Francis Chan summed this up so well years ago, as he often does. He gave an analogy with his children. He said (as best I can remember): “Imagine I ask my daughter to clean her room. I don’t want her to come back and tell me that she’s memorized what I said, analyzed it, and translated it into Greek and Hebrew, where she did word studies on each of the words. I want her to clean her room!”
This is how many people (at least in a lot of circles I’m in) treat theology and God, as if it’s a puzzle you have to get right, or else you’re in big trouble.
Now, this may seem like I’m saying the opposite of part 1. That it doesn’t matter what you believe about God, just vibe with Him and you’re chill. But that’s not quite what I’m saying. Let me attack it from a few angles.
My theology has morphed over time for as long as I’ve been a Christian.
I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in a Christian home, so I would have called myself a Christian my whole life. I suspect that, had I died at any point, I would have gone to be with God. How can I believe some differing things now than I did ten years ago, and still presume that I’d go to be with Christ if I were to die today, or ten years ago?
Because knowledge is not the most important part.
Paul and Jesus both talk about how God has revealed things to children that He has hidden from the wise and educated. There is clearly some part of the gospel message that is as simple as receiving love like a little kid does. It doesn’t stop there of course, but that’s one of, if not the most important part.
Even the demons have knowledge.
James 2 as well as the Gospel of Mark show that demons have a functional and somewhat accurate knowledge of God, yet of course they are not saved.
If we were saved by how much we knew, then I’d be far more sanctified than all you suckers. Of course, I’m not, and we are not. But if that were the case, every Christian would be vying to go to seminary and learn and fill their brains and get their theology down to a science.
The founder of Denver Seminary, Vernon Grounds, said that “As the island of my knowledge grows, so too does the shoreline of my questioning.”
I have certainly found this to be true. The more I study and learn and listen to lectures, the more I’m finding that there are even new types of questions I can ask! Again, this isn’t making me more saved than I was when I was ten, but it is making me better at my job, at answering peoples’ big questions, and so on. And not everyone is called to that.
So what does God call us to then?
The instructions are simple. Jesus answered the question of what is the greatest commandment quite plainly: Love God and love others. And the more you live, you realize that they really aren’t two commands but one.
Loving God comes from intentional time ‘wasted’ with Him, as Brennan Manning called it. It comes from reading His Word, but not as an end in itself — but in pursuit of God, the person. The same way you don’t study a love letter in order to become an expert on the letter, but on its author. (remember though, that when you really love someone, you are motivated to get to know them better! That should be our motivation for learning theology.)
Loving God equips us to better love others. And when we go out from our quiet place with our Creator, we should feel more full and ready. And of course, going out and loving every human made in God’s image (aka, everyone) is simply another form of loving on God.
Just like the daughter who is told to clean her room, we are meant to simply obey this one (one and a half?) command. Everything else can fall into place eventually.
For the theology nerds:
I had a seminary professor who said that, in 40 years of teaching theology, he never once called someone a heretic. It’s a strong word and it’s often used to pejoratively dismiss someone who comes with a different perspective than us. Sure, they may be wrong, but we are all pursuing truth and knowledge together. So rather than label someone a heretic and throw them out and dismiss them, why not dig into the conversation as if you’re on the same team? As if you’re pursuing the same thing?
Maybe you’re more picky with your theology than God is. After all, the Pharisees thought they had the whole Torah figured out and Jesus was hardest on them. And they did have the whole Tanakh memorized…doubt y’all can say the same….
Let’s prioritize love and obedience, with theology as a close second. Or third. Or fourth. It’s up there, I’m just not sure where haha!
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100 days straight of blogging, day 4!
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