Aside
from that last assumption, to which I will return to at the close of this
series, I want to say that if you hold these opinions, I think you’ve fallen
under a popular line of thought that tells us, among other things, that religion
is a waste of time, that truth-claims are invasive and offend, that we should
focus on our personal relationship with Jesus or serve to exhaustion rather than
selfishly spend time examining our ideas about God.
I
offer, in counter, this:
If
you don’t know the God with whom you claim to have a relationship,
how can you love Him? How can you serve Him? How can you glorify Him?
The oft-quoted A. W. Tozer
said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important
thing about us.” And I agree; because it
is what we know, what we believe, what we think about God that drives us. Our beliefs feed who we are, they inform how
we live, and they compel us to act and think and speak the way we do. An atheist or an agnostic both have a
theology. The atheist thinks God doesn’t
exist, and lives his or her life out of this belief. The agnostic isn’t sure, and lives his or her
life out of this questioning. The Christian believes God and Jesus Christ exist;
and he or she and lives thusly. It is
what the Christian believes about God that informs his or her choices. The idea of an angry, vengeful God spawns angry
and wrathful followers. The theology of
a God that is only love breeds
tolerance that would make the Corinthians blush.
Thus theology is not merely
the laborious task of systemizing dogma
and doctrine, best left to those fuddy-duddies in academia; theology, rather,
is what we think about God. And it is
how we live our lives. Our theology
makes each one of us who we are. Therefore,
theological exploration isn’t just for the seeker, the new believer, or the
apologist. It is necessary for every
believer.
Why?
Consider the fact that (if
you attend church), you are subjecting yourself to the theology of a certain denomination or teacher. And you are experiencing their theology as it
is lived out before you. If you do not
have a solid grasp on who God is, how will you know if your church’s teachings
or practices are representing to you and others the God of the Bible? Because your pastor says so? Because you feel good when you’re
worshipping? Or, because you’ve examined
the scriptures alongside the stated beliefs and practices of your church and
they line up? A grounding in good
theology is the responsibility of every believer, should be the practice of
every church body, and the foundation for a life lived in Christ.
Have you, dear reader,
ever looked at your church’s statement of belief? In our increasingly electronic age, most
churches have one somewhere on their web page.
Bear in mind a statement of faith is not the same as a mission
statement. A mission or vision statement
is action-oriented and presumes the tenents of a doctrinal/belief/faith
statement. Last year, my family and I went
to a local mega-church that does not list their beliefs online, merely their
mission. When we attended the church, we
went to the newcomer’s desk and asked for a copy of their beliefs (this was
part of an assignment for a class). In
response to our request, we were told, “We believe in the Bible.” To which the Officer replied, “So do Mormons.” Our thus flummoxed hostess encouraged us to
speak to the lead pastor. We did. Sadly, he was equally helpful in directing us
back to their mission statement.[1] What does it say about a church whose senior
pastor cannot articulate what his or her flock believes? How can this pastor, the elders, or even the
congregants be sure that they are staying within the bounds scripture, or that
they are not creating a god in the image that suits their congregation and
ideas best? How can we know that we are
worshiping and serving the One True God, if we can’t even say what we believe
about Him? These are questions with
which I will wrestle in the coming weeks – what does it look like when we
engage theology fully?
I encourage you this week,
even if you have done so in the past, look at your church’s statement of
faith. If they don’t have one online,
shoot your pastor an e-mail requesting one (you can tell him or her to thank me
for this). Once you’re read it
thoroughly and carefully, ask yourself if what they say they believe mirrors
scripture. Does what they preach follow
scripture and their statement of faith?
Does how they behave?
Consider for a moment a
church that, in their statement of faith, says:
We
believe that the gifts of evangelist, pastor and teacher are for the perfecting
of the saints today to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the
body of Christ may be built up. God supernaturally and graciously grants
spiritual gifts to every believer for the purpose of serving the body of
Christ.[2]
Sounds good. Lines up with scripture. Gives each member of the church a view of
communal service and a hope that he or she may be used by God for His
works. Now, what if that church does not
allow women to teach, nor to administer communion or collect offering? Does this practice align with their stated
belief? Or, are they contradicting
themselves with the subtle belief that the gifts God gives to women are not for
the full body of Christ?
As evidenced above, thoughtful
examination of one’s theology and that of one’s church is vital to ensuring
harmony in one’s living out the gospel of Jesus Christ and glorifying our
Heavenly Father. Thus, for the next eight
weeks, I want to spend time examining scripture, and thinking deeply, in regard
to a few key elements of Christian Theology.
And I want you to join me. Don’t
worry, this will not be practiced without proper guidance (I have at my
disposal numerous mentors, both living and paper); and I’ll have some examples
of what “bad” theology is and where is can lead. As always, I’m open to questions and debate,
so long as they are thoughtful and constructive.
I look forward to diving
into theology with you, dear reader. I
pray it draws each of us to a deeper understand of who our amazing and glorious
God truly is.
[1] I use this personal narrative to provide anecdotal
evidence for what goes on in some churches, NOT to tear down any particular
group of believers or denomination.
While visiting this congregation (which I did over the course of a few
months), they taught sound doctrine and appeared to live it out as well. Thus, not every church that does not have a statement
of faith on hand is bad. This simply means that as a Christ-follower,
you have the duty to pay extra attention to what is taught and practiced so
that you are aware – frankly, it makes for more work on the individual’s part,
but can be done.
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