My Love/Hate Relationship with Theology (Guest Blogger)

This thought provoking post was written by guest blogger Nancy Smith. Nancy is one of my best friends and I know you'll have much to think about after reading her thoughts, first published on Facebook.

On one hand, I really love theology. I love to think about the nature and character of God and how His different attributes, though sometimes seemingly at odds with one another, all work together to make Him who He is. I love to learn about the various schools of thought concerning things like election, atonement, the depravity of man, God’s grace, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, perseverance of the Saints, the end times, etc.

I definitely have my own opinions on what I believe the Bible teaches about all of these things: I believe that God reveals himself to all people through His creation (Rom. 1:19-20) and that He desires all people to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). I believe that God, in His infinite love for mankind, chose to allow us (just as He chose to allow Adam and Eve) to choose whether or not to love and follow Him. (Deut. 30:19, Joshua 24:15). I believe that while God, through the Holy Spirit, definitely draws people to Himself, He still gives us a choice in whether or not to accept his free gift of grace. (Matt. 19:16-22). I don’t see faith as a work in which I can boast, but a decision to accept the fact that Jesus is who He says He is and to commit to Him all that I am, all that I have and all that is yet to come, knowing that I am utterly incapable of doing anything to save myself. (Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 10:12-13). So while salvation is totally God's doing, it is not something He zaps us with unwillingly. If we refuse to acknowledge His existence or His right to be the supreme authority in our lives, He gives us over to the selfish and sinful desires that we choose instead of Him. (Rom 1:24-30)

I believe that because we have free will and because part of our human nature is to seek out those things that will bring us pleasure, we all have a bent toward sinning (see Adam & Eve) – we have the freedom to choose our own way and we like exercising this freedom. I believe that we all become guilty when we choose our own way over God’s, and no one (other than Jesus) has ever failed to make this fatal choice. I believe Christ died to pay the price for the sin of all people, and that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) I believe that baptism is a step of obedience for all who have chosen to give their lives to Christ. (See the stories of the Philippian jailer and the Ethiopian Eunuch) I believe that God’s Spirit indwells all who have trusted in Him and invited His presence into their lives. I believe that anyone who has ever truly experienced the love, the grace, and the power of God in their lives would never want to walk away from Him, and that prodigal sons are still sons, though they may not be currently experiencing the benefits of that status. The Good Shepherd goes out in search of His sheep that have wandered away from the fold (Luke 15:3-6).

I believe that Jesus will come back like a thief in the night and that try as we might to interpret events in the world to figure out when that will be, no one has gotten it right yet, so why should we think we are any different? Basically, the world as we know it will end whenever God is ready for it to end, and we should be prepared to withstand trials and tribulations if He so chooses.

Now, having stated what I believe about all these things, let me be the first to say that I could definitely be wrong - about any or all of it. While I do have a seminary degree and took several courses in theology, I am not a theologian. I haven't studied Greek or Hebrew. I haven't learned all there is to know about the early church or the process by which the canonization of scripture came about. I would be doing well to recite even one creed by heart. I am limited both by the scope of my education and by my own failure to dig deeper. I am also limited by my own spiritual experience. While I have definitely been through some valleys in life, I have not suffered great hardship or persecution because of my faith. I have always had all that I need (and then some) materially. I have never been through a life-threatening illness or through the heartbreaking experience of losing a child. While I believe my faith to be strong and genuine, there are some aspects of God's love and power that I know only vicariously. But most of all, I am limited because I am a created being with a finite mind – not an infinite and eternal Being whose ways are not my ways and whose thoughts are higher than mine could ever be. No one has known the mind of the Lord, and that includes me. But not just me, it also includes all those who are theologians, even John Calvin and Jakob Arminius. Who were they but men? Learned men to be sure – but in the end, just men who were looking through a glass dimly – even as we do. To paraphrase Donald Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz, –“What are the chances that any one person is going to get it all just exactly right?”

