Have you ever had one of those moments where you were talking about something, or learned something new, then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere? Maybe you started researching a new car, and now you are seeing them all over the place. Bet you didn’t know there was a name for this…
Baader-Meinhof is the phenomenon where one happens upon some obscure piece of information—often an unfamiliar word or name—and soon afterwards encounters the same subject again, often repeatedly. Anytime the phrase “That’s crazy, I just heard about that the other day” would be appropriate, you have met our good friend, Baader-Meinhof.
This happened to me with the Bible in at least three distinct ways. When I first started reading the Bible, I thought the whole story was about me. I would read it like a yearbook, looking for myself on every page. Then, someone told me it was really all about God and it was as If I were reading an entirely new book. Suddenly, every page was like running into Baader-Meinhof.
Later on, it happened again. I was told God’s story wasn’t just about God, but God as the foundation piece of everything. What? This took a long time to come to grips with. I remember going to the man who so patiently discipled me and literally saying, “Why have you never told me this?” My mind was blown and it is still in recovery.
I once again stumbled up a biblical Nader-meinhof when God made it clear that His love was for more than people who looked just like me. I was looking to love on some Americans in a far away place and God grabbed my heart with this truth: The Bible is all about God,He is the first cause of all things, AND His love extends to people of all tribes and tongues and nations.
The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, at work again and again as I have read the bible. Today, if you were to see my bible you would find it marked up with these truths on almost every page.
Matthew 20 gives us a glimpse of two guys in a situation which illustrates this for us. These two guys are blind. They could just gripe or wallow, but instead are begging Jesus for help. There is no way they could have possibly understood all the nuances of the Gospel or even faith. All we really know is that they thought Jesus could help.
“Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:31a-34 (ESV)
My prayer this morning, and by extension for you, is to ask the Lord to be merciful to us, to open our eyes, and to help us follow Him.
I hope you have a run in with Baader-Meinhof today, but even more than this, I pray your eyes are opened to this great God and what He is doing all around you.
