Hunters and Stormers

There are two extremes: witch hunters and gate stormers.

Some are engaged in a perpetual witch hunt. Witch hunters shut the gates of heaven and open wide the belly of hell for all to fall in. They come in two groups: those who condemn others and those who condemn themselves. There is the man who stands in the middle of a college campus, indiscriminately yelling (to someone he has never met, of course), "You are going to hell!" There is also the girl who has truly believed in faith all her life yet whispers the same phrase to herself in the quiet of her heart. Witch hunters pursue and fill their targets' minds. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are wrong. Always they make broad statements without comparing individual circumstances with Scripture.

Others are gate stormers. Gate stormers do not differentiate between others and themselves. Instead, they chain the gates of hell and storm the gates of heaven, casting it wide for any and all to enter. There is the one at the pulpit with cufflinks yelling, "You are going to heaven!" There is also the one wearing skinnyjeans proclaiming the same on book tours. Gate stormers pursue and fill their targets' minds. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are wrong. Always they make broad statements without comparing individual circumstances with Scripture.

Introspection

Should theology be something that is always easy to understand? Should God be someone who is always easy to understand? What if we admitted that there are things we don't understand or things that make us uncomfortable? Are understanding and comfort a pre-requisite for belief?

What if we stopped simplifying theology and found beauty in its complexity? Why do we conceptualize God and heaven and hell by picking out some verses and leaving others? Is the Bible a buffet?

Is it bad to fear and good to be at peace? Is putting God in a big box any better than putting Him in a small one, or vice versa?

Scripture

Pages and pages can (and have) been written about this in depth that I will not even attempt on this blog. Instead, I will leave you with the following two passages, both from 1 John 4.

1Beloved,do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.