THEOLOGICAL ARROGANCE

The conversation was intense.  I found myself saying “No, that’s not right,” over and over.  I argued the points, often being forceful without consideration for the convictions of my friend, because I knew that I was right.  Of course, he thought the same about his position, but I tend to be very aggressive and assertive when it comes to theological discussion.  I needed to be compassionate.  My theological arrogance was showing – and it didn’t help.

So many times I find that knowing more about Scripture really doesn’t make much difference.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  We have to know what Scripture teaches.  We have to press and dig and explore and question and examine if we are going to unravel God’s Word.  The Book is not an airplane novel.  It is filled with plots, sub-plots and hidden nuances.  But all that knowledge doesn’t make my argument compelling.  That’s the mistake of Greek apologetics.  That’s an apologetics that operates on the basis of who has the most convincing evidence.  I should have paid attention to the Hebrew point of view.  Life!  It’s how I live, not really what I say.  All those arguments don’t mean much if my life isn’t saturated with compassion, filled with the Spirit, motivated by prayer and attuned to others.  No one convinces with words alone, not in the realm of spiritual insight.  I made a tragic mistake.  I bulldozed my way to the conclusion.  Yeshua would have been disappointed.  I had the facts but entirely the wrong perspective.  Love was pushed aside by the need to be right.

In the end, what matters is God’s hand on our lives.  We don’t really need to do the convincing.  He is perfectly capable of providing the truth by any means He chooses.  All we have to do is be sterling examples for personal charity toward others.  Lights on the hill don’t need to send out declarations of correct doctrine.  They just need to send out light.  Others will find their way.

I suspect that theological tolerance is practically quite difficult.  We all want to be right.  Sometimes it seems that we need to be right.  So, we have a lot of trouble allowing flexibility in our answers.  It has to be six literal days.  It has to be some kind of fruit on the tree.  It has to three days in the tomb.  It has to be the end of the Law.  It has to be forgiveness plus baptism.  There are lots of  “has to be” declarations in the theological world because in a Greek-based epistemology someone (only one) has to be right!  It’s hard to imagine that the rabbis could argue for a thousand years about the interpretation of a verse and still be lovingly respectful of each other.  Maybe we have a lot to learn about debate before we get to declarations about doctrines.

Anyway, I’m sorry.  When I get on a roll, I often forget that we all need to arrive together.  I forget that just because I can argue some point is not the point.   More is accomplished in holding your hand than bending your ear.