The Need for Theology

One of the books that I am reading right now is Preaching to a Shifting Culture which features 12 perspectives on preaching from people regularly involved in communicating God’s Word. David Hansen in his chapter Who is listening out there? wrote:

We may expect a wave of Unitarianism to sweep through the evangelical church in the next forty years, not from an invasion of liberalism but from pastoral evasion from theology. If preachers believe their audiences will not tolerate a sermon on the Trinity, it isn’t alarmism to suggest that eventually many of those preachers will believe their congregation doesn’t need the doctrine of the Trinity. And it would only be natural for the preachers eventually to doubt the necessity of understanding God as Trinity for themselves (pg. 132).

This paragraph hit me like a ton of bricks. One reason it reminds me of the challenge I face in preaching each Sunday. It is not enough to give people helpful advice for living (after all they have Dr. Phil for that) if I don’t also offer the Why or the Who behind that advice. Preaching that doesn’t focus on God, in particular Jesus, will not be effective in helping people change. Behavior follows belief and if all we offer people is how their behavior should change then they will not change. They need to also understand why that change is important and who commanded it.

Most church goers are ignorant of what the Bible says. Partly this is there own fault. We have bookstores filled with numerous Bible translations and Bible study helps. We just haven’t done the hard work of studying the Bible. Yet the entire blame doesn’t rest with the individual. Much blame lies with the minister, the preacher. We haven’t done enough in laying a solid foundation for these people to build off of. This is true in youth ministry. I was involved in youth ministry for 5 1/2 years before becoming a preaching minister. To often youth ministry is focused on “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll,” and the students get well versed in what they shouldn’t do, but they are not taught what to believe. The result is that they fall for the indoctrination of the culture and all our teaching of right and wrong go out the window. The same is true for adults. If we are not willing to teaching people about God then they will believe what Oprah tells them.

Preachers have not rightly understood what it means to be relevant. Relevant isn’t about giving people what they want, but it is giving them what the need. The foundation of what they need is a solid understanding of God, of His purposes, and His ways. Without solid theology preaching morality will have little effect in people’s lives.

If you engage in communicating God’s word I would encourage you not to shy away from the “heavy” work of theology. It is vital for our lives and the lives of the people with whom we are trying to communicate. Theology is the foundation from which a disciple of Christ is built.

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Being Religious

Do you consider yourself to be a religious person? I know I do, in spite of the fact that I am told that Christianity is a “relationship not a religion.” The reality is that religion is how we communicate our love to God since we cannot relate to Him in the same way I can relate to my friends and family. Religion is how we have a relationship with God.

Some of the rituals that are part of religion have been handed down by God. This is especially true with Judaism. The books of Exodus and Leviticus contain the rules and regulations of how Israel was to relate to God. A person cannot help but notice as they read through these books that God was very specific on how things should be done.

Some of these rituals that make up religion are the result of tradition and are the product of human ideas of what should be done in order to relate to God. They have little or no Scriptural base, but they are accepted because that is how things have been done.

As a person who follows Jesus I recognize that most of the laws and rituals handed down by God to the Israelites applied specifically to Israel as they tried to be God’s holy people. So I don’t offer sacrifices or keep the Sabbath, instead I trust in Jesus’ sacrifice and weekly observe the Lord’s Supper. I also recognize the benefit of some traditions as well, such as the celebration of Christmas and having church buildings. Our traditions have a place in our worship of, and thus our relationship with, God.

Besides helping us relate to God, religion has another purpose for our lives. That purpose is to help us change. I can’t speak for other religions, but the purpose of Christianity, those rituals and traditions that we do, aren’t just to help us to relate to God but also help us become the person God created us to be. Read what James had to say about religion:

If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you (James 1:26-27; NLT).

James spent much of the first chapter of his letter talking about how trials, God’s wisdom, and God’s word are needed in helping us become those people God created us to be, but sin had corrupted us. What James points out in these two verses is the reality that going through the motions of religion, doing the rituals and the traditions, is not the same thing as being changed. If we can’t learn self-control, if we can’t have compassion for the needy, and if we cannot remain pure in this sinful world than our religion is worthless.

The only way religion has any affect on us, just as the only way trials and God’s word affects us, is if we first commit ourselves to being faithful. Faith is what it is all about. Without faith religion is just empty rituals and traditions. Without faith the trials and tragedies of life serve no purpose. Without faith God’s wisdom, which is found in His word, is nothing more than a nice way to live.

Faith, our trust in God, is what makes all the difference. God cannot change our lives, cannot restore us to true life, until we trust Him. So in the end it isn’t about be a religious person, but it is being a faithful person. Two questions we have to consider are: Who am I faithful to? Will I trust Him with my life? If the answers aren’t Jesus and yes, well then your religion just might be worthless.

Disciples on a Pilgrimage

William Lane in his book Hebrews: A Call to Commitment reminds us that the disciple of Jesus is a pilgrim in this world. He writes; “In the same intense way that the patriarchs sought a homeland (Hebrews 11:14), Christians seek the City which is to come (Hebrews 13:14). The people of God are called to be a pilgrim people" (page 161).

