When God blows up your Theology

“But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.

When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.””
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭11:2-3, 18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/act.11.2-3,18.nlt

The churches paradigm regarding salvation was not something they developed carelessly. It was based on:

• Careful reading of the scripture
• Hundreds of years of history with God
• Strongly held traditions

Not only that, these were men they walked with Jesus personally or knew those who had. Yet, with all that going for them, they were wrong. WRONG. They did not think Gentiles like me could know Jesus. We accept this as normal thinking today without batting an eye.

We as a church and individuals must be very careful in light of this. If these disciples could have something wrong, we too, corporately or personally, could have something wrong even when we studied the scripture carefully and have history and tradition to back us up. That is not to say we throw all our beliefs out the door, but we should be open minded toward God and what he reveals to us. Being so dogmatic is dangerous and destroys unity in the church.

For example, lets look at the Holy Spirit. There are many different theologies about it. But only one is right and that maybe only partially. When we all get to heaven most of us will find we misinterpreted the scriptures.

What about young earth versus old earth creation? The truth is one or the other, not both. There are people on both sides that dogmatically assert their view to be truth. Half are right and half are wrong.

What about gay marriage? Does the church have it exactly right? Maybe so, but maybe not. We must be open to God correcting parts that are sincere but wrong.

My recommendation is this. Study the scriptures, pray, read, investigate all questions thoroughly until you are convinced you are absolutely correct. You owe your question that. But then hold your answer loosely. Some of the answers I am so certain of will be wrong. And it is okay. Good people are wrong sometimes. Once you find out you were wrong you can change your opinion and be okay still.

Dear Lord, help us personally and as a church to be like the early disciples who allowed you to blow up their theology. Thank you that they accepted it and did not resist the change. Actually they rejoiced. Yet help us to study carefully to find the best answer possible to our questions. When we get it wrong show us. Develop more unity in your church as we become less dogmatic. Love. Tom.

Doing part of Gods plan

“When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp.”

1 Kings 16:16 NIV

http://bible.com/111/1ki.16.16.niv

Bad King kills bad King kills bad King and so on. This is how it goes in Israel. In some cases God commanded the person to kill the king. But the committed the same sins as the king they killed. 

It seemed they were willing to do Gods will when it involved fighting and other cool activities but when it was personal holiness there was not more interest in God. 

We can be the same way. We follow God devoutly when he wants us to do cool stuff. But when His will does not match ours suddenly we beg off. We sound like Henry ford. I will do anything God wants me to do as long as it sounds fun to me. Instead we need to sign up for the whole package  

Lord help me to do anything you want with no qualifiers. And if it is hard can you give me some extra help? Love always. Tom. 

I WANT TO BE RIGHT

“How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.”

Psalms 133:1-2 NLT

http://bible.com/116/psa.133.1-2.nlt

God tells us how awesome harmony is among brothers. Elsewhere God extols the importance of unity in the church. God strongly values his family being united rather than splintered. I think based on the new testament scripture this is primarily to be a stronger witness to the world. 

I think the biggest impediment here is our insatiable desire to be right. We want to:

Be right

Be commended by others as right

Demonstrate that others are clearly wrong. 

I suspect this is largely about valuing ourselves and feeling good about ourselves. We must be the winner. We are driven by competition as humans. And I count myself in this crowd. 

What would it be like if we had churches where harmony and unity we more valued than being the best and the correct ones. I guess the splintered denominational structure would no longer be needed. I guess we could all go to church in our community church instead of driving 30 minutes to the church that is right. I guess we would each minister to our local communities with a united front across the country. Really I don't know what the church would be like if unity were elevated above being right. But I think it would make the church very different and better. 

Lord I am as competitive as the next guy and I want to be right, but I think I may be damaging the unity of your church in small ways. Help me be a uniter and harmonizer even if that means I am not always seen as right. 

God told me to tell you...

“But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the LORD: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.”

1 Kings 13:18-19 NLT

http://bible.com/116/1ki.13.18-19.nlt

The was the prophet hungry and thirsty. He wanted to eat and drink SOOO badly. But he was resolute that he would not. He would follow God no matter the difficulty. Then comes along a lying prophet. He says God told me to tell you..." A phrase popular in pentecostal circles. But the lie fit the prophet's desires so well that he believed the lying prophet. The prophet lost his life as a result of believing this lie. 

We certainly don't want to quench the fire of prophecy but we must be very careful when others try to speak for God. When the word is wrong but lines up with our desires, there is an immense internal pressure to believe the lie and move into grave error. 

Make sure you apply the 4 pillars of hearing God. 

Wise counsel: What do the wise people you trust think?

Prayer: What do you think God is saying through prayer?

Circumstance: What do the circumstances around you say?

The Bible: How does the wisdom in the Bible guide you in this decision?

Lord help me to be wiser than a lying prophet. Help me to know Your truth and not be confused by voices that lie.