Why some theology matters

I know I got on a theology kick this week, but let me bring it around.

Our belief in who God is, how he made us, and view of the relationship between God and us matters. It matters to how we view God, how we view ourselves, and how we interact with God. God created us as freewill creatures (I know, now I'm risking circular logic here). If we have freewill, our choices matter, and our views matter. They influence how we act and interact.

These things are worth debating, especially if a group is to be a long term community. How the community views these matters helps form what the community is, what it does, and how it relates. While a group that wants to be a redemptive community does not need to agree on all theology, I think it does need to agree on these fundamental points. Thus the need for discussion, even debate on these matters.

But of course, the individual needs to know their own viewpoints. This effects how one interacts with God and others. If I see all who don't know Christ as fundamentally depraved, that effects how I interact with them. However, if I see them as a worthy human in need of healing, wholeness and holiness, that causes me to act more gently and tenderly towards them.

And it is interesting that when two who profess Christ get together and differ on these matters, I think some of the most heated discussion can occur. It is because I think we put so much of our security into our view of our identity, and these matters get to the core of our identity. Let God or another shake it, and we become scared -- who are we if we aren't x? But letting go of false teaching on these matters and embracing the truth allows us to become more fully who we are.

I don't know how a person can become all that they are meant to be without the divine truth in these matters, nor do I believe a group can become community without a basic like-mindedness in these matters.