Theology

Who are you? That’s a broad question. Perhaps a narrower but maybe not easier-to-answer question is, “Where do you primarily find your identity?” Here are some options: Spouse Parent Career Wealth Status Power Body Sibling Child Achievements Sexuality Freedom Faith Every person you know fits into one of those categories. The problem is, almost all of those identities can be taken from you. Your spouse can pass away or leave you. Your child, parents, and siblings can and most certainly will, one day die. You can lose your job and your wealth overnight. Your status is always in flux, and likely if you lose your spouse, job, or wealth, you’ll lose your status too. ...

Some people simply aren’t interested in discussing spiritual things. At least, that’s what it seems. Last week I was chatting with a student who, from the outside, appeared completely apathetic about spiritual matters. I’d asked him a number of questions and it didn’t seem the conversation was going anywhere, but instead of trying to force something that wasn’t there, I kept asking questions to try to find an opportunity to genuinely connect with him about faith. ...

After a mere three weeks, I’m already going to the well of fatherhood for spiritual analogies. Our daughter has made the transition to parenthood incredibly easy for us–she only cries when something is wrong–90% of the time it means her diaper is dirty or she’s hungry, which are also the only times I cry. The thing is, as she’s crying and one of us is holding her and getting ready to alleviate her hunger or discomfort, she often starts sobbing uncontrollably. We’re ready to meet her needs, we know what’s wrong, but she doesn’t have the awareness yet to understand she just needs to wait a few more seconds. ...

It’s not hard to warm up in the summer. In fact, if you’re in a part of the world where air temperatures exceed body temperatures, you do everything you can to stay cool. But in the fall and spring and you see glorious sunlight through streaming through your window, it seems to be as warm as a summer day. When you head outside, however, you quickly find yourself deceived. The air is cooler than you anticipated and the sun isn’t quite as toasty as you hoped. ...

I just took our car in for preventative maintenance–an oil change, a few filters swapped, a new belt, checking brake pads, a thorough overview that I can’t do on my own. Our car isn’t new, but when I wash it and clean it, it looks really nice. But no matter how much attention I pay to the body of the car, it won’t change the way the engine runs. It can look great on the outside and be a complete mess under the hood. No number of car washes can make the car run correctly. So diagnostics and maintenance are required. ...

My mornings are often the strongest indicator of how successfully[footnote]Whatever that means. For me, mostly that I didn’t waste (too much) time and I did the major things I needed to do for that day.[/footnote] my day will turn out. If I start by wasting time, it’s hard for me to recover, and I might as well go back to bed before lunch and hope to start fresh tomorrow. I’m currently making my way through Timothy Keller’s excellent book Prayer. One idea that I’ve already put into practice comes from our Reforming friend Martin Luther. I’m a pretty weak meditator. That’s my own fault, as it is difficult to meditate if you don’t create gaps of silence in your life. It feels like I’m reading, thinking about tasks, listening, or speaking nearly constantly, but rarely deeply contemplating or wrestling with big ideas. I have a morning manifesto, ideas for a new morning routine, and ways I’ve been trying to meditate. But, I don’t do what I want to do. I’m a good doctor and a horrible patient. I can prescribe the lights out but fail to pop the necessary pills or take the appropriate measures to become well. So, with the help of the Poster Boy of the Reformation, I’ve started doing (a tiny bit) more work to prepare the day before, so that when I wander out to our living room in the morning, well-rested but still groggy, I’m ready to dive into time with the Lord. It’s better to start my morning in a half-stupor of prayer and meditation than to wake up over the course of an hour having wasted time on things that won’t matter 10 minutes from now. Reading tweets doesn’t wake me up. It puts me on a high-speed slide toward dawdling and distraction. Luther’s Recipe for starting your day with prayer: ...

One interesting aspect of the Christian life is how some components are absolutely critical and worth disagreement and breaking fellowship. Things like Salvation by faith in Christ The divinity of Jesus Acknowledgement and confession of sin Confessing Jesus as Lord are really critical if you want to call yourself a Christian, but that’s by no means an exhaustive list. If you throw those components out, it’s kind of like saying you want to bake chocolate chip cookies but not use chocolate, eggs, flour, butter, sugar or an oven. You can call those cookies, but I think us orthodox-chocolate-chip-cookie eaters are going to think you’re pretty off-base. Other things are a lot less critical, but are (sometimes) worth discussing. Can you be a faithful Christian and… Watch Breaking Bad? Wear V-neck t-shirts? Use Android products? Read only eBooks? Use credit cards instead of Dave Ramsey’s envelope system? I’ve obviously chosen rather fluffy topics instead of something like drinking alcohol, wearing head coverings, or whatever the flame-war-du-jour is on often-non-essential Christian arguments, which I undoubtedly still engage in when it isn’t always wise. Feel free to substitute these questions with anything that is generally unmentioned in the Bible or something that isn’t completely clear in scripture but faithful Christians are found on both sides of the topic. In a theology class I recently took on Romans, the professor suggested three applications from Romans 14:1–23 in what I like to call, “How Not To Be A Pharisee.” ...

My parents are Christians. They love the Lord and, as essentially first-generation followers of Jesus, they did a good job of pointing me to Him. However, an official time of family worship was never a “thing” in our family–I honestly don’t think the thought crossed anyones mind. We did our own things for spiritual growth–Bible reading and private prayer–and we went to church together on Sundays. But we never cracked open the Word together or as a family worshipped outside of church. ...

I’ve been enjoying Wayne Grudem’s Politics – According to the Bible because I’m a generally unengaged and inactive political citizen in need of much reform. He discusses patriotism and how Christians should act in light of celebrating their nation–something I’ve wrestled with. Can I celebrate America while wanting to make disciples of all nations? I love America. I think it’s one of the greatest nations on the planet. We enjoy many freedoms, our enterprising nature has done boatloads of good for the world, we created the iPhone and we have the amazing convenience of Amazon Prime–and that’s just off the top of my head. ...

My wife Niki loves Jesus. Really loves him. Loves him more than me, officially, and lives her life boldly for him. I couldn’t be more grateful. But there are people in my life–friends, family members, acquaintances–who are Christians but who don’t have a significant other that has a true relationship with Jesus. Sometimes people are already married when they meet Jesus. This post is not for them. This is a plea, a forewarning and a peek inside what you’ll be missing if you’re currently 1. walking with Jesus 2. dating a non-Christian and 3. considering marrying that non-Christian whom you likely love. The more I think about my relationship with the Lord, and with Niki, the more grateful I am that she walks closely with Jesus before everything else. If you think all you’ll be doing is disobeying God by marrying a non-Christian (and surely, as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 6:14 [footnote]Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?[/footnote] that should be reason enough to not sin), let me share with you what you won’t experience by marrying a non-Christian. ...