In setting forth the purpose of my blog, I have written that I want to be about loving Jesus with all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind.
This blog is dedicated to all those who desire to do that—making Jesus Christ central and supreme in every way.
Here is what I have made clear about myself and the blog:
As a young academic and an aspiring Christian mystic, this blog is unashamedly a reflection of my pursuit of Christ in spirit, soul, and body—the realm of the intellect as well as spiritual imagination. It is my desire that this blog would contribute to biblical academic dialogue, encourage humble Christ-followers, and challenge honest skeptics.
Those who follow my blog regularly know that I’m not afraid to press our collective evangelical buttons. I don’t do this because it’s in vogue, or because it’s the new hip (even “progressive”) thing to do these days.
No, I write about where I’ve been and where I am currently in my walk. I seek to remain teachable for the future. But I’m not afraid to be passionate about those things I’ve been convinced of in the present.
I wanted to share that with you. I suspect there are others that can relate to my own journey. I pray that you find this blog a place to think out-loud with me, even come to some much-needed conclusions.
I want to be flexible as I grow up into Christ. I truly want to be “semper reformanda” (always reforming). I hope you will commit to this principle of Christian growth with me.
I do recognize that it’s no easy thing to question long-held beliefs, or to challenge deeply rooted traditions. It’s a hard and often uncomfortable road. Many folks are just not willing to wrestle with new thoughts and ideas that seem to threaten their basic theological framework.
But I’m convinced it’s part of discipleship.
“Disciple” means we are learners on a journey. Learners change and grow.
While we may not be willing to embrace a new teaching today (or an old one that’s new to us), we might be in a better position later on to see the wisdom of it and experience its life-giving freedom. We must be careful. Overreacting to new ideas can actually make it harder to accept them later on when/if we begin to sense a change in the wind of conviction.
Of course, it may be a teaching we never accept because we feel it’s not compatible with our interpretation(s) of Scripture. Regardless, we must remain humble and teachable, allowing others to follow the Lord as best they know how, even if we decide we just flat out disagree.
This requires an attitude of humility and a willing spirit of forbearance with others. If we’re going to love the Lord with all or our mind, as we seek to hold together faith and reason, we must be intentional about these things.
In humility we must all recognize that there is inspired Scripture, and then there are our interpretation(s) of Scripture. We must remember this when we’re in dialogue with others. And we should always think the best of those who disagree with our interpretations.
Finally, we need not be fearful of intellectual challenges to our faith when we are getting all of our life from Christ, and entrusting others to him also.
When we’re doing this, we can allow each other freedom and space to grow.
The following video is a Greg Boyd sermon excerpt from a 2009 message on eternal punishment. He is prefacing his message by talking about the need for intellectual inquiry in our pursuit of Christ.
Are you encouraged to think and question in your church? What rewards have you experienced from loving God with all of your mind? What can the church do to be a safe place for intellectual inquiry?
D.D. Flowers, 2013.
February 8th, 2013 at 6:03 am
Love this approach, it’s not being different for the sake of being different. It’s seeking God, and in the seeking, there is trust, and there are human based concepts that shatter like glass when we position ourselves in a Proverbs 3 mindset (…and don’t lean on your understanding).
and Jesus said…”And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
February 8th, 2013 at 7:51 am
As always… thanks for reading, Jim. I appreciate your input.
February 8th, 2013 at 6:21 am
Amen!
February 8th, 2013 at 7:00 am
To answer one of your questions, here’s what I’ve experienced from loving God with all of my mind: When I engage my mind in wrestling with a tough question, I often find that there exists alternative answers for a Bible-believing, Christ-following person. Usually at least one option resonates a YES! in my soul – aligning my heart and mind. This congruity frees up energy that was used to quiet my restless heart or to ignore my frustrated mind and results in a passion so great I can’t stop talking about it! So in my zeal, I appreciate the warning/reminder to “remain humble and teachable, allowing others to follow the Lord as best they know how, even if we decide we just flat out disagree.” Great post!
February 8th, 2013 at 7:50 am
That’s awesome, Jessica. Thanks for sharing!
February 8th, 2013 at 7:56 am
I have found that by questioning long held traditional beliefs the Lord has caused a growth in my life that I don’t think I would have otherwise experienced. It has driven me deeper into scripture and opened me up to hear what others have been thinking even if I don’t always agree. Not that it hasn’t been difficult and painful at times when I’ve had to let go of long held beliefs. But I feel, believe and trust that the Lord has been and continues to be faithful to lead me in seeking His truth as I continue to examine the scriptures and pray for discernment that He may be “revealed to us by His Spirit.” Amen!
