Getting to Know People

Tripp presents Christ as a model of “data gathering”. Quoting Heb 4:14-16, he notes that we can come to Christ knowing that He gives mercy and grace appropriate to the need of the moment. We have the promise of personalized and not just general help from Christ. Christ understands all the temptation we face and will face. He defines data gathering, then, as understanding people so that we can serve them in their live. We, like Christ, need to be committed to entering into their worlds so that we can apply the truths of the gospel in a way that is situation-and-person-specific.
He notes the dangers that come about when we make assumptions about people and jump to quick conclusions. One of the assumptions we make is theological – since we know a Biblical anthropology we categorize people too broadly and forget to note that no two people are exactly the same and don't respect the differences. Each of our stories is unique. We have to ask people about their story and get to know them. The second assumption we make too quickly deals with our experience. We assume we know much more about people than we do based on a sense of shared experience or things that we've seen before.