Where Do You Live?

"Some want to live within the sound
   Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop
   Within a yard of Hell."
--C.T. Studd

Theology And My Sin

One sin I consistently struggle with is pride over knowing a fair amount of scripture.  I love the Word of God and read it often. And sometimes in my flesh, I begin to believe there is something better about me than others, because I have read more. This obviously is pretty ridiculous. First of all, I don't really know much.  Second, anything I understand has been given to me by God and as such is no credit to me. Most importantly, the Word that I love teaches that I should not think of myself more highly than I ought. So there I am....a mess.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that there are a lot of people who are similar to me in this regard in the Christian world. I read many blogs online and books and it often occurs in my opinion that knowledge about God is elevated above knowledge of God. Theology is elevated above discipleship and love. The argument for this position is that truth is not negotiable. I agree with this argument, but often the application is not done in love and is over disputable matters (ie things in scripture which are unclear and peripheral to the gospel). In light of the above, this week I was thinking about the apostles. It struck me that Jesus did not pick one theologian to be among the twelve .....and there were plenty around.  You might argue that possibly the greatest apostle Paul was a theologian, and I think that argument would be correct.  But Paul had the wrong theology! He was transformed not by what he knew but by who he knew. So what does this mean?

My observations:

1) Christianity is about a relationship to the living God, knowing him, not just about him;
2)  The Word is the Spirit's revelation of who God is and who we are in relation to him. We are called to be disciplined in studying, reading and meditating on the Word. It is a means by which we can know God personally;
3)  Our position is based on who we know not what we know;
4)  There are indisputable matters (eg the gospel) and disputable matters within scripture for the Christian.  The former are not negotiable. The latter should be discussed in love and charity within the body of Christ.
5)  Comparison of myself with anyone but God is sin. Pride is therefore never righteous for the human.
6)  Jesus isn't impressed by what we know.

Grace

Our worst days are never so bad that we are out of reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that we are not in need of God's grace.   Jerry Bridges