Categories
Christian Living

Why I Love God But Hate Theology

God Wants Us to Know Him and Be in a Relationship, Not to Study Him or Try to Explain Him

When people learn of my deep interest in studying the Bible and my passion for God, they often ask me a theological question. I groan when they do. You see, I hate theology.

While a few may have a genuine interest in knowing my answer, for most their query is a test of sorts to see if my views align with theirs. If we agree, they accept me; if we disagree, they dismiss me.

Regardless of the question, it usually involves a big theological word or two, a label so they can more easily judge my philosophical perspective and ascertain whether we are kindred believers.

It doesn’t matter if I know the meaning of their five-syllable abstraction or not, I usually shrug and say, “I don’t care” or “it doesn’t matter.”

I need a better response because this irritates people. They assume I’m being dismissive. But I’m not; I’m serious. Totally.

What is Theology?

At its most basic level, theology is the study of God. I love God, but the idea of turning him into an academic construct with philosophical underpinnings sickens me. I refuse to go there.

I don’t think God wants me to study him; I think he wants me to know him. There’s a difference. I see no value in being able to articulate a systematic theology because God desires a relationship, not a dissertation.

Consider Someone Who Matters

Think of a significant person in your life. For me, that would be my wife. What if I told her, “I’m going to devote the rest of my life to studying you from afar, and then I’ll write a book explaining you in highly philosophical terms to everyone else?”

Would that win her heart?

No. She wants me to spend time with her. She desires me to know her. To attempt to turn our relationship into a theoretical abstraction dishonors her – and would make her mad. Rightly so.

The same is true with God. He wants me to spend time with him. He wants me to know him, not on an intellectual basis but on a personal one. To truly know him means to experience him in relationship, not as an academic pursuit.

As I read the Bible and write about the Bible, it’s not to add to the towering mountain of theology about God, it’s so that I can spend time with him and know him through relationship.

Anything else dishonors him, and likely makes him mad.

Just as my wife is a mystery I will never fully understand, so is God. And it’s a wonderful thing. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Categories
Christian Living

Being in God’s Presence

In the diminutive book, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence shares his experience of essentially living much of his life while in the presence of God.

For most of his adulthood, Brother Lawrence worked as a monastery cook.

As he attended to his daily duties in the kitchen, he gradually learned how to spend that time in prayer, eventually getting to the point of his spirit moving into God’s presence while his body remained in this world to prepare food and wash dishes.

At least that’s what I think happened, because he declines to describe the experience, citing the complete inadequacy of his words.

What I do know is that he worshiped God more fully throughout his day in the kitchen than when at services in the cathedral. Oh, how I yearn to do the same.

Yet, Brother Lawrence worked in an ideal, idyllic setting; his work required little concentration. He could navigate much of his day on autopilot, allowing his mind and spirit to embrace God. Even so, it still took him a couple decades to hone his practice.

Not only does his experience inspire me, but his book confounds me. Living in the sixteen hundreds in France, he comes to me from another time and a foreign culture; he wrote in a different language.

His translated work possesses a unique rhythm, gradually emerging with a pleasing cadence, even though it abounds with incomplete sentences, which sorely vexes the writer in me.

Still, I grasp for a taste of what he lived.

May we likewise learn to practice being in the presence of God, not just at church on Sunday, but throughout our entire week.

Thank you Brother Lawrence for your example and your encouragement.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.