Simplified theology

Everyone has a theology, operative ideas about God. As the old bluesman said about the kind of music he preferred, there are only two kinds of theology: good theology and bad theology.

Bad theology is false ideas of God. Good theology is true ideas about God. The only One who knows the truth of God IS God. And the only way we can learn good theology is to hear Him.

For many years, the touchstone of my operative theology has been to hear Jesus, and follow Him. It's what He said His people would do. The fact that He is "the truth" (John 14:6) grounds that theology in everyday experience, as He Himself IS: hearing truth, loving truth, and following truth is what it means to be Jesus' disciple.

God' been opening a second point of operative theology to my understanding. That all our purpose and love is bound up in seeking His Presence. Anything less than His Presence is mere religion, pointless and worthless.

His Presence is everything we need, for there His limitless power, love, protection and wisdom IS. His Presence is His Kingdom and His Glory manifest, for where He IS He IS sovereign. The Spirit He has given us vouchsafes His Presence, and His Rule is enacted by The Spirit in our hearts.

A complete true idea of God is doubtless beyond my limited capacity. But these are the operative understandings God's given me to walk in thus far. Knowing the Teacher, I know I can take each as fully truth.

Different Than Christian

I've written about it here before: that when you really set out to think as God thinks, it sets you apart from the world . . . and from other Christians. I know how it has happened. There are specific Spiritual choices I've made, and I can see that they make the difference.

I was meditating on Jesus' revelation Who He IS, "...the way, and the truth, and the life." God impressed on me that if you love Jesus, you must love truth. He's worked that into to my thinking as a fierce and absolute criteria. It's been a key spiritual gift: above anything else, love-of-truth has kept me from the political snares by which the enemy has deceived and defiled very many American Christians.

Even before that, James' words had hit me hard; "if any lacks wisdom," he only has to ask God in faith. I knew I lacked wisdom, so I asked God for it in faith. In faith, I know God stands by His promise. (Indeed, "wisdom" would be a good summation of what it means to operate by God's thoughts and God's ways; Isaiah 55:8)

I remember being impressed when I read that Solomon himself, the wisest man ever, asked God for for understanding, and that his prayer pleased God. I wanted to please God too, so I prayed for understanding.

Probably because these things were already at work, a few years ago I felt a great need to press closer to God. I desperately felt a need for comfort and protection, as I watched more and more Christians turning away after deceivers. He said that I should discipline myself to spend time with Him regularly. I did what He said, and He has blessed that obedience by letting me come into His Presence.

Most recently, He's impressed on me a similar word about fasting, so I've also begun fasting unto Him regularly.

I look at it all as an increasing experience of God. Like prayer and the desire to hear what He says, they aren't even particular things to do, anymore. It just feels like life, continual and pervasive.

I'm satisfied it's God's Spirit working and growing in me. None of these are things my flesh would have ever desired or sought.

I find myself at odds with the world, and with many other Christians. I've whined about that here in the past: but I'm coming to see it as no cause for whining. It's hard evidence that God is Faithful to His promises, and able to perform them...even in this heart I know (better than I know any other) to be weak, and foolish, and desperately wicked.

Praise to our Father, Who reigns in power even in our own weakness !

Culture War Christianity

The root-problem of "culture-war" Christianity is that culture is a human construct.

We live amidst human culture continually in this world. We cannot but grieve at its utter godlessness. But we only recognize its abject darkness by contrast, if we ourselves walk in the light.

Jesus, The Light, has told us that His Kingdom is not of this world, and so His followers do not fight there (John 18:36). His word to us is that our war is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and that we do not war according to the flesh (II Corinthians 10:3-5).

"Culture-war" fights exactly where and how God has told us not to. The Church of culture-war necessarily takes up the kinds of weapons appropriate to that war (in the current American Church, political weapons): and worse, takes up the mindset and attitudes of those who war against flesh and blood. That mindset is well exemplified by Galatians 5:20's list of the "deeds of the flesh" ("...enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions..."). And in disobeying God, the "culture war" Church forfeits His Spiritual power: the only force on earth that can ever change men's hearts.

Like its methods, culture war Christianity operates on assumptions, and to purposes, contrary to God's. Its purpose is to veneer our nation and culture with what the Supreme Court perceptively termed "civic deism"...through politics, that most unGodly of all man's ways. But where did God say He came into the world to save, patch-up, or improve man's works and kingdoms ?