February 8th, 2013 at 7:58 am
Amen, sister!
February 8th, 2013 at 9:20 am
Me too!
February 8th, 2013 at 9:28 am
I feel I have been on the very same journey as you for several years. I struggle with being so excited about what I’m learning and wanting to share it with others only for them not to really care or even think I’m way too ‘out there’. I have no desire to persuade others to see things as I do, I just want to share the joy and excitement of what Jesus is showing me. I often struggle with how to do this. Your thoughts in this post helped me tremendously. Thank you.
Sometimes its so hard to talk to other Christians about Jesus because, like Greg said in his video, “they know it all already” and sometimes my thoughts or questions about things aren’t welcome or are too different or aren’t mainstream enough.
February 8th, 2013 at 10:08 am
Hey Cori, you’re not alone. I’m glad this helped. Keep pressing on!
February 8th, 2013 at 1:27 pm
I really enjoy the thoughtful ideas you share here. Keep the conversation open. That was a major theme in the Vibrant Dance conference in Austin a few years ago where they sought to bring science and faith communities together to keep the dialogue going on intelligent design and scientific discovery. The fact is we are all too often ready to shut the convo down because science threatens our ideas on God, and God threatens our ideas on science. When it comes to pet doctrines it is even moreso the case; reformed theology threatens our ideas on freewill and freewill threatens our views of a sovereign God. Love, love, love, love, love…. it is the only way to keep talking and maybe actually find balance.
February 8th, 2013 at 5:00 pm
Well certainly you have the right to be wrong.
Seriously, I accept the need to be teachable. However, I think too often we are drawn to the “new” when time and sages have already proven out the truth. A “new” teaching is exciting, like a new discovery. But there are many dangers. The pre-trib rapture, new in the mid 1800s, is one such example. I am very wary of “new” revelation.
February 8th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Please explain to me what you mean by “Christian mystic”?
February 8th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
Colleen, it refers to the idea that we can commune with the Lord in spirit through intentional meditation and imaginative prayer.
February 9th, 2013 at 2:54 am
David, what exactly is “intentional meditation” and ” imaginative prayer”?
February 9th, 2013 at 8:44 am
Jan, I’m talking about the sort of stuff mentioned in classic books like “The Practice of the Presence of God” (Brother Lawrence) and “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ” (Jeanne Guyon). The book The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism is a collection of works.
Greg Boyd has written an excellent book called Seeing is Believing: Experience Jesus Through Imaginative Prayer.
The descriptions of these books at Amazon will give you a good idea of what I’m talking about.
February 10th, 2013 at 1:04 am
Really enjoyed this. I read a couple of other posts as well. Your writings welcomed and needed! Thank you…
February 10th, 2013 at 10:32 am
Thanks, Keith. I appreciate you taking the time.
February 10th, 2013 at 8:36 am
Hi, David. A very important topic! I feel I can relate to your journey also, all the way up in Norway. Scepticism and honest disernment of traditional doctrines and traditions is essential to grow in christ. Honesty is a virtue, and always the first part to taking a step in the right direction. When we, once upon a time, came to christ it was ultimatly our honesty that made us face ourself and that we couldn’t make it on our own. So why shouldn’t this same honesty continue to stay essential on the rest of our journey, also?
Keep up with the honest thinking, David.
February 10th, 2013 at 10:34 am
Thank you, Eirik! You’re right… why wouldn’t this honesty continue on the journey?
I’m glad you shared.
February 10th, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Love it! If we’re getting all our life from Christ and entrusting others to Him, we need not fear intellectual challenge. Inner peace and peace between brothers!
Also, I suspect that there’s an element of mysticism in anyone who’s been deeply touched by God, though many may not want to acknowledge this. Seeking deep personal communion with The Lord, and experiencing His love, is key to inner healing: To paraphrase Greg Boyd, if someone has grown up with rejection (for example), then until their EXPERIENCE of God’s acceptance is at least as profound and as frequent as their previous experience of rejection, they will probably continue mainly to experience feelings of rejection. No amount of reciting perfectly good (but intellectually appraised) truths can convince the heart: it needs input on a completely different level.
Love your blog!