The Image of God

We exist in life bearing the image of God.  Often it is easy to feel that this person is important in this way or that. It is true that in worldly things some people are more important than others.

But in spiritual things we are all image bearers of God.  It is tempting often in spiritual things to feel there are certain people which have more to offer to the church.  I suppose this is true in some respect as some people are more faithful to living the Christian life based on biblical truth.

But often in practicality the church misses who is important in the church.  I have met many figures in the church who are supposedly of great importance.  I have found some of them to be very heavenly minded and wise, and I have found some to be more earthly minded than many elderly Christians I can find in any local church.

The reality is that people often judge by appearance.  You will find that appearance is often wrong in spiritual things.  You cannot judge a person's faith in a few moments.  You may be able to judge a person's eloquence in speech and various natural abilities very quickly, but it is very rare to find people who can discern others' spiritually very quickly.

Always we should attempt to view all people as equally important to the plans of God.  The more we prioritize this or that person as important or less important to the plans of God, the less we understand the nature of God and his work in the world.

Biblical Truth and Christian Culture

Often Christian culture and biblical truth are not exactly equal. There are many pieces of Christian culture which are simply culture and not necessities.

That Christian culture exists which has no basis on necessity in scripture is fine, as long as it is not normative/absolute as Christian culture sometimes is treated.

You see going to or supporting Christian movies is not a biblical necessity. I for one have never gone to or supported many Christian movies because I do not find them to be helpful.

For those who believe in these things or find them of use that is fine as long as they understand there is no necessity for these things. They fall in the realm of adiaphora (things on which Christians are free to disagree).

Christian music also falls in this realm. A Christian need not only listen to Christian music as many churches suggest explicitly or implicitly. Again it is choice which exists in the realm of adiaphora.

Christian culture is fine as long as it does not produce judgement on Christians who do not accept or appreciate the elements of Christian culture. The elements are not biblical necessity and as culture can freely be rejected if one in good conscious does not find them of use.

Four Questions for Testing Theologies

Lately my critique of any theology has boiled down to four questions I ask:

1) Is the glory of God maximized?
2) Is the wretchedness of man maximized?
3) Is God's incredible fatherly love demonstrated while showing 1 and 2?
4) Does the theologian avoid squirming?

The only one needing explanation is the squirming. Theologians squirm when they become nitpicky about the meaning of words to explain away meaning. They squirm when they impose their emotions on events. They squirm when they refuse to allow God to take responsibility for his own actions. Squirming takes place in a wide variety of forms every time I see it I hate the theology coming along with it.

I’m sure there are other criteria needed to analyze how good theology is but for me I find these four very helpful.