"Too many people confuse 'simple, childlike faith' with 'simplistic, childish faith.' Theology-even professional theology-does not deny the necessity of humble acceptance of God's message to humankind in Jesus Christ and the scriptural narrative about him. It does, however, push beyond blind and unquestioning acceptance of any and every interpretation of that message that happens to sound spiritual and comforting." -Roger E. Olson (Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God)
I have a feeling that sometimes, just sometimes, God looks down at His people and shakes His head. I'm not saying He regrets our existence; I feel like He thinks that we missed the entire point of His Word.
In Matthew 18, Jesus told us that we must become like little children to make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. And from the looks of it, some of us got the right idea; others, I feel, took the little children aspect a little too seriously.
"Our God is awesome!" "We worship One God, and His name is Jesus!" "Pentecostal is the only way to God!"All those Trinitarian three-god-worshippers can go to..."
You get the point.
What I'm getting at is that I feel that portion of Scripture has been horribly misquoted on more than one occasion. We're not little children in the sense of humility and undying devotion; we're more like the spoiled brats who refuse to clean up after themselves.
The same book I quoted at the beginning refers to this mindset at "folk theology." People are more comfortable hearing the same message in different formats and singing the same empty worship songs every Sunday than truly thinking outside of the box when it comes to God.
Is it heretical to question? Absolutely not. But don't say that to the folk theologians. According to them, the mere mentioning of hermeneutical discrepancies makes you a heathen, for the Bible is true, no questions asked! If Pastor said it, then there's no reason to doubt it.
Yes, I am being extremely heretical to some of you now, but just so you know, I'm not doubting my pastor's legitimacy; I simply want to understand it better and if the message doesn't mesh, it will most likely stick out.
I think what Jesus was trying to get across was the importance of humility and surrender, not stupidity and self-glorification. He wants us to follow him with childlike wonder, not complete disregard for everyone and everything around us.
As for me, I love Christ and every day is an attempt to be more and more like Him. And to do this, I must humble myself, but I don't have to become a complete moron to do so. Instead of treating the Word like a joint by taking a puff and passing it on to the next person (analogy, people, analogy), I want to learn more from it and know why I believe what I believe.
That is all. No heresy, no blasphemy. Just someone who lives to understand His Word a little better each day.
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