THE THEOLOGY OF ARROGANCE

I normally would not post in such a manner as I am going to post tonight, but I am on the cusp of anger about something I read today at a different blog.

I have seen yet another aggregator form, this one being a blog aggregator for theology. And what are the criteria to be a member in this newest aggregator?

1. An earned doctorate in theological studies or closely relateddiscipline;
2. Active involvement in vocational ministry.
3. Anybody I deem worthy. :)

Take a close look at number one. I left a comment at the blog site I saw this on. I will not name names, nor will I even give the name of the new aggregator, or the aggregator’s creator. I just want to share the gist of what I said at this other blog, and why I said it.

I said that it appears that Jesus would not qualify to be included in this aggregator, and I also said, “Thank God, why would we ever want to hear what a carpenter has to say about theology.”

Those were my words, and I stand by them. One might ask why? Here’s why. Because I read the post, and the comments regarding that post that caused this new aggregator to be formed. In essence, people who have not studied, who are not “pedigreed” have no business discussing theology on their blogs. This was the reason given for a certain post that was written not too long ago, a post on the need of policing people’s discussions over theology.

Here is where I tell you that you should probably never visit this blog again, because I discuss theological issues sometimes, and I have no pedigree. Thus, I have no business discussing theology.

Shall I utter the seven woes Jesus uttered to the theologians of His time? There is a reason my favorite verse is “Woe to you, Pharisees and teachