- Joined
- Jun 12, 2015
- Messages
- 13,927
- Gender
- Male
- Religious Affiliation
- Lutheran
- Political Affiliation
- Conservative
- Marital Status
- Married
- Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
- Yes
ONE of the reasons I take the time to come to this site (and TIME is increasingly precious and hard to find for me) is to share the Gospel.
... in that context.... Some points IF I may and IF anyone is reading this, lol
IMO, I think there are many examples of Christians who HAVE FAITH (soli Deo gloria) and thus "know" the Gospel in their heart (thus ARE Christians) but who articulate this horribly, in ways that if they actually READ what they are saying, actually consider their own words, eventually must say "that's not what I mean." IMO, I've found this to be true for MANY of my own family (nearly all of whom are Catholics) and MANY other Christians. Indeed, it was true of myself in my pre-Lutheran days as I myself can read for myself in things I wrote back then. Sometimes (oft-times) it's a communication issue, a CLARITY issue.... but it matters (A LOT) because words are our primary mode of communication and the words they are saying (and the context they say it) often convey something that is NOT the gospel and NOT even Christian.
SOME of us are "thinkers." SOME of us are theology or bible "junkies" (I use that term lovingly and apply it to myself). We LIKE to understand things, to wrap our brains around things. PERSONALLY, perhaps because of my very scientific brain and my Ph.D. in physics and my former career as a scientist) I'm STRONGLY tempted to think I can (and should) understand.... BUT one of the things Christianity has taught me is humility - especially as I fall on my face at the feet of Jesus. This is HARD STUFF. This is LOFTY stuff - and yet so simple a Kindergardener easily understands (my own Lutheran pastor - with a doctorate - jokes that he cannot believe he has a doctorate in something a five-year-old understands as well as he does). There are MYSTERIES here. His ways are beyond our ways. We struggle - a lot sometimes - in our communications because what we are discussing is FAR BIGGER than our brains, and we often lack the humility to realize (much less acknowledge) that. Too often, we are WAY too hesitant to admit and say "I don't know." And way to apt to forget how difficult this all can be.
Add to that, we tend to be FAR, FAR too impacted by relativism (all that matters is MY opinion/feelings/thoughts) and individualism (MY brain is all that matters, it's all God and ME, God leads only ME, God only speaks to ME) The egoism of our modern world impacts us far too much. It keeps us from listening... from humility.... from community... it even can make us think that we are the Lord of God, that GOD needs ME to set Him straight on a bunch of stuff and correct a lot of stuff He said in His Word. Amazing. Amazingly common.
Sorry.
- Josiah
... in that context.... Some points IF I may and IF anyone is reading this, lol
IMO, I think there are many examples of Christians who HAVE FAITH (soli Deo gloria) and thus "know" the Gospel in their heart (thus ARE Christians) but who articulate this horribly, in ways that if they actually READ what they are saying, actually consider their own words, eventually must say "that's not what I mean." IMO, I've found this to be true for MANY of my own family (nearly all of whom are Catholics) and MANY other Christians. Indeed, it was true of myself in my pre-Lutheran days as I myself can read for myself in things I wrote back then. Sometimes (oft-times) it's a communication issue, a CLARITY issue.... but it matters (A LOT) because words are our primary mode of communication and the words they are saying (and the context they say it) often convey something that is NOT the gospel and NOT even Christian.
SOME of us are "thinkers." SOME of us are theology or bible "junkies" (I use that term lovingly and apply it to myself). We LIKE to understand things, to wrap our brains around things. PERSONALLY, perhaps because of my very scientific brain and my Ph.D. in physics and my former career as a scientist) I'm STRONGLY tempted to think I can (and should) understand.... BUT one of the things Christianity has taught me is humility - especially as I fall on my face at the feet of Jesus. This is HARD STUFF. This is LOFTY stuff - and yet so simple a Kindergardener easily understands (my own Lutheran pastor - with a doctorate - jokes that he cannot believe he has a doctorate in something a five-year-old understands as well as he does). There are MYSTERIES here. His ways are beyond our ways. We struggle - a lot sometimes - in our communications because what we are discussing is FAR BIGGER than our brains, and we often lack the humility to realize (much less acknowledge) that. Too often, we are WAY too hesitant to admit and say "I don't know." And way to apt to forget how difficult this all can be.
Add to that, we tend to be FAR, FAR too impacted by relativism (all that matters is MY opinion/feelings/thoughts) and individualism (MY brain is all that matters, it's all God and ME, God leads only ME, God only speaks to ME) The egoism of our modern world impacts us far too much. It keeps us from listening... from humility.... from community... it even can make us think that we are the Lord of God, that GOD needs ME to set Him straight on a bunch of stuff and correct a lot of stuff He said in His Word. Amazing. Amazingly common.
Sorry.
- Josiah