I have decided, once again to start keeping a more consistent blog. Previously I stepped away from writing, feeling unqualified to be writing something others may read. In previous writing, I would question whether some of the statements were truth and/or whether I truly believed them. The last year in my life has been an eye opening time where I have done my absolute best to take off any filters I have of God’s word. [I will preface the next statement in saying that my feelings are not directed at my parents but rather at the environment of the church I grew up in] I grew up in a church environment, whether it was intended or not, put a specific lens on God’s word that prevented me from seeing it in its entirety. Taking this filter off of the Bible has done a pretty good number on my belief system and more than ever I have been able to see just how much God loves me. Even over the past few weeks I have spoken with several people who were raised in a similar church setting as myself and see how their current state is affected by what they were taught. My background is full of some absolute wonderful experiences but lacked in absolute truths.
The experience based theology in which I spent the first 26 years of my life taught me to fear making a mistake, and when I did I felt less about myself and further from God. I have begun a process of truly knowing a God whose word says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing; not a result of works, so that no man may boast (Ephesians 2:8&9 ESV).” I now live in a freedom of knowing nothing I have done or do has anything to do with my salvation, but God, while I was and still am a sinner, justified me through his grace. This has not given me a license to sin, but the security in knowing my sanctification is a process. I now strive to daily live as He has commanded, not out of a fear, but out of a desire to experience the joy he has in His commands.
The following lengthy quote from J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God is an absolute description of where I was, and where I believe many who read this are:
“One can know a great deal about godliness without much knowledge of God. It depends on the sermons one hears, the books one reads, and the company one keeps. In this analytical and technological age there is no shortage of books on the church booktables, or sermons from the pulpits, on how to pray, how to witness, how to read our Bibles, how to tithe our money, how to be a young Christian, how to be an old Christian, how to be a happy Christian, how to get consecrated, how to lead people to Christ, how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (or, in some cases, how to avoid receiving it), how to speak in tongues (or, how to explain away Pentecostal manifestations), and generally how to go through all the various motions which teachers in question associate with being a Christian believer…Whatever else may be said about this state of affairs, it certainly makes it possible to learn a great deal second hand about the practice of Christianity… Yet one can have all this and hardly know God at all.” [Parentheses were apart of the original text, not added by me]
This book was written by a man who I had never heard of, in church or Bible College most likely due to the fact his theological leanings did not meet the 16 truths. I believe this excerpt, although over 30 years old, is an incredible accurate description of where the church is today. Both sides of the theological aisle need to do a better job of “knowing God” and not simply knowing a great deal about God. Our foundation has to be based on sound Biblical truth if we want to be able to withstand life. Experiences will wash away with the house built on sand. Through this blog, my desire is to stir others to begin to question and seek God for who He truly is. Is what you believe tinted by the shade of your glasses or have you truly dug into God’s word and sought to know Him for yourself?
