Army of Priests

Most of what I know is probably wrong. It’s a frightening statement. At some point in time I will attack the ‘truths’ I currently hold with an axe and refine, reform, or reconsider them all together. According to Otto Neurath, the search for truth is like fixing a leaky boat. To fix one plant you must stand on others that will later also need to be replaced.

It’s a conundrum which can cause some insecurity. Modern society – the world of our parents and of the church – holds knowledge in very high esteem. Christianity can often be reduced to simply knowing the right stuff. We gain popularity points for knowing the right stuff (ever played the NIV Bible Game?). Our courses for new Christians are all based around imparting knowledge. Our Sunday Services serve the same purpose for the more long term Christians. Even faith seems to have been redefined as “believing the right stuff”.

Yet when we get to heaven I do not expect there to be a pop quiz:

1. Do you believe in a literal hell?
2. Do you believe in the penal substitutionary atonement?
3. When was the beginning and end of each dispensation and what were their spiritual names (in Hebrew)?

I’m sure every one would agree that such an idea is preposterous. But when someone questions on of the ‘sacred cows’ they are viciously attacked. At times when I have suggested we have to act on our faith by loving the unlovely I have been informed that bible study is more important.

Ultimately it is easier to trust in our knowledge than it is to trust in God. After all, I can’t undo my chains of sin, I can’t add an extra minute to my life, but I can read up on systematic theologies, learn ancient Hebrew and Greek, and repeat the 5 points of Calvinism.

Theology can be a false God. Believing we can get to heaven because we believe the 4 spiritual laws is a world away from believing we are safe because we trust God (yet the Campus Crusade for Christ course on discipleship teaches that we should do the former). Knowing God is a big jump from knowing about God (Mathew 7:21-23). Yet too many times I have seen people hold on to their theologies so tight that their conversations repeatedly descend into very unloving arguments. It seems our allegiance to our beliefs is stronger than Christ’s command to “love one another” (John 13:34-35).

So many times I have believed something only to find years later that some new apiece of information undermines it completely. As such, I have become willing to admit that I am probably wrong about most things. Even this post. Don’t get me wrong – I believe there is ‘absolute truth’ (or absolute fact?) but I am not proud enough to suggest that I know it. Only God does and I have learnt to let Him reveal to me what He will when He wills it.

At the same time, I still teach (or share) what I know, even though it is probably wrong. Now that takes faith; to believe that God will teach people instead of you and will fix your errors. I also still search for truth and try to stretch my understanding (I am probably ‘more right’ than before, yet still pretty dumb compared to God). But I have learnt that I don’t need to know everything to be of worth to God and I don’t need to have a ‘crisis of faith’ every time something I believe gets turned over.

I just believe God will help me out. And I believe in making mistakes, refining beliefs, and trying again. I believe Christ’s death covers my misunderstanding.