When Theology Gets in the Way
When Theology gets in the way
Main Point: Christ calls us to love first, not proclaim the truth as we see it. When we reverse this, we turn to judgment rather than mercy; law over grace.
When I graduated from seminary way back when, it was popular to take tests or surveys to determine your spiritual gifts. These tests were comprised of choices between extremes and people inevitably came out favoring one set of gifts over another. Someone might be a teacher, another a helper, still another might be a prophet(one who sees black and white and cuts right to the ‘truth’)
I discovered I was sort of in this last category. I knew I was weak in several areas, but I did have a passion for the truth. So, that settled it…I would create ministries around this truth-telling.
All the while, I knew that to be put in a box, so-to-speak, was not very helpful. Many of us used these inventories as excuses not to get involved in places that made us uncomfortable. Mine, in particular, pushed me toward theology. Simply put, the study of God. I wanted to get my theology right so that I would pass my ordination exams and not be found wanting in my preaching and teaching.
In the last 40 years the church has been struggling to figure who it is in the current sociological climate. The common acceptance of the Judeo-Christian ethic is not so common today. Our individual starting points are often radically different. I need only to mention the following issues and you will understand my meaning: gender issues, sexual orientation, science and creationism, ordination standards, roles of men and women and when life begins.
If I begin with theology, I immediately place myself in a particular camp and draw some to myself while alienating others. Oswald Chambers put it this way:
“A scientist can explain the universe in which common-sense men live, but the scientific explanation is not first; life is first. The same with theology: theology is the systematizing of the intellectual expression of life from God; it is a mighty thing, but it is second, not first….If we put it first, we will do what Job’s friends did, refusing to look at facts and remaining consistent to certain ideas which pervert the character of God.”
In other words, there is an appropriate time for everything, but the order is significant. Listen to the order in Jesus’ answer to the question, “What is the most important commandment?” “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” He could have said, after the first two commandments, all theology hangs on these two commandments or simply: Love first, the do’s and don’ts are second.
Jesus said to love our enemies…i.e. love them as people, as images of God…what they do is secondary. He even said as followers of Christ, we will be noticed if we love one another. We can’t even get that right. We spend too much time arguing over what type of music to sing, how long the sermon should be, what age children should take communion and a thousand other nitpicky details which really don’t amount to much.
One of my favorite verses is Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” You see, God doesn’t ask us to do something that He hasn't already demonstrated for us. God didn’t say get your act together and then I’ll love you. The miracle of God’s love is that it works from the inside out. Accept it and watch what happens. Stand at a distance from God, refuse his love and you will not only be alienated from God, but from others and even yourself. Accepting God’s love is the key to everything else.
This message is primarily to me. I’m a “I’m gonna fix it type of person”. I’ve been a theology first person for most of my life and now I want to rearrange my priorities. I believe I have kept love second because I have felt that I haven’t been very good at it. I also recognized the risk of loving and didn’t want to be rejected. Whereas, if someone rejected the truth, they weren’t rejecting me, but… ‘the truth’.
But I can’t escape it any longer. The words of Scripture scream out to me that love has to be primary or nothing else matters. The apostle Paul eloquently says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
I am thankful that there is a place for truth…a place for good theology…a place for do’s and don’ts. The Christian faith is very practical and applicable to real life. But what makes the faith so attractive is…love. Put it to the test. Read the Gospels and watch how Jesus loves first and then gets into theology.
So, as scary as it might seem, I’m am trying to practice this simple truth. Love first, theology second. I’ll end with a couple of Scriptures that will help finalize my thoughts:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8
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