Thinking Theologically

More than a few people figure that the easiest way to find the truth about life is to catch the evening news or to read the morning paper or to listen to the latest on NPR.
The truth that we seek may indeed be a reflection of “the news” but more often the greatest capacity we have for seeing the truth about a situation lies in the opportunity we share to learn from the scriptures in grasping the eternal truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the best expositor of truth we can have. The Holy Spirit is promised to be our guide in discerning truth as we open our hearts to receive that which God gives to us.

Our problem lies in applying the truth we have heard and known about. We can read the Ten Commandments and have a good idea of what they mean. They mean to lay a foundation for civilization, for relational appropriateness toward God and our fellow man. The nature of the entire biblical record is to reveal the witness of God in bringing “light” to our darkness. Yet the reality is, we often head for the dark instead of the light.

Thinking about “God’s way” as often in contrast to “our way” requires both repentance and action. Repentance is the acknowledgement of our own “wrong-headedness before God” and an honest and earnest desire to choose a new direction of faith and trust in Him. But trusting God requires a willing disciple…a student of God’s way and a person looking for the right, looking for the way of the Lord he or she serves.

That’s a good time and place to begin thinking theologically…considering the things of God as they apply to you…every day…in all the ordinary and extraordinary moments of your life. Principles of faith, actions of love, expressions of mercy, acts of kindness, words of blessing and hope, all are meant to be a part of the Christian’s life and witness.

Thinking theologically will cause you to reflect and act in new ways…if you follow the leading of Jesus. It will change you and the world you are a part of. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on you own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NRSV