I want to make two observations about what it means for us to be a pilgrim people. First it means that we have our eyes set on a destination. Abraham may not have known where he was going, but he trusted God to lead him. We may not know what the climax of eternity will be like, but we trust God to get us there. But do we really believe that God has a better place in store for us?

To be honest with you I think one of the weaknesses of the Church in Western society has been our reluctance to speak and teach about a final destination: heaven or hell. Most of our teachings are concerned with the here and now, about making the most of the life God has given us. While we need to be concerned with how we live and being good stewards of all God has given to us being a follower of Jesus isn’t about getting our best life now. The testimony of the Bible seems to tell us the life is a struggle and that it is hard. Our hope shouldn’t be the best life we can imagine, but the life God has prepared for us to enjoy. Being a pilgrim means that our hope isn’t set in making the most of the American Dream, but in living real life in Heaven.

The second observation is that pilgrims travel lightly. They need to because they are constantly on the move. The temptation that we have to fight is the temptation to set down our roots in this world because we have grown too attached to things and pleasures we have found here. The rich young man we read about in the Gospels couldn’t follow Jesus because he was too attached to his wealth. I wonder how many of us have missed following Jesus because we were too attached to our jobs, homes, hobbies, and friends. Rather than following Jesus into the unknown of the call of ministry (in whatever shape that might be) we stayed with what we were familiar with. The more we have to lose the more unwillingly we will be to take risks.

The way of the pilgrim is learn to trust God as He leads us to that great final destination. How can we trust Him if we put limits on how far we will go? How can we learn that God is the provider if we say that we will only go if we are guaranteed a certain amount of money? How can we learn how God comforts if we do not risk losing what is important to us? When we become too attached to the things of this world: from good things like friends and family to sinful things like drugs and pornography, we establish limits to just how far we will go in following Jesus. Earthly attachment hinders the disciple of Jesus on his/her pilgrimage through this world.

The disciple of Jesus is on a pilgrimage through this world. On this journey the disciple learns how to love and trust God. It is through this process that we are restored into the people God created us to be. When we arrive at that final destination we can finally discover what it really means to live. We can truly live the life God intended for us to live.

I am back!!!!!!

I decided to come back to blogging a week early. The past week I have really missed this creative outlet and I am looking forward to once again putting my thoughts into the vast region of cyperspace. I have already posted my first post so continue reading if you still want to read my thoughts.

To Live Life

One of the reasons I have taken this recent break from blogging and all other internet activities is because I noticed how I had fallen into a pattern of letting my life continue on while I failed to take initiative to accomplish my goals. It is so much easier to live a life of routine then it is to take action to accomplish what is important. I know I would much rather sit in front of a computer or sit on the couch watching a movie than to do anything that takes any effort, let alone real work.

How sad life becomes when we settle for simple existence. We take the path of least resistance and continue the daily cycle of work, TV, and sleep. The life God created us to live is a life that is very different. It isn’t necessarily more exciting, but it is more difficult, and it will require us to break free from the routine we have established for ourselves.

Jeremiah 29:11 reads; “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (NASB). God has a plan for our lives that is more than spending time watching television or surfing the world wide web. God’s intention for our lives was not that it be wasted through inactivity, but to walk to the path of the disciple. In other words God wants us to become active partners with Him as He restores us to be the people He created us to be.

This isn’t about a life sitting a pew at church and giving 10 percent of our income. The Disciple of Jesus Christ is on a daily journey to become more like his/her teacher. We are to spend our days trying to become like Jesus. This requires daily study of God’s Word, the Bible. We, Disciples of Christ in the United States, have so many resources for studying God’s Word, but we don’t take advantage of them. The average church attender is basically Biblically illiterate, and the church leaders (including many preachers and teachers) aren’t that much better off.

Yet it is not enough to merely study God’s Word. James wrote; But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves (James 1:22; NASB). The way the Word of God makes a difference in our lives is if we obey what it says. If we are not going to make an effort to align our lives with the words of Scripture than our effort to study those words has been in vain. It is in this action, more than the action of studying that proves our faith in God. We trust Jesus, not when we sit at His feet and listen to His teachings, but when we make an effort to put those teachings into practice.

The easiest thing in the world is to continue on with the way things are. We can delude ourselves into thinking that I am okay and that no changes need to be taken in our lives. All the while we fail to take another step forward in becoming the person God created us to be.

To be a disciple of Jesus isn’t about going on some grand adventure, but it is about entering into a difficult task. A disciple of Christ isn’t saved from the mundane responsibilities of life, but we are giving a hope. To be a disciple often is about survival, taking one day at a time to accomplish the tasks given to us. It is when we commit ourselves to the actions of a disciple, study and change, in this reality that God works the restoring process on our lives. Some how we need to live a life of faith when the easiest thing in the world would be to live a life of routine.

It has been awhile...

and it will be three more weeks before I will post again on a regular basis. I have decided to extend my period with out a computer for three more weeks: Wednesday May 2. I have enjoyed life with out my computer and Internet and have found myself spending more time writing, reading, and exercising. Eventually I will be back, but hopefully I can make some real life changes so that a computer doesn't dominate my life schedule. Thanks for the comments and encouragement I have received in my absence. I hope that you will visit again once I decide to come back.