One of my current non-blog projects is a curriculum of sorts on basic theology. I find that a lot of Christians find theology to be intimidating or to be relegated to the scholarly or seminary-trained. I also find that we (myself included) don’t often consider the practical implications of our theology. We all have a basic theology-our beliefs about God and faith-and that set of beliefs, whether systematized and thought out or not, snowballs into chains of other beliefs and our actions. In other words, our theology shapes our worship and our living.
For example, Protestants have inherited from our Reformation forefathers a deep value of the Bible. Martin Luther came to his Reformation understanding because of his study of the Scriptures, and he believed strongly in the power of the Word of God. So, he translated the Bible into the German language, so the average fellow in the church could understand it himself. Sermons which explained the Bible became important. We believe it is from the Bible we receive the authoritative Word of God, not from a human intermediary or tradition. This is a basic theological belief about what determines Truth and Authority. If you observe most Protestant church services today, the “high point” of the service will probably be the sermon, because its role in holding up and applying the Truth and Authority of Scripture is key. Theology has shaped worship.
Read more“. . .Therefore, since we surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus . . .” - Hebrews 12:1-2
I love the “faith hall of fame” in Hebrews 11. It provides such rich vignettes of faith lived-out throughout the Old Testament. The people listed were far from perfect-we only need to look up the corresponding stories in the Old Testament to discover this. Noah was drunk and left himself publicly indecent. Abraham was deceptive, and Sarah laughed at God’s promised child instead of believing. Moses killed a man and was ultimately refused entry to the Promised Land. Rahab was a prostitute. And this is just the beginning.
We cannot follow these faithful people in everything, but this in no way discounts the power of their example. They show us a real life picture of what it looks like to seek God, to obey Him, to follow in faith when it defies our circumstances. We see how God works pain and brokenness into something good, which can further His work in the world.
While I in no way want to put them on the same plane as God’s inspired Word, I think faithful Christians throughout all of church history can offer us similar examples. Here are people who are flawed and get some stuff wrong, as any of us do, but who offer us stories of faith, courage, wisdom, love, and a human attempt to follow Christ the best they know how. We can learn from this “cloud of witnesses” who have gone before-both from their victory and from the ways they failed.
Read moreBack at the end of October, I started a weekly series on spiritual disciplines. After these many weeks, I am going to bring this series to an end for the time being and shift to a different theme for these weekly more practically-minded posts. If you missed any of the spiritual disciplines series, you can find all of the posts under Tools and Resources.
Have you ever felt guilty or discouraged because your spiritual life didn't fit the mold of what you perceived to be the "perfect Christian life"? Maybe you felt you could pray more freely while hiking in the woods than in an early-morning corner of your house. Maybe your heart is stirred and convicted when you hear a dramatic reading of Scripture but not when you sit down to study it with a commentary and concordance. Maybe you've desired more embodied worship, or more traditional worship, or more silence but found yourself in a church tradition that did not value these things.
Many of us have a mental picture of what we perceive as “best” kind of Christian spirituality, what a relationship pursued with the Lord is supposed to look like. While we should be focusing on the fruit of such a life-the fruit of the Spirit, love of God and neighbor, humility, etc.-I find it easy to give way to a particular lifestyle expression. We can easily become self-assured when we measure up to this image, dissatisfied and disillusioned trying to live up to it, or guilty that we aren't pursing it.
But what if a personal relationship with the Lord looks different from person to person? What if we each have a way we tend to be able to commune with Him better, worship Him more freely, and so forth?
Read moreI remember the morning of my wedding. The enormity of what we were embarking on pressed on me. All I wanted to do to calm my nerves and reassure my heart was talk to Scott—just briefly, just hear his voice. Unfortunately, one of his groomsmen, in the name of tradition, had spirited away his phone to ensure that our first contact of the day was at the church altar.
So, like many other brides before me, I made it through the morning of my wedding left to my own devices. I donned the most exquisite dress I’ve ever worn. I laughed with my friends. I practiced waltzing with my dad around our dining room. I hugged my mom. And I waited.
When I entered the back of my childhood church sanctuary, my arm linked through the crook at my dad’s elbow, it was as if I were walking in a dream. The swirl of emotions, the faces of so many I loved and who loved me turned to watch me. So much preparation, so many conversations, and we were finally here. When we rounded the corner to come down the center aisle, and Scott and I finally locked eyes, I knew once again that this was right, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by his side.
Read moreHere we are in a new year—2017. I heralded it in with Scott by my side, standing in the back of a room filled with my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. One of the little ones hadn’t made it to midnight, and she was dead-to-the-world asleep on a blanket on the floor.
The time marker of the New Year sparks reflection—joy and thankfulness over the blessings of the past twelve months and tears over losses and disappointments.
This is also the time of year when people make resolutions—these goals of how to improve ourselves over the next year. The resolve with which we tackle the fulfillment of these resolutions, though, can be reflected in the comical levels of dusty exercise equipment for sale on the curb or unused gym memberships come early spring. We have the best of intentions, but our resolutions are often too abstract or far reaching to carry through to completion.
But what if instead of setting a far off goal, we instead looked at values and patterns we wanted to encourage and prioritize now, today, tomorrow, the next day? What if we focused on what is already at hand, and allow those small decisions to take us somewhere?
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