Dear God, why are we so evil in treasuring a form of unity that is so superficial like unity in being under a certain organization, unity in love, unity in race, unity in language and all kinds? In the end, when the 'wind blows' what will be left? Why do we not understand Isaiah 40:8-The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever? All the unities above will never last but ultimately, those who hold on to the unity of God's revealed truth will not fade... Why? Firstly, God is an eternal being Himself, therefore His word will transcend time and space(guess what, He made them too)... Secondly, it takes the conviction of the Holy Spirit these truths in the Bible that is totally different from the wisdom of the world... Basically, saying it's God helping you to understand His Own eternal word... So of course la, it won't fade, win-win situation... Therefore, doctrinal truths matter!!! It's not just piece of paper or what you need to know to be a Christian instead, if you're a Christian, you have to know it!!!
But what do we do with it? Are we really concerned for it? No... Instead, we treasure those superficial unity more which in actual fact is no unity at all... Be it with non-Christian or worse still, Christians, we just like to avoid conflict and brush things off...
The most hurtful thing you can hear from people would be, 'aiya, what's with all these theology all? not important la... justification by faith, not by theology... so, please don't fight over it and let's just continue to be bros and sis la ok?'
How futile is this to think of theology in this way... Have you ever considered Ephesians 4? One baptism, one faith, one LORD and more ONES... And what does the bible say about unity? And do we even have any idea of what theology really means? If you don't view God in a proper manner, obviously it will affect the way you live la... E.g. when we are busy with our studies, we instantly spend time less on working out what the bible is saying... And in light of reading 1Corinthians, it just makes me ask myself the question of my own identity, am i a Christian 1st or a student 1st? If we are indeed Christian 1st, why can't we put reading the bible, committing to church, doing ministry and even considering helping to advance God's kingdom and on and on instead of our studies? Not saying studying is wrong, but why not? In 1Cor 7, you can see that marriage itself obviously can cause your time devoted to God be divided, but does it mean you don't marry? Likewise in everything else, studies, career, family, relationships, hobbies and all will also divide your time devoted to God, but in the same passage, you can see we are to secure our undivided devotion to the LORD... How la?
Undeniably, no one will ever have the perfect theology, but that doesn't mean it's not important... And after knowing the basis of unity, dare we even say that it's not important?
Sometimes it's just so sad to see the scenario above...
LORD, please remind us of our identity and lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil...
2021.
3 years ago