The Trouble With Tribbles (or Theologians, as it were)

I’ve been thinking about how you choose your theologian lately. I was going to sit down and write this a couple of days ago, but just got lazy. Then yesterday, a funny thing happened. Somehow Barack Obama and James Dobson began fighting over biblical interpretation, and it all came back into focus. Who you choose to follow (and make no doubt about it, you’re following someone) is one of the most important choices you will make on the path of spiritual growth.

If you haven’t made a choice, then you are probably following yourself. I would like to suggest that this may not be the best path. Whether it’s Gandhi or your gut, you’ve given way to someone when it comes to dividing good from bad, right from wrong, and what is worthy from what is garbage.

Obviously the “Sunday School” answer to give you is that Jesus should be who you follow, and this is true. But all too often we’re following “jesus,” this generic embodiment of Christianity made up of loosely remembered Bible passages, folk wisdom and country songs. We have not decided to make an actual effort to discovering this hidden life and in the meantime just any old crap floating in the atmosphere around us seeps in. But when we take that first step towards pursuing a life like Christ’s, it usually involves reading some more contemporary writers first in order to get an idea of what this life looks like today.

We begin to read a little more broadly and finally we come across some of the more introductory theologians, people like Donald Miller, John Ortberg or John Eldridge (I’d put Dobson and possibly even Obama in this category as well). People who are “spiritual” writers, but aren’t spending rigorous hours working out the nuances of this question or that question. They’re there to introduce you to this whole other world. One where you begin to take your life (not just your “Christian life”) more seriously, and begin to pursue discipline actively instead of just letting things happen to you.

Then, you move on to the next rung, the Beth Moore/Dallas Willard/John Piper books/tapes/dvd’s/tshirts/etc. Most people who become serious about training their minds in a certain direction get here and stop. There is nothing wrong with that! I’m going to say some critical things, but let me be clear in saying that I am not demanding everyone read every arcane and centuries-old theologian they can find.

If you’ve gotten to this level, you are to be commended. You are taking this life seriously and are searching out wisdom for living. However, allow me to make a few comments about theologians in general that will hopefully help you along the path.

First, look for people who are starting with God and Jesus as fully formed beings and not just honing in on one aspect above all others. Here is what I mean: if you read the Old Testament you will notice quickly that God seems at the same time incredibly personal and yet incredibly “other”. The Israelites started from the viewpoint that God will do what God will do, that God is God. Maybe something seems contradictory or overly cruel or even overly forgiving (ask Jonah what the Ninevites deserved), but it’s God’s prerogative to do whatever He deems right to do.

The seed of this kind of mistake is often born in what passes for “systematic theology.” Many people seem to think it is the pursuit of “finding out what is right.” But it should really be seen as “I want to make sure my ideas are consistent with the Bible and with each other, so I’m building a map to make sure that’s happening.”

Many contemporary theologians publish their Bible maps – their attempts at making sense of their thoughts about God’s word – and people latch on to it as if it were the gospel itself. You must also know that you are absolutely free to reject any theologians writings at any time. You have been given the same Spirit, and it is up to you to be in conversation with him as you divide what is for you and what is not.

Second, realize that many theologians are answering questions that you may not be asking. Many books and articles are written over years and years of careful consideration. Sometimes you can catch someone in the middle of an argument and not know the context. I thought The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder was extremely compelling, but you won’t get the full sense of that book unless you know about the questions and criticisms he was answering (which is why he has one of the longest “notes” section I’ve ever seen outside of your average dissertation).

You won’t know Calvin fully until you begin to place him in his context, reading people like Luther and Zwingli or even voices from the counter-Reformation. A lot of times, they’re all trying to answer the same questions and are referencing each other even though you will have no idea they’re doing it.

The problem is that we oftentimes take what is said and begin to apply it to our lives immediately and have no clue we’re taking it out of context. This is bad, but it is worse when you follow someone who is doing the same thing. I love Willard and have read some Piper here and there, but you have to take everything they write as a landmark on the path of their own journeys, not as gospel.

I’m not saying we need to enter this world where all we’re doing is contextualizing everything any theologian has ever written. What I am saying is that when you read someone’s book, take what you find useful, but realize that it may actually be 100% wrong.

If it strikes you as true, live your life like it is. But if you come across new evidence to the contrary, weigh that evidence and move forward a wiser person. Do NOT simply dismiss new information because it doesn’t agree with what you read in a book. Even if it doesn’t agree with what you know about the Bible, take the time to actually check it out first. You and I have not cornered the market on biblical knowledge, I promise you.

Obama and Dobson are on two different edges of the same coin (not even on different sides, really), but it seems that both of them are so wed to a certain way of thinking that they can’t see the merits of the other viewpoint. The problem lies in the fact that many people are following these two men and have decided to let them think on their behalf.

Now, this is an election year, and you don’t win elections by being fair-minded and contemplative, unfortunately. But you and I are not running for president and we’re not heading large faith-based corporations (that I know of), so we have no excuse to let people we don’t even know impose their personal Bible maps on us.

You are communing with the Spirit of God on a daily basis, you therefore have as much access to Truth as any theologian you have ever heard of. Use what God has given you and live YOUR life.