The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
- by Timothy Keller
from Chapter 11 Religion and the Gospel
Sin and evil are self-centeredness and pride that lead to oppression against others, but there are two forms of this. One form is being very bad and breaking all the rules, and the other form is being very good and keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous. There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. The first is by saying, "I am going to live my life the way I want." The second is described by Flannery O'Connor, who wrote about one of her characters, Hazel Motes, that "he knew that the best way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin." If you are avoiding sin and living morally so that God will have to bless and save you, then ironically, you may be looking to Jesus as a teacher, model, and helper but you are avoiding him as a Savior. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus.
from Chapter 14 The Dance of God
...At the end of Matthew 11, Jesus calls us to "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.... Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.... For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." A man once said to a pastor that he would be happy to believe in Christianity if the cleric could only give him a watertight argument for its truth. The pastor replied, "What if God hasn't given us a watertight argument, but rather a watertight person?" Jesus is saying "I am that person. Come to me. Look at who I am. Look at my Cross. Look at my resurrection. No one could have made this up! Come to me, and you will find rest for your souls."
The Shack
- by William P. Young
from Chapter 14 Verbs and Other Freedoms
If you put God at the top, what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?"....I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day."....I don't want to be first among a list of values; I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life-your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities--is connected to me but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being."
I think I have been struggling with my own personal paradox for a while now, in fact I am pretty sure I am still struggling with it. Theology vs. relationship. The chicken and the egg. For several years now I have held relationship above all else. Specifically relationship with Jesus. But here is the rub, how can you have relationship without some 'theological foundation'? But Jesus is our foundation:
Acts 4:11
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
But then how do I understand this verse without theology?
1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
I still have not let go of theology, I enjoy it at times, but do I find Jesus in it? Does that even make sense? Is it nothing more than a question of motivation? And if it is, then what is 'bad theology'? This is my current paradox. Have I created something out of nothing?
