Good morning!
Many of you know I am in Seminary. This past fall I took a Systematic Theology course. One of the first books we were assigned to read was a book by Helmut Thielicke (fun name to try and pronounce!). In his book, he equated first year theology students to Junior High boys trying to learn how to sing. Since I work a lot with youth, I found this comparison interesting! He said first year theology students have not quite found their voice and as they get excited to teach all they have learned, they usually end up doing more harm than good. This is because the average person in a church does not understand all of the big words, or difficult concepts their pastor is trying to get across. What in the world does this comment have to do with Galatians?
What stood out to me: Paul mentions that he went fourteen years between conversion and when he met with the apostles.
Why did this stand out to me: In explaining his course, Paul says he wanted to make sure he was not wanting to preaching in vain to the gentiles. Paul could have went through with his heart's desire and he could have gone out and preached without the apostles' approval, but chose not to.
How can this be applied in my own life: There are many things about Christianity I do not know. I do not have all the answers, and there are things I do not fully understand. I do not get how God predestines and allows for free will. I do not understand how one man can take the sin of the world on his shoulders. I do not understand the balance of faith verses work. I am terrified of the passages of scripture where it talks about loving everyone equally. I don't like that I have to forgive others or I will not be forgiven. It is through these topics (and more not mentioned) the church has literally split down the middle on. As I go about teaching what little knowledge I have about scripture, I want to ask those who listen for feedback. If I am not holding true to what is said in scripture I want to know. Paul wanted to make sure he was not doing something wrong, which is why he went before the authorities in Jerusalem. I try really hard to go to my authorities as well when I encounter these situations. If you read my post yesterday, that means being humble enough to admit I am wrong; something I absolutely do not like doing.
I am curious if any of you have been reading with me, and I would like to know your thoughts!
Tomorrow's reading: Galatians 2:11-14.
In His service,CrazyPete
Hey Pete,
ReplyDeleteI don't think we've met, but I worked at Camp Lebanon for a lot of years back in the 90's. Your thoughts today remind me of my own life. When I was 15 I visited an orphanage in Mexico and decided then that I wanted to minister to orphan children. When I was 18 God spoke to me and basically told me that I would minister to orphans in my own home, here in the US. I had no idea what that would look like in my life. It took until I was 30 before I finally got my license to be a foster parent. I thought I was ready to adopt orphans when I was 18 years old, but for some reason God had some things he wanted to teach me, and it took 12 years before I was ready. Now we're in the process of adopting one of our foster kids.
Isn't it amazing how God works sometimes! We think we are ready for anything, and we can take on all the challenges God will put in our way; when in reality we are totally blind to other areas of our lives God wants to get a hold of!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and good luck with the adoption process! May God bless you!
First off, great job so far Pete. I am so encouraged by you, you have helped me so much in my walk with Christ. Being humble is really a quality that comes directly from Jesus. It is so interesting how we as fallen sinners have such a hard time being humble. The thing I find so interesting about systematic theology is that; so many small points get argued, but it doesn't really matter that the opinons differ. As long as we have a few things down, (doctrine of justification, which is also vastly debated), all the rest will be debated until our Lord returns. Do you think that is by design?
ReplyDeleteI totally think it is! 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." So many times I hear people say they know God's mind(I am also among that crowd), and it makes me question can we really know God's ultimate plan? I think there are issues God has left unanswered. There is a part of humans that cannot stand an unanswered question, so we come up with answers to fit our belief and not let some things be hidden.
ReplyDeleteI agree Pete! We have to just put our trust in Him and he will guide the way. Yes this is hard sometimes. The unknown tends to be scary. I tend to worry too much. Which right there is a sin. If I worry, I am not trusting God. This is one of the things I work on everyday. It's just our human nature to worry. But that still doesn't mean we should. There's a difference between worry and concern. In the end again, it's about trusting God with our lives. He won't let us down. If we rely on others or ourselves, most likely we will be let down.
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