Theology

I've been thinking a lot about theology. To many regular Christians I've met that can be a bad word. Theology has been used to brow beat and corner many of us to the point where the grass roots cry is simply to return to the essentials of the faith and get back to loving each other. What I think we're really saying is that we're tired of arguments for the sake of arguing and being attacked by people who are more interested in being right than they are in meeting people's hearts, but that's not really what theology is. Theology is simply the study of God. Who wouldn't want to know more and more about the One they claim to be in love with? Theology should be one more way to get closer to each part of who God is. Paul says it's important for our spirits to be built up, but its also important for our minds (I 
Corinthians 14:14-15). Eventually, every part of who we are is destined to be brought into conformity with the image of Jesus.

I'm not at all saying that everyone should be an academic. Each one is given their gifts as Holy Spirit wills, after all. Feeling the need to make everyone conform to the way one person's gifts operate has been a problem with Christianity throughout history. Paul talks about this in I Corinthians. Divisions were already forming among the first century church based on which teachers they preferred to follow. The whole point of the 'office' gifts, mentioned in Ephesians, is to see the whole Church built up into unity, yet right away, people were using them to create factions. It seems to be human nature to take something that is meant to build us up and turn it into something that we can use to attack each other. We constantly beat our ploughshares into swords. In my opinion, this is exactly what's been done with theology. We've taken something that was intended to help people's understanding of God and instead inflicted it on people, reinforcing a very wrong view of Father. Every time a peer, or worse, an authority figure in the Church, attacks us, puts us down, verbally 'disciplines' us, shames us, or belittles what is precious to our hearts we get the message that we can and should expect the same from God. There is a place for strong leadership and discipline within the Church, but it should come out of a real investment in the people and the Father's heart, not from a need to see them conform to our idea of how things should be done.

I've been really blessed. Not only have I had some phenomenal teachers over the years, but I've also had the chance to see the contrast between people who taught because they were right versus those who taught because they cared. What a difference. The first engages your mind and forces you to examine every word they are saying. You ready defenses and lob your own ammunition in support of your position. The second cuts through to the heart. You sense the attitude and Spirit behind the words and it forces you to examine yourself instead. After all, real enlightenment happens, not when you gain some higher knowledge, but when you come to believe in your heart. This has been my experience, and why, I think, I see theology as precious to the Church. As a teacher, I want to reach people the same way my teachers have been able to reach me.

Paul says it's not simply a matter of words, but of power. The truths themselves have the power to transform and sanctify, regardless of the teacher. That's why Paul said he didn't care why people were preaching the Gospel, only that it was being preached. But, as a teacher, I want to go beyond spoken or written communication. I know that anything I do in my own effort is worthless. The more I strive without God to make something happen, the worse the results. So, the only alternative is to ask for and trust Holy Spirit to do the teaching, regardless of what I say or don't say. My first concern is to trust that He is working in the people He's asked me to speak to. My job is to put my own way of doing things aside and enter into what He is doing supernaturally. Sometimes my natural way and His supernatural way will look very similar, but the difference is in the fruit, sometimes seen, sometimes not so much.

Whether we're dealing with theology or handing out loaves of bread to the poor, it comes down to the same thing. We need to put our agendas and expectations aside. We need to stop trying to figure out if God is on our side and start making sure we're on God's side. We need to see and enter in to what the Father is doing.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.