Call me a nerd, but in love sitting around thinking about Theology. Whether it is in a discussion or merely in my head, I’ve never found myself tiring of the subject. Sometimes I’m thinking through the unsolvable mysteries and other times I’m trying to rephrase old arguments or parables, but no matter what the process forces me to evaluate what I believe, why I believe it, and often is there something else that makes more sense. Whatever the answer, I walk away knowing that the answers are typically less important than the process.
See, one part of theology that I think is as important as it is forgotten is the idea of it being alive. We serve a living God who, while unchanging in His attributes, is actively at work in creation. The new things He is up to are there for us to explore and spread. We have the opportunity to experience it and contextualize it for new generations.
What is interesting to me is how easily we forget or avoid this concept. We get locked into dogmatic forms of theology which many times cause us to stagnate. We decide we know enough and choose to ignore new, potentially enlightening, information. We let slothfulness consume us out of fear that knowing more might force us to be more responsible.
That idle theology is dangerous. We begin to worship an idea of God we’ve constructed instead of seeking out God Himself. We loose sight of real issues and make up our own “most important” lists. We stop challenging ourselves to be more Christ-like, and settle for being Christ Lite.
So my encouragement is this: go to a new Sunday School class. Ask your friends or a pastor for a new book. Take time out of your schedule just to sit and ponder the mysteries of God. If you do this, I can guarantee that you will begin to experience our living God in new and amazing ways.
Pax,
-Paul Hart Cochran