We know the immediate origin of "culture-war" teaching is from the self-interested political faction foolish Christians have chosen to follow. And it's not hard to see who is the spiritual author of any doctrine that misleads the Church and teaches it disobedience. But the enemy's chief purpose in "culture-war" is to demean God's sovereignty. And indeed, the God of"culture-war" Christianity is a mere adjunct to human acts, human works, and human purposes.

The sovereign King Who gives Himself as the only Alternative to the works of man and satan despises "culture war" Christianity and all its ways. Nothing of it glorifies Him, to whom alone glory belongs. His word to "culture warriors" is "Repent !!"

Divider

It becomes increasingly clear to me that how a Christian reacts to my "non-standard" views tells me what's in their heart.

Those whose operative thinking is political convince themselves I cry out against the Church following Republican lies, rebellion, blasphemy and apostacy because I'm a Democrat.

Those whose operative thinking is governed by the Spirit understand it's a cry against the Church being led in the enemy's spirit.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus said it, and so it is. People show what their hearts are set on, by what they hear.

Do We Preach the Gospel ?

If the Church in America looks at itself honestly...as we're commanded to do...I think we have to have to ask ourselves if we are preaching the gospel, as we are commanded to do ?

That question hinges on another: does the Church in America know what the gospel IS ? How can we preach what we ourselves don't know ?

To my subjective experience, what we preach is some variation of salvationism: that we can be forgiven our sins if we accept Jesus as Lord, and we'll go to heaven when we die. In the meantime, we can know we're saved if we do right things.

That's a vast simplification of what we preach, of course. And none of the message is false in itself.

But what increasingly seems lacking in the Church' gospel is the good news that we can walk with our Father experientially. "Heaven" and "right things" miss the point: neither has any reality separate from God's Own Presence. The good news is His Presence: even in this dark world, and even in us.

And where His Presence is, God reigns. The good news is that (in the words of Luther's hymn) "His Kingdom is forever:" and "now" is a part of "forever." When God is Present with us, we are not struggling through, doing right things in this life until we "get there" by dying. Living in God's Presence, our hearts are not set on doing "right things" at all: we desire to do what pleases our Father. Our purpose isn't to "get there:" we are there.

If we struggle, it's against our human weakness to set our hearts on some other purpose than doing His will. But it's not that great a struggle. No one in His Presence wants any lesser thing. And our hearts deeply desire to please Him because His Presence only rests with those who do.

God's living Presence seems vastly different from the gospel the Church preaches.

God's Presence seems vastly different from the good news the Church itself knows.

Imagine that

It may be a stretch, but try to imagine:

a nation whose Christians think God calls them to be a "culture-warriors." Christians who seek to please God by loudly taking "righteous" stands on cultural "issues," and forget that culture is a human construct. Christians who believe their war actually IS against flesh-and-blood enemies.

a nation whose Christians set their hearts not on Jesus, "the Truth" (John 14:6), but on the lies of a slef-serving political faction. Christians who forget that factionalism is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20).

a nation whose Christians believe their "godly" stance toward human authorities is rebelliousness, because their faction teaches that government is "the problem," and evil. Christians who argue against the Biblical teaching that God establishes human authorities as "minister[s] of God to you for good." (Romans 13:4)

a nation whose Christians believe that patriotism is a Christian value: even when their faction's leader blasphemously announces to the world that their country...not Jesus...is "...the hope of all mankind," and "the light that shines in darkness."

A nation whose Christians profess Jesus' mercy toward the poor, the sick, and the immigrant: and hypocritically follow their political faction in despising the poor, the sick and the immigrant.

a nation whose Christians' hearts overwhelmingly desire to follow their faction's leader, even when he is the priest of a demonic spirit who claims to be a different Jesus.

Imagine that God remains merciful to such Christians, and sends servants to call them back to Himself. Imagine that those Christians angrily reject God's rebuke of their unbelief, rebellion, and apostasy as a political attack on their "righteous" faction.

Imagine God's anger against those who continue to walk contrary to the mind of Christ, yet pridefully call themselves "Christians." Imagine His consuming fury toward those who profane His name, and scoff at His rebuke.

Imagine that.

Selling Out

If we are attentive, we watch how much we are being charged for our purchases, to make sure we're not over-charged. Even with bar-code scanners, mistakes sometimes happen, and no one wants to be overcharged. But everybody's probably also had the experience of being undercharged by a distracted or harried clerk. Those are the times we show more than our money: we show who we are.

Do we point out a mistake in our favor if the clerk gives us back a dime too much ? Surely most of us are that honest. What if it's a dollar ? A convenience-store clerk recently undercharged me $10.

We often read news stories about someone: a homeless man, a cab-driver, a welfare-mother: who finds a large sum of cash somewhere...and returns it to its owner, or turns it over to the police. It's a "feel good" story, especially if the owner amply rewards the finder. It feels good because it proves there are people whose honesty is not for sale, regardless of their circumstances, at any price.

Because that's what happens if you take that money that doesn't belong to you. Before, you had your honesty: afterwards, it's gone. You sold it. How much did you get for it, a dime ? a dollar ? Or maybe it's for sale, but you're holding out for a higher price ?

Scripture says we have the mind of Christ. For every Christian, that's the core of who we are. But we can sell that too, as surely as we can sell our honesty.

You could make a lot of money in business, for example, if you'll operate by the prevailing spirit of the world: that business is governed by amoral "market forces" such as the law of supply and demand, or "what the market will bear." But you'll have to swap out Jesus' teachings that business too is under His moral authority, through your moral decisions about fair prices and fair pay.

But the real sale you make there is not for money. The "mind of Christ" which we have is a complex of spiritual attitudes and operative ideas. So is the currency with which Christ's mind is bought and sold. To buy the idea that Christ is King, you must pay with your idea that you are master of your own life. To sell out Christ's idea that your purpose here is doing what pleases the Father, you must exchange for it the idea that your purpose is to please yourself, or someone else, or some organization of men.

Why do so few American Christians not have the mind of Christ ? They've sold it. Most of them have sold it for the political ideas of the earthly faction they choose to follow: love of the Truth has been sold for love of lies, rebelliousness accepted in exchange for submissiveness, Jesus' mercy to the poor and sick traded for their faction's disdain for the poor and sick.

Most of them have never considered the price they've been paid. Or even considered that they are selling: so little are most Christians aware of what life in Christ is.

Father, awaken those who are sleeping. Father, deal with as You will those who sell out Jesus with their eyes fully opened.

No Need for Repentance

Another men's Bible study. One of those side-tracks of doubtful relevance to the Bible, which I'm not sure how we get off onto. One of the men was telling of his brother's friend, a Vietnam vet, who told him, "I've been extremely fortunate. Forty-one times, I saw an enemy soldier before he saw me, and I was able to shoot first."

Someone said, "It makes you think God must have some great work for that guy to do." A couple offered opinions about what great work God might have so signally saved that man for.

I spoke the thought that came into my mind. "I've heard combat veterans say the experience of shooting someone only really hits you later, when you get older. Someone who killed 41 men, maybe God will send him a spirit of repentance, " Not said to be controversial: it just seemed that God would want anyone who killed so many people to repent.

The silence must have lasted two full minutes. It caught me by surprise. It was extremely uncomfortable, all the more so since I couldn't quite figure out whar it was about. I wanted to say something, just to break the silence, but felt like God said, "Don't speak." Eventually someone else spoke again, about something else, and conversation resumed.

It seemed then, and still seems to me now, a common-Sprirtual-sense view. It's inconceivable to me that someone who killed 41 people would not need to repent. It's inconceivable to me that anyone would think otherwise: least of all Christians.

I've written about it here before: when you really set out to think as God thinks, it sets you apart from the world...and also from other Christians.

Platte River Christianity

In these Great Plains water is often in short supply. On a map, it appears there are many rivers to sustain life. But Plains rivers are often poor sources of water. Too many are like the Platte River, "a mile wide and an inch deep."

More than water, our lives are dependent on the flow of Christ's Spirit. But heart-deep Christianity also seems in short supply among us. We resort to prayer...when we need something. We fast when we want to impress God that we really, really need something. A few of us actually read His word, but only in specific limited contexts: Sunday School, or Bible study. We try to listen to what God's saying to us....when ? Not often. Our Christianity is nothing that permeates and soaks our lives in the Spirit.

Like the political faction it chooses to follow, America's Church is "issue"-oriented and opinion-driven. Any who want to drink deeply of the Spirit will find its Platte River Christianity a false hope, a "faith" a mile wide and an inch deep.