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Christians use imprecise and often contradictory language when discussing God. Particularly when it comes to God’s behavior. The modern Christian’s views regarding God’s interventions in the lives of men - the frequency, methods, and intensity - are muddied. It is common for Christians to make statements regarding people’s choice, while also using deterministic language. Well, if a situation is predetermined, then there is no choice. A just God would not hold people accountable for sins He caused them to commit. Indeed, God never tempts anyone to sin (James 1:13 NIV).
Christians must determine (pun intended) what is theologically sound in this matter. To willfully continue to use muddied, contradictory language is not just theological malpractice; it is relational malpractice. Our Lord tells us the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 NIV).
The Bible also tells us that to love is to know and be known. Knowledge and loving are inextricably linked (Hebrews 3:10 NIV, Philippians 1:9 NIV, etc.). When you speak of someone with such imprecise, muddled language filled with inherent contradictions and cognitive dissonance, then how can you say you know someone?
One of the saddest statements I’ve ever heard came from a Sunday School teacher who said, “We don’t go that deep.” He was referencing a teacher who taught a different class. The rest of the Sunday School teachers had given him the nickname “the Professor,” because he “went deep.” I attended this man’s class and the Professor was not that deep at all. He was in the shallow end, but the shallow end looks deep from the kitty pool.
As Christians we should want to know God. We should want to immerse ourselves in the ocean. Too often people talk about the depths of God’s love, because they want a get-out-of-jail free card. But no one talks about the depths of God’s knowledge, wisdom, or the depth of the Being Himself as Himself and not as your escape from guilt. It’s time to study deeply, know God deeply, and as a result our theology and our language will clear themselves up.
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Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash