Good Theology

Theology: The study of divine things and/or religious truth.

I would like to think I have 'good' theology... I would like to think that when I speak about my faith in God, the scriptures, and how we ought to live that I do it with consistency and faithfulness.  My hope is that when I  preach, teach, and enter into conversation with others regarding the faith that God affirms what I am saying (to some level)  as 'good.'  N.T. Wright has said (paraphrased), 'If I had to guess, I think what I teach/write and have to say about God is generally accurate about 80-85% of the time and the other 15-20% is off in some way or another.  The only problem is, I don't know what that 15-20% is.' What I don't want is to have bad theology and I think you know what I am talking about.  

The other day I was watching TBN and one of the preachers/teachers was telling her listeners that the reason she got breast implants is because God told her she should feel beautiful.  We've heard other televangelists talk about how God wants to double and triple your income so you can get another Mercedes.  Or how about those teachers/preachers that tell people, "If you would pray enough prayers and give enough money to my 'ministry' the cancer will go away."    Some more subtle examples of poor theology and praxis are when we justify our hatred and prejudice in the name of God and the faith.

But here is what I believe to be true.  No matter how long I live, my guess is that there will always be a part of me that 'never fully gets it.'  If I lived to be 150 years old and was asked to teach a study on any book of the Bible, I can guarantee I would say/teach something that would cause God to say, "Eh, nice try Jay but your way off."  I'm sure as long as I live there will be signs and symptoms of false beliefs and understandings that I have picked up along the way... And to a certain extent, I am ok with that.  Why?  Because above all the nooks, crannies, and truths I will strive to articulate, discover, teach and preach throughout my life lies the greatest commandment of all: to dedicate my entire life to loving God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength while striving to love my neighbor as myself.

My mother is 64 years old and has MS.  Walking is becoming more and more difficult for her.  She is a sweet woman who loves the Lord with her whole heart.  Over the last couple years I've heard her articulate some thoughts and beliefs that, my guess, she has picked up from the media that I do not agree with.  But at the end of the day, here is a woman who regularly visits other people who are suffering from Alzheimers, MS, cancer, and other various disabilities and serves communion to them.  She sits with them for hours and loves them with the simple/extravagant love of Christ.  In the end, it is her love for God and others matters most.

God would rather someone who is wrong now and again that commits their life to loving God and others as oppose to the articulate scholar that fails to embody the love of Christ towards others.

The practice matters most.

'But seek first well-being...'

Today (and over the course of a few years) I made an observation that I believe to be thoroughly true.  It seems that most people who would call themselves Christians, whether they realize it or not, are much more interested in pursuing ‘well-being’ for their life than they are of seeing God’s Kingdom become a reality in the world

The prayer has changed.  Instead of praying, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we pray for comfort, security, health, and well-being for our life.  We pray for and defend our nation in order to better secure this ‘well-being’ that we covet so much.  In fact, for many people, I believe the Christian faith serves as a means of securing this ‘well-being’ that we desires so much.  That's right, Christianity is simply one building block to the greater goal of well-being for our life.  And the cool thing about building blocks?   You can move them, change them, shift them and even get rid of them for awhile if it will help you achieve the ends you desire.

The difference between these two prayers and ‘ends’: seeking God's kingdom vs. seeking security and well-being,  is how we view suffering.  When ‘well-being’ is our chief end, there is no place for suffering in our lives.  We are unable to comprehend that a good and loving God could ever possibly allow or even want us to suffer. Redemptive suffering is a foreign concept.  In fact, God is the one who is supposed to relieve any and all suffering that we might come across… But when our greatest aim and ‘end’ is seeing God’s Kingdom being brought into fruition, we realize that there are things that are of far greater importance in this world than our security and well-being.  Perhaps God is allowing me to gradually suffer and die from cancer so that I may show my children and my community what it looks like to die well?  Perhaps God desires to strip me of all financial security so I can truly learn what it means and looks like to depend on God for my daily bread?  Perhaps God has better things in mind for me than the 4 bedroom house and 6 digit income?

Final thought: I’m glad that Jesus sought faithful obedience to God’s work and mission in the world over his well-being.  I’m glad that the disciples chose to live faithfully towards God’s work and mission in the world over their health and well-being.  May God strip us of the idol of security and well-being that we run after so that we may be free to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.