I once told the dude that eventually became my theology professor that I didn't care about theology. Even after two years of seminary, I still don't. At least, not theology that live in books and not in daily lives. In fact, I've made it my goal in life to, as much as possible, NOT sound like I'm a seminary student.
But maybe I need to go back to Constructive Theology I all over again. What is theology anyway, if it only lives in books? And lately, I've found myself landing back in the stomping grounds of Constructive Theology I with Dr. Strege again. We stomped, trashed and pulled apart so much of our previously constructed theology only to be left with what?
More questions.
So many people dying.
So many young people dying, killing themselves or being killed whether purposefully or not by someone else.
People who have sacrificed for ministry being called again and again to sacrifice even more.
Then there are the ones who sit around with money to burn.
How is God fair?
And what about life?
How does it have meaning if all of it is merely suffering?
So many questions.
We talked about so much of this in Theology classes. But yet when it's lived out it seems so much more painful.
And once again, I'm too incoherent to write clearly, but the wheels are turning too quickly in the head that I can't simply fall asleep.
The simple truth?
Jesus loves me, this I know.
And
We love because He first loved us.
Other than that, I don't know anymore.
If you're the praying type, say a prayer for your jaded friend here, aight?
Love you all.
The problem is that most of us have this tendency to think that theology is something that happens in a book. Books are good, even necessary, and vital....but theology is something we do all the time. I sometimes think there are no non-theological statements of any kind. You can't escape it--and probably shouldn't want to. But theology without feet, hands, brain, and heart (aka soul), well, Jesus had words for that--and not very nice ones.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing from the tone of the writing that "Anonymous" is the wise friend in the Pacific Northwest...
ReplyDeleteFunny how the passage that the XZBerlin team is reading today (1 Corinthians 8) seems to be a reflection of that whole "theology without feet, hands, brain and heart"