June 4, 2015

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which G*d created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by G*d is good…”   1 Timothy 4:1-4

“Now theology is like the map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert (when he felt G*d’s presence while out alone under the stars). Doctrines are not G*d: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with G*d — experiences compared with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. If you want to get any further, you must use the map.” C.S.Lewis (1898 – 1963) Mere Christianity

I wonder how many young people, under the age of 16, have ever seen a “fold-out Map”? Paper maps are good – they give you a two-dimensional picture of a state, roads, counties, landmarks like rivers and mountains, etc. What most people use today are the GPS devices, either separate devices or systems that are available to download on cell phones. The GPS not only finds the most direct route to a destination, but it can tell you down to the minute when you will get somewhere, how far away your destination is, and may even tell you about construction or other possible impediments along the way. And you can also access a satellite picture of any place you might like to see through other means, using that same cell phone. Your fold-out map cannot do that.

So many times we think we have to experience something to appreciate it rather than take someone else’s opinion or description. Or we believe that the newest gadget or “theory” is better than the old ways. This isn’t necessarily true with our understanding of G*d and His son Jesus Christ. The further we get from the Apostolic experience, the more we lose touch with their struggle to understand who Jesus was, and to put that struggle on paper in doctrines, creeds, councils, and theological treatises. When we read their struggles and writings, it helps us and forms our own struggles and experiences. But, first we have to pull out the map and read it before we know where we really are going. A GPS is good, but having the map along to support it is that much better.

Pastor Dave