If we wish to grow into men and women of courage, we must know what it means to be mature.
As I look back at my teens, I had false notions of maturity. I thought that in order to be an adult, I had to merely give up the stuff of my childhood for what seemed more adult. I would give up Lucky Charms for Honey'n'Bunches of Oats. I would give up my favorite websites for the more serious variety. I would give up conversations with imagination for more adult topics.
I didn't give up as much as I hoped, but it didn't matter; to begin with, I was still the same boy that I started out. It was not true maturity.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Hollering over Theology
Some time ago I stated on Twitter, "Good Theology does not necessarily lead to good works, (just look at Jonah) but it does demand it. Likewise for bad theology and bad works." Let me expound on this statement.
This observation comes from looking at the history of Western Civilization and recent cultural phenomena. We see Christians in the past who knew the message of the Gospel but chose to violate it; we still bend over backwards to give an explanation for their hypocrisy, but we can see the character of the triune God and know how to imitate Him.
The other side of the coin is where many get tripped up, that bad theology does not necessarily lead to bad works, but demands it. They assume that as long as people don't do bad things, they can believe what they want. (As long as it does not go outside of the mainstream opinion!) So they get upset when challenged with the rotten elements of their 'theology.' We are not saying that if they believe such things, it is inevitable that they act consistently with it. But we do rejoice that they are borrowing from Christian morality and ask why they are doing it in the terms of their 'theology.'
The biblical case that I had was with Jonah. I've heard that the reason Jonah disobeyed God and ran away was because of fear. But that is not what Jonah told God. He said, "I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil." (Jonah 4:2) Since this was between Jonah and God, I assume this was an honest excuse. Jonah had good theology, theology that demands that he become what he obeys; but he did not know what manner of spirit he was of.
So that's the hollering over theology that has been going on these days.
This observation comes from looking at the history of Western Civilization and recent cultural phenomena. We see Christians in the past who knew the message of the Gospel but chose to violate it; we still bend over backwards to give an explanation for their hypocrisy, but we can see the character of the triune God and know how to imitate Him.
The other side of the coin is where many get tripped up, that bad theology does not necessarily lead to bad works, but demands it. They assume that as long as people don't do bad things, they can believe what they want. (As long as it does not go outside of the mainstream opinion!) So they get upset when challenged with the rotten elements of their 'theology.' We are not saying that if they believe such things, it is inevitable that they act consistently with it. But we do rejoice that they are borrowing from Christian morality and ask why they are doing it in the terms of their 'theology.'
The biblical case that I had was with Jonah. I've heard that the reason Jonah disobeyed God and ran away was because of fear. But that is not what Jonah told God. He said, "I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil." (Jonah 4:2) Since this was between Jonah and God, I assume this was an honest excuse. Jonah had good theology, theology that demands that he become what he obeys; but he did not know what manner of spirit he was of.
So that's the hollering over theology that has been going on these days.
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