Theology has become offensive language. Most Christians I have known over the years would rather be bitten by a rabid T-Rex than listen to a lecture on theology. Many would prefer to have a train full of fleas dancing in their drawers than listen to 10 minutes of historical context on a Bible passage. We want to be entertained and we want to be inspired, but we don’t necessarily want to have to think about how we have arrived where we are.
Context is a funny thing. I’ve always had a knack for finding my way. It could have been the walks through the deep woods as a child when Dad would stop and say, “Michael, look where we came from. You may need to recognize it to find your way home.” On the other hand, it could have been inheriting my mother’s ironclad memory. Elephants and Mom…they never forget. Whatever it was, even before Google Maps, I never felt lost. If I went somewhere once, I could get back.
An odd thing happened in college once I started using MapQuest. There was a time I had driven to a party at a friend’s house off campus using turn by turn directions. I had a great time hanging out in an actual home for the first time in months. It was wonderful and refreshing after the chaos of my first few months in male only dorms. Seeing decorations, paintings, and soaps that weren’t picked out by a nineteen year old “dude” made me exceptionally thankful for the women in my life.
As I walked back to my car, something very odd happened. I pulled up to the first stop sign. I couldn’t remember whether to turn right or left. I was briefly very deeply disoriented. For the first time in my life, I drove somewhere and didn’t innately know how to get home. I had arrived at a destination without context. I couldn’t tell you how I got there or how to get home.
Many of us find ourselves in a similar situation in relation to God, the Bible, and church. We experience church on Sundays or Wednesdays and we know what we are supposed to believe about God, but we have no idea of how we got there or how to move forward. I have witnessed this lead to a deep dissatisfaction for so many of my friends growing up. Having led adult Bible studies for the past 17 years, I can’t tell you how many folks I have seen wander aimlessly around the same handful of questions. That isn’t to say these questions aren’t important or that they don’t deserve reflection. These are questions that have had thousands of years of thought by some of the most brilliant minds in Western civilization.
If, as I suspect, some of the Bible studies I have witnessed are examples of what is happening across the country, despite all of the deep thought of intelligent minds over millennia of Christianity, the questions are answered by the collective wisdom of the four or five people in the room whose voices are seen as authoritative. Nothing against those four or five individuals. They are probably quite intelligent and insightful. What are the chances of them having more insight after looking at the passage for 30 seconds than someone who has devoted 30 years of their adult life to studying a single biblical book, especially if they are ignorant of the numerous people who have wrestled with the passages, issues, and questions throughout history?
Because of a general distaste for theology, a reviling of academic study of Scripture, and a distrust of Church history, many Americans Christians will spend generations asking questions that were well answered centuries ago. Misunderstanding what the Bible is, how it conveys meaning, and the way it invites us to encounter the one who inspired it leaves many feeling like they can’t relate to Scripture. Being out of touch with the history of scriptural interpretation and the various ways the church has viewed God’s word leads us toward a myopic view. Frequently communities arrive at one specific interpretation of a passage and then because of the authority of the people giving that interpretation it attains to an unquestionable status. This posture of having one right view frequently leads to limited questioning. People fear being at odds with the community, so they fail to ask challenging questions of specific interpretations or theological positions. If we can’t ask honest questions of the Bible, what it says, or how we should interpret it, how could we ever hope to trust the God it reveals?
So frequently demonization of our opponents becomes the final option in these communities where only one right answer exists. Interestingly enough, the church held unified for over 1000 years not through the strength of their theological agreement but through the strength of their shared communion. The power of Christ-centered community to hold together Zealots and tax collectors, fishermen and doctors has been on display from the first century. If slaves and masters can worship together as brothers and sisters in Christ, who are we to break fellowship over a minor point of doctrine or the type of instruments used in song…or over a political candidate?
It is my hope to see a faithful, informed, passionate, loving Church. I want to see people come to know there are well thought out answers to most of their deepest questions. We can know what it looks like for Christians to engage immigrants, think about war, or understand our response to poverty. The church has been wrestling with these questions for well over a thousand years. There are answers to the deepest questions you have about Scripture and God. Many of the most brilliant minds in the history of the western world have devoted their lives to asking and answering questions just like yours. When you question, you are in good company.
I want to encourage you to embrace Church history. I want to invite you to read the Bible in the community of the “great cloud of witnesses”referenced in Hebrews. Learn from John Wesley, Martin Luther, Theresa of Avila, Augustine of Hippo, the Venerable Bede, Clement of Alexandria, and the councils of the Church. See how they have answered the questions you are asking. Explore the theology of Martin Luther King, Jurgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Miroslav Volf, Bill Johnson, John Perkins, Dorothy Sayers, or N. T. Wright.
It is refreshing to encounter Christians who have thought about how to walk in love toward diverse elements of our society without needing to demonize them or agree with them. The options aren’t mutually exclusive. Hearing the voice of Dr. King, and others, on these types of issues is exceptionally refreshing for those of us who didn’t grow up in the 60s.
We can’t always agree, but we can always love. We can’t always answer the questions, but we can listen without judgment. We can hear the question as a desire to know God rather than a challenge to our authority. We can be a bridge to help people encounter the presence of the God they are searching for. We can learn from those who have gone before us and engage the questions of our times in fresh creative ways drawing from the best of what our two millennia of history have to offer.
Questions become an invitation to encounter God. Ask…Seek…Knock. God loves the seeking heart. It is his delight to meet those who question. It is only when we arrive at certainty that we stop looking for more of God.
j. michael hoff 