The Word Is Not Imprisoned

This past weekend I (Kimberly) spent a night, by myself, at the campus conference center and hotel (known to Southwesterners as the LDC). As Jason and I tried to explain to others what I was doing, we tried to come up with a name to call my time alone. The whole purpose was for me to be refreshed in the Lord. I had become so tired physically and spiritually, I really needed uninterrupted time with God. As I sat in the room and began journaling, I simply called it a retreat. At first I thought how odd that a word could have such different meanings. I was reminded of when Yosemite Sam screamed, “Retreat!” in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, he meant to turn around and go the other way quickly!  That was definitely not what I was doing! However, the more I thought about it, that’s exactly what I needed to be doing. It wasn’t long into my prayer of confession that God revealed to me I needed to head out in a completely different direction.

When God made me a mom, He changed my life. During the months of pregnancy with Lydia my attitude and heart changed about how I believed a household should be run. I quickly became passionate about the household, meaning not just the house itself, but also all the people in it. What I learned this weekend was that somewhere along the way, that passion from the Lord became my own personal goal of success. If I just worked a little harder everything would be perfect. Daily I was asking myself questions such as “Why am I failing? Why am I letting my family down in different areas? On paper it should work, why is my day not going like it should?” It didn’t make sense to me. Suddenly it was so clear, I was failing at what I wanted to do and how I wanted things to go, so I would be looked upon as a success in this world. I really wasn’t involving God in it too much. It is amazing how subtly it happens. Yes, the concept was a godly one; I am thinking, “I’m just trying to carry out what God has commanded me!” I see now that it all depends on the state of my heart and a right relationship with the Lord. To put it plainly, I was living a life of unbelief. Of course (as always) I didn’t set out to think this way, but I did not believe that God could carry out what He called me to if I let Him have it all. I needed to be living a life of faith. He wants me to come to Him every day and find out what is in store for the ministry in which He has called me: my family.

Once I repented of that, I wondered what a life of faith looks like. Sometimes it seems so much easier said than done. I searched several verses and came up with this list (not exhaustive by any means):

Humble – Habakkuk 2:4

Confident in the Lord – Matthew 17:20

Believe that Jesus can do anything – Luke 7:9

Persistant – Luke 18:8

Faith is initially given to be able to continue in a life of faith – Romans 1:17

It is not based on works – Romans 9:30-33

Comes from hearing the Word of Christ – Romans 10:17

Acknowledging that faith is a gift of God – Ephesians 2:8

Not shifting from the hope of the gospel – Colossians 1:23

Walk, abounding in thanksgiving – Colossians 2:7

It is to be pursued – 1 Timothy 6:11

Believe the impossible can happen – Hebrews 11

Faith will produce works – James 2:14-26

In case it wasn’t clear, I came away from my retreat very refreshed. No, this week has not been perfect and I have continued to struggle with some of the same habits, but I have seen fruit in the way I responded. It was a little bit easier to battle. So if you haven’t spent time in solitude and uninterrupted time with the LORD lately, I highly recommend a retreat.

On Systematic Theology: Reading Scripture Resulting in Biblical Theology Resulting in Systematic Theology 

We, the church, have found ourselves, at least some of us, with seemingly strong theological conclusions, however, we have hardly any idea how we developed these conclusions. Like the saying of any good math teacher, “Show your work even though the answer may be in the back of the book. The answer is not the answer unless you show your work.” How do we teach theological conclusions or systematic theology and not teach someone how to unearth that conclusion? Simple, we tend to preach and teach someone else’s conclusions. This has a lasting effect on the church which results in an unequipped body. This must change. There is a way to preach and teach the Bible by which you feed the sheep and delicately show them how to read the Scriptures.

If you pick up any systematic theological textbook it will basically give you the conclusions or answers to the theological questions they have either discovered or taken from someone else. So, you find yourself in this situation: you begin a conversation with someone who is an unbeliever and you are discussing a topic of theology. Furthermore, this person is well educated and directs some logical reasoning back at your conclusion. Then you realize that you have no idea how to explain “your work” on coming to that conclusion. There you stand with no explanation for the hope that is within you.

The church, by that I mean every believer, [should] be brought to a point they can write or explain theological conclusions with their Bible (but not proof-texts). This means that they are being equipped and they are equipping others to continue to study the Bible. This will happen in the home, the office, the grocery store, etc. Moreover, this may be one reason why people are not sharing the gospel or discipling their children because they do not know how. Thus, I think catechisms are the lazy way to teach our children, and we are severing these truths from the word of God. This does not mean that we abandon the confessions and systematic theology books; rather we use them to check our work. If we are way off in our conclusions, we must work harder to find out why—namely, through the study of the Scriptures and prayer.

Therefore, the church needs men and women dads and moms who can rightly divide the WORD, not a catechism or systematic theology book. However, this takes work. Are you willing to work hard to find the treasures found in Scripture? Let me state why this is going to be difficult. First, there are many things you have learned that you will have to unlearn. Next, in a sense you may be working backwards. This becomes very frustrating, but it will pay off as we begin to discover the treasures within God’s word. Lastly, it will be hard because we are lazy (and too busy) and undisciplined in our walk with the Lord. When we discover Jesus, we will be changed. We need to SEE Jesus, so to see him is to find him revealed in written form i.e. the Bible.