Following up with last week I wanted to talk briefly about thinking and theology.
Again, we all have our beliefs and our convictions, but how sure are you that you are right? Are you 100% right?
I once heard Dr. Elmer Towns say something to the effect that behind every theology is a bit of mystery, a bit of God still yet unrevealed. I loved the wisdom and humility in that statement.
I can't speak for all of us, but I know I want answers. I always want to learn everything I can about as much as I can (maybe one day destroying Ken Jennings record on Jeopardy…mwhahahahaha…sorry). The truth is, I don't know it all, and neither do you. I like to think I have the answers for every turn of life, for every theological question. From "at what point are we saved", to "does God really answer prayers or were they predestined to be answered", to "if a tree falls in the woods…"
My point is this, my dependence should not be on my own finite knowledge or contrived wisdom. My dependence should be on God. Period. I don't need all the answers. I need God. After all, if I had all the answers, I wouldn't need faith, would I?
While it is important that we all seek to know God in every possible way, don't think you, me or anyone has all the answers. Our goal with this blog is simply to encourage you to live Hebrews 10:24. Think about ways you can spur one another on to love and good deeds (or more love as it were).
Let me add to that one thing. In the realm of theological bickering (as seen with the discussion of the theology of Hell recently) remember Philippians 4:8-9. The context of Philippians 4 is some type of disagreement or falling out between to members of the church. We are not to feed the hate, but rather focus on doing what we are supposed to do.
all about Christ,
David
I love apologetics, because it gives excellent reasons to believe in God, but often I think too many Christians rely totally on Apologetics and forget that we worship God out of faith, not out of certainty. Theological bickering is often interesting, but does very little to draw others into a relationship with God. Excellent post and excellent reminder that God is the most important thing, not being right.
ReplyDeleteThanks SethC,
ReplyDeleteWhile I was thinking about the whole Hell/Universalism/Classic Eternal Consciousness/Annihilationism/ debate, I can also liken this to the Calvinism v Arminianism debate. Both sides, in my opinion, argue from a well defined Bible basis. Unfortunately, I feel both sides offer an incomplete view of our standing with God. The whole view is really hard to explain (mostly because God's understanding is so far and vast beyond ours) and it's a lot easier and even fun to argue the partial points of the other. So for me, which is it? The answer is simply, "Yes". ;)
Thanks again for reading!
I don't think God wants us to ever be 100% sure of anything. That compete confidence destroys any chance of faith. I think God makes thing impossible to understand (the Trinity for example) so we are forced to struggle with it and accept it by faith. Faith = Jesus. Assurance of knowledge = Religion. I pick Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAre you 100% sure God doesn't want us to be 100% sure of anything...
ReplyDeleteWell said DJ! Thanks for stopping by.