This is why it doesn't bother me in the least that my own set of beliefs does not fit neatly into either school of thought and why it seems ludicrous to me for people to be so adamant in purporting one school of theological thought or another. The truth is that God is God and we are not. He can do whatever He wants to do. He doesn't have to fit into our logical systems of thought (hmm – maybe God is a woman!) Whether He chooses to save some and not others or chooses to let us choose Him – that is His decision. Even if He should decide to redeem every person who has ever lived, that is up to Him. Whether or not believers will be raptured and spared from enduring the tribulation – God's decision. Whether it is possible to lose one's salvation or not – that too is up to God. Scripture can be found to support positions on all sides of almost every issue.

So this is where the hate part in my love/hate relationship with theology comes in. What I hate about theology is that it often seems only to divide those of us who are Christ followers. Jesus prayed for us in John 17:20-23. And what was his prayer for those who would believe through the message of his disciples? It was that we would be one – that we would be “brought to complete unity to let the world know that you (God) sent me (Jesus) and have loved them even as you have loved me.” But many times, we Christians spend so much of our time and energy trying to defend our own theological leanings and in the process insinuating (if not saying outright) that anyone who doesn't interpret the Bible as we do is obviously and idiot. We are so desperate to defend and back up our position that we fail to do the most important thing Christ commanded us to do – love each other. It is by our love for one another that those who are not believers will be drawn to Christ – not by how much scriptural evidence we intelligently present to prove that our understanding of God's ways is correct. We seem to care more about the correctness of our doctrine and our church polity than we care about the people around us who are hurting and who are dying without Christ. We care more about the pursuit of proving our position than we care about the pursuit of true holiness. Our spiritual pride and arrogance consumes us – keeping us from being the hands and feet of Jesus to those who so desperately need His touch. And it is pride (believing our own way to be better than God's) that is at the root of all sin.

I'm not saying that studying the Bible is not important – far from it. It is of great importance to know not only what you believe, but why you believe it. The problem does not lie in the pursuit of knowledge. It lies in knowledge being the end of our pursuit and in thinking that we can ever reach a place where we have nothing left to learn. When we conveniently ignore all the passages that implore us to live in unity with our Christian brothers and sisters, have we not become like the Pharisees? They cared only about the letter of the law and not its spirit. Though they were extremely knowledgeable of the law, their hearts were far from God – they were filled with pride and arrogance – even as many of those who want to debate theology are today.

This is why I love and hate theology. I love to think about it, learn about it, even discuss it – but never do I want to be guilty of assuming my positions are the only ones that could possibly be right. “Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?” Isaiah 40:13-14.

There are a few things on which all of us who claim the name of Christ can agree – that God exists and that He is both the Creator and sustainer of life; that He sent His one and only Son Jesus to make a way for sinners to receive forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness; that those who know Him as Savior and Lord will spend eternity with Him; and that He has commanded us love one another and to go and tell the good news of His salvation to the ends of the earth. These should be the things upon which we focus our attention and expend our energy. Maybe if we did this more, we would come closer to being unified as Jesus prayed that we would be. Showing Jesus' love to the hurting people around us is a lot more important than winning any theological debate. Love God, Love others - those are the big 2. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." That's what we need to be asking ourselves every day - how am I doing at obeying Jesus? That, and not some theological debate, should be the focus of our lives.

Comments

[David]

Very well said Nancy.

Thanks for sharing this wisdom with your blog readers Jan :)

[Linda]

Nancy, you have written a wonderful outpouring of your heart in this blog. You capture my thoughts exactly at the end when you speak of Jesus two commands to us...love God, love people. Just like sitting through English 102 where a beautiful story is dissected and debated, people do the same with God's word and His gift of salvation. I cannot totally understand the mind of God and why He gave His only Son to die for us, or why He extended to me this perfect salvation...but I know I'm eternally greatful and so very unworthy of His sacrifice. Yes, I've studied and read much on both sides of the free will/elected debate. I must say I come out of it just wanting to sit at Jesus feet and relish the fact that I am His; how I got to be His is something only God knows. There are wonderful things to learn about church history, those who stood strong under persecution and those who stood for the truth of God's word to be established. But we serve our Holy God who would have preserved it for us even if man had been unable to...and that's the God I am so in love with and so very thankful that He is above all. Thank you so much for sharing your heart...now start your own blog...you are a wonderful writer!