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Anyone that knows me well would probably agree that I am somewhat of a theological mutt. I am reformed in theology as well as charismatic. While not as unique a position as it once was it is still somewhat rare in the community in which I work in live. Because I am somewhat a “mutt” in my beliefs I rub shoulders with Christians from different traditions. I have friends that are “Word of Faith”, “Pentecostal”, “Baptist” , “Reformed Cessationist, “Reformed Non-Cessationist” and all over the eschatology map. I also have recently benefited from Lutheran Theology. To further complicate things I along with my family have started attending a new church while still attending our previous one. The decision to add another church to my already swirling “theology-mutt self” would seem to most a bit much, only time will tell.
What I have learned in my wanderings between churches and the various theologies is that Jesus can be found or missed in any of the traditions. We can get so wrapped up on our distinctive’s that we forget what we have in common. Jesus, His cross and the fact that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit love us passionately , and that God is more to be desired than all this life can offer. We can take ideas of ”relevance”, “excellence”, “prosperity”, ”leadership building” , “life transformation”, “expositional preaching” or even my beloved “reformed theology” to the point that we have relegated Jesus and his cross to a secondary issue. A term that I came across is “Jesus shaped spirituality” at IMonk.com has really been helpful as I journey with other worshipers of Jesus. I highly recommend his blog post, it describes where I am going much better than I can.
My thinking has undergone a fundamental change when it comes to “The Church” as apposed to “a church” Going from a “place” view of church to a “people view” is needed and wont be a easy journey for any of us, but its something we should strive for. We will probably have our differences in theology until our Lord returns, whenever that might be! But until then, let’s be gracious to each other and respectful even to those on the opposite side of the Christian spectrum. It makes Jesus look good, and that should be important to all of us.
