices say?
How good is the evidence?
Why this, and why now?
I’m afraid that many will read that list, but few will work that list.
When Paul exhorted the Corinthian church, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking . . . but in your thinking be mature,” he was urging them to think through a problem they were facing in ways that honored Christ, edified people, and extended the gospel.
In a day when media is often weaponized, God challenges me to mature thinking that honors Christ, makes for peace, and extends the gospel. This will always take time and usually more words than a Tweet.
Recommendation: If you are looking for insight on the “thinking game,” I recommend I Just Need Time To Think: Reflective Study As Christian Practice, by my good friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Notes:
The "most common length of a tweet is 33 characters" . . .” from “Twitter’s doubling of character count from 140 to 280 had little impact on length of tweets” by Sarah Perez. www.techcrunch.com. October 20, 2018. Accessed October 7, 2020.
“Current data says go for 71-100 characters . . .” from “Know Your Limit: The Ideal Length of Every Social Media Post” by Dominique Jackson in www.sproutsocial.com. August 3, 2020. Accessed October 7, 2020.
“We must become critically reflective of the assumptions …” from Learning As Transformation, by Mezirow & Associates. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000. p. 9.
“My job is “sorting out relative sense from nonsense” from Asking The Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley. Seventh Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 2004. Page 2.