Modern Day Gnosticism
Christianity is not a puzzle.
It is not a game of trivia.
It is not a matter of mere speculation.
It is not the accumulation of knowledge for knowledge sake.
It ought not be approached as such.
Too often we titillate our curiosities with the intricacies of prophecy and eschatology, and distract ourselves from the mission of God, which He has called us to join, here and now. We are obsessed with the past and the future. We are too cowardly to engage the now. We are modern day gnostics.
True, in order to appropriately engage the now we must view it through the lenses of past and future. But all too often we are guilty of hiding in the echoes of the past and the shadows of the future—cowering from our responsibilities in the now. Let us repent of this unChristian cowardice. Let us devote ourselves to the study of God's work in history, that we may learn from the failures and successes of previous generations in order to be faithful to God's mission in ours. And let us not lose hold of the hope —the assurance of our eternal inheritance with God—that enables us to fight with perseverance the relentless battle of the Christian mission. The Apostle Paul said it best:
"One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:13b-14, ESV).
If you're a modern day gnostic (as I have described above), stop fooling yourself into believing that your rigorous speculation and study is making you a better disciple, a closer follower of Jesus. The question is, Are you equipping yourself for and actually engaging yourself in God's redemptive mission? That's what it means to follow Jesus.
Don't misunderstand me. Knowledge is indispensable to the mission. Becoming a Christian begins with knowledge and growing as a Christian requires growth in knowledge. But we cease to be faithful followers of Jesus when we cease to ask ourselves, What are the practical implications of this knowledge? Why am I studying this? Why does this matter? Whatever the answer (for there is nothing in Scripture that is ultimately irrelevant, 2 Tim 3:16-17), the necessary thing is that you ask the question. We must maintain the right perspective, and we must act faithfully in light of that perspective.And here is the rest of it.
It is not a game of trivia.
It is not a matter of mere speculation.
It is not the accumulation of knowledge for knowledge sake.
It ought not be approached as such.
Too often we titillate our curiosities with the intricacies of prophecy and eschatology, and distract ourselves from the mission of God, which He has called us to join, here and now. We are obsessed with the past and the future. We are too cowardly to engage the now. We are modern day gnostics.
True, in order to appropriately engage the now we must view it through the lenses of past and future. But all too often we are guilty of hiding in the echoes of the past and the shadows of the future—cowering from our responsibilities in the now. Let us repent of this unChristian cowardice. Let us devote ourselves to the study of God's work in history, that we may learn from the failures and successes of previous generations in order to be faithful to God's mission in ours. And let us not lose hold of the hope —the assurance of our eternal inheritance with God—that enables us to fight with perseverance the relentless battle of the Christian mission. The Apostle Paul said it best:
"One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:13b-14, ESV).
If you're a modern day gnostic (as I have described above), stop fooling yourself into believing that your rigorous speculation and study is making you a better disciple, a closer follower of Jesus. The question is, Are you equipping yourself for and actually engaging yourself in God's redemptive mission? That's what it means to follow Jesus.
Don't misunderstand me. Knowledge is indispensable to the mission. Becoming a Christian begins with knowledge and growing as a Christian requires growth in knowledge. But we cease to be faithful followers of Jesus when we cease to ask ourselves, What are the practical implications of this knowledge? Why am I studying this? Why does this matter? Whatever the answer (for there is nothing in Scripture that is ultimately irrelevant, 2 Tim 3:16-17), the necessary thing is that you ask the question. We must maintain the right perspective, and we must act faithfully in light of that perspective.And here is the rest of it.
I hope you survived finals week my friend. Friend? Well we do not know each other,but we have some things in common.
ReplyDelete1. I am a TEDS grad. (2005 & 2006)
2. I am passionate about church planting.
3. We read the same post on Sean Michael Lucas' blog.
Press on friend seminary is a meat grinder, but it is also a great blessing if you approach it right.
If you are into church planting I suggest you get to know John Nyquist in the mission department. Take his Evangelistic Bible Study in Mark Class. This is an invaluable tool in church planting. I have lead a good number of people to faith in Christ through EBS groups. You should also get to know Marty Schoenleber. He teaches the Church Planting classes at TEDS.
God Bless friend. Press on. It will be worth it.
Thanks, Steve!
ReplyDeleteI actually just finished Marty's introductory course. Great guy. A bit more anecdotal in his teaching style than I'm used to, but very motivational, as well as instructive in a lot of practical things (which is a helpful contrast with much of the rest of the TEDS curriculum). I will keep Nyquist's course on my radar screen. Getting non-Christians to an evangelistic Bible study group would be a dream come true. But getting them there seems to be where 90% of the battle lies, at least in my experience. Perhaps I'm just too inexperienced!
Grace, brother.
Just trying to get a message to you in as many ways as possible. I will be on campus tomorrow (Wed). Have a 12:30 appt. otherwise free from about 11-12:30 or after 1:30.
ReplyDelete