I have had some great conversations through this series online and off. It is telling how much each of us cling to one side of this over the other. When I started thinking about this idea, I was swinging from a pendulum of the idol of theology. Most of my background has been in a place that denies the work of the Holy Spirit and exalts the inerrancy of the Bible. Others have shared a different side of that same problem. So to answer some questions:
Is theology wrong?
No, for almost everyone in our time, it is the way we learn to listen to God. Even people who don’t study theology, they form one for themselves. The problem I have with theology, or any doctrine for that matter, is in it’s adherence to be perfect. I don’t believe in relative truth, but I don’t think there are many things that we understand absolutely either.
The big problem with theology is when people use it, worship it, proselytize it instead of Jesus. If it is a substitute for the presence of God in our lives and our faith in the person of Jesus, then it’s an idol.
Is listening better?
At the same time, I don’t think that throwing theology out and just focusing on listening is much better. Of course, all Christians try to listen to God, but it is an imperfect hearing. The church has probably been just as hurt by individual’s insistence on perfect hearing or the infamous “word from the Lord” as any other problem of the church. I have over 15 years and thousands of dollars invested in learning how to listen, and I would never imply that my hearing is close to perfect.
What both of these methods, taken out of balance, contend with is arrogance and a lack of patience. The solution is complex and I am not sure I know what it is, but I do have my own checklist. The biggest way I keep myself in check from a raging arrogance that I am completely capable of and an impatience I feel persistently in my life is community.
Community that works bars the door of heresy and arrogance by accounting for individual’s ideas in theology and in individual ideas in hearing from God. It also promotes the patience required to sit with God and ask again. To get confirmation in what I hear and hear about what I think.
For me personally and for most of the people I associate with, we need to listen more. Theology is always happening and I need to continue with it, but I need to put down the books more and go skip some smooth stones across a quiet creek and hear that whisper in my soul that calls to deep.
