Theologians can be like Astronomers. They study stuff the average person will never see and learn things that will never matter in our lives.
Astronomers seek out knowledge about planets and stars millions of miles away from us. Often what they discover or learn does not touch our everyday lives. Most of what they know (or theorize) is beyond the grasp of you and me. We are just not smart enough. And if we could understand, we would quickly learn that the gas pillars in the beautiful Eagle Nebula where astronomers believer stars are born don't really effect us. They are more than 6,500 light years away. That means that it took the light from that area 6,500 years to reach earth. http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/pr1995044a/
Beautiful? Absolutely, the images hold my attention for hours. Useful as I walk out the door to scrape a living for me and my family? Not so much.
Theologians seek out knowledge about God and much of what they study also does not touch our everyday lives. It is the stuff of debates among Theologians. Most of what they know (or theorize) about God is beyond the grasp of you and me. And if we could understand it we might find that it is not helpful in our spiritual or daily lives.
This information might be interesting trivia, but it feeds the ego more than the soul.
What ever happened to a rabid study of the Love of God and Christ?
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (TNIV)
I dare say if we strive for knowledge we will lack in love. But if we strive to know the multi-dimensions of the love of Christ, we will know this love that surpasses knowledge, and, (this is the most exciting part) we will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. That is the knowledge we should seek.
Is it any wonder that those groups who push a hate agenda can easily quote God, but strangely leave Jesus out of it?
Do I want to be like Jesus? Then I need to study his love. Theologians, you want to know God? Search out the height, depth, width and breath of his love. Pastors, do you want a flock filled with the Spirit, examples of the indwelling Christ? Teach them love. You and I can argue all day that having the right theology about God is critical, but I often wonder if that is truly the case since we can't fully know God anyway.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8 (TNIV)
If I want to truly know God, I must not stop at the Old Testament looking for descriptions of God and the corresponding proof texts. These are all well and good, but they lack relevance, they lack power. Priests, full of the knowledge of God in the OT were just as easily corrupted as the everyday person. God even told them he was sick of their mindless, empty worship and would rather they deal in justice and do the right thing, like take care of the fatherless and widows.
Jesus, who is the express image of God, reminded us of God's frustration with mindless empty devotion. It is Him I should be studying. Colossians 1:15. If I want to see the Father, I need to look very closely at Jesus.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Do I really grasp the wonder of God's Grace?
The basic premise: Humankind is totally depraved, completely uninterested in God or goodness, and dead to all things spiritual, bound for hell. But there is good news! God loves a select few Humans that he grants the power to awaken from their death and they cannot resist! So, say the sinner's prayer after me so that you too can be saved, and you must decided now because you could die tonight in your sleep and you will end up going to hell.
This was, in a nutshell, the basic premise of my Christianity for almost half of my life (at this point at least). It didn't matter that the premise itself seems contradictory in many places and does not sound so much like a love story as it does an act of pity. Many times I have had to contend with these contradictions.
If Humankind is totally depraved and hates God, and is dead in sin, unable to hear God or know anything about God, then why does God command Humankind to seek him?
"If thou seek him, he will be found of thee.." David tells Solomon (1 Chron. 28:9). I just made a quick count in the KJV for all the verses that deal with seeking God, both Jews and Gentiles, and found a total of 59. The verses that declare no one seeks God, or those who seek will not find God (or enter the gate) total 12. Obviously many seek, but will not find, but many who do seek, and with their "whole heart" are promised they will find God. I think we should be studying the 59 verses more. Why have we focused on only 12?
There are 57 verses explicitly talking about God's love for "us", the Jews and Gentiles. 13 verses refer specifically to Israel (the Jews).
Some say that God hates sinners and sin. Again, a look through the Bible finds 15 verses about what God hates, and only once is it used against a person - Esau. It really is only 14 verses because the reference to Esau in Romans 9:13 is a quote of Malachi 1:3. God hates evil, lying pride, murder of the innocent, falsehood, empty worship. Yes, there are verses in Psalms that state God hates those who hate him, but that is poetry and hyperbole is common in poetry.
If Humankind cannot resist God's call, and in fact must be aroused to be able to hear it at all, why the rush to have them pray the sinner's prayer? If they are selected by God, then it will happen eventually. If not, telling them they might die and go to hell because they failed to make a choice they don't really even have is kinda strange.
I think it is much more simple than all that. Yes, we are sinners, but we also long for God deep in our hearts. Some of us have killed that longing, or numbed it with pleasure, evil, or drugs. Some truly hate God. God loves them and he longs for them to respond to his love. We can't lift ourselves to God or bridge the gap between us and God. He has to give us his righteousness. That is Grace.
We also must make a choice, an eternal, profound choice, to accept his love, or to reject it. I firmly believe that God orchestrates things in the world for each of us to catch a glimpse of him and his love. That is also Grace.
There is a sense of urgency because it is a choice. We often chose simply by refusing to act. That is why God and Jesus constantly say in the Bible, "Come". That too is Grace.
And after we choose, we are given help to change from the inside out, transformed by a powerful change agent called Love. This is the ultimate Grace, the game changer. Saving Grace does just that, it saves us. Ongoing Grace transforms us, conforming us to the image of Jesus. It takes the Law and somehow writes it on our hearts in the most simple of formulas - Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others.
Yet, with all this wonder I still struggle to believe that God simply loves me. After so many years of trying hard to please him, to make myself worthy of his Love I doubt he truly loves me, especially when I see how imperfect I truly am.
As I live my life of Grace on the stage of my life, God will give me opportunities to testify of his Love and Grace. But most of the time I am just living my life, interacting with saints and sinners alike. They are watching. Living my life IS my testimony.
When I was younger we were asked, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I now like to ask myself, "If Christianity was outlawed, would anyone ever suspect me of being a Christian?" The difference is subtle, but important. Something to really think about.
Do I grasp the wonder of God's Grace? At times I do. Most of the time I do. Lord, help me when I don't. Amen.
This was, in a nutshell, the basic premise of my Christianity for almost half of my life (at this point at least). It didn't matter that the premise itself seems contradictory in many places and does not sound so much like a love story as it does an act of pity. Many times I have had to contend with these contradictions.
If Humankind is totally depraved and hates God, and is dead in sin, unable to hear God or know anything about God, then why does God command Humankind to seek him?
"If thou seek him, he will be found of thee.." David tells Solomon (1 Chron. 28:9). I just made a quick count in the KJV for all the verses that deal with seeking God, both Jews and Gentiles, and found a total of 59. The verses that declare no one seeks God, or those who seek will not find God (or enter the gate) total 12. Obviously many seek, but will not find, but many who do seek, and with their "whole heart" are promised they will find God. I think we should be studying the 59 verses more. Why have we focused on only 12?
There are 57 verses explicitly talking about God's love for "us", the Jews and Gentiles. 13 verses refer specifically to Israel (the Jews).
Some say that God hates sinners and sin. Again, a look through the Bible finds 15 verses about what God hates, and only once is it used against a person - Esau. It really is only 14 verses because the reference to Esau in Romans 9:13 is a quote of Malachi 1:3. God hates evil, lying pride, murder of the innocent, falsehood, empty worship. Yes, there are verses in Psalms that state God hates those who hate him, but that is poetry and hyperbole is common in poetry.
If Humankind cannot resist God's call, and in fact must be aroused to be able to hear it at all, why the rush to have them pray the sinner's prayer? If they are selected by God, then it will happen eventually. If not, telling them they might die and go to hell because they failed to make a choice they don't really even have is kinda strange.
I think it is much more simple than all that. Yes, we are sinners, but we also long for God deep in our hearts. Some of us have killed that longing, or numbed it with pleasure, evil, or drugs. Some truly hate God. God loves them and he longs for them to respond to his love. We can't lift ourselves to God or bridge the gap between us and God. He has to give us his righteousness. That is Grace.
We also must make a choice, an eternal, profound choice, to accept his love, or to reject it. I firmly believe that God orchestrates things in the world for each of us to catch a glimpse of him and his love. That is also Grace.
There is a sense of urgency because it is a choice. We often chose simply by refusing to act. That is why God and Jesus constantly say in the Bible, "Come". That too is Grace.
And after we choose, we are given help to change from the inside out, transformed by a powerful change agent called Love. This is the ultimate Grace, the game changer. Saving Grace does just that, it saves us. Ongoing Grace transforms us, conforming us to the image of Jesus. It takes the Law and somehow writes it on our hearts in the most simple of formulas - Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others.
Yet, with all this wonder I still struggle to believe that God simply loves me. After so many years of trying hard to please him, to make myself worthy of his Love I doubt he truly loves me, especially when I see how imperfect I truly am.
As I live my life of Grace on the stage of my life, God will give me opportunities to testify of his Love and Grace. But most of the time I am just living my life, interacting with saints and sinners alike. They are watching. Living my life IS my testimony.
When I was younger we were asked, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I now like to ask myself, "If Christianity was outlawed, would anyone ever suspect me of being a Christian?" The difference is subtle, but important. Something to really think about.
Do I grasp the wonder of God's Grace? At times I do. Most of the time I do. Lord, help me when I don't. Amen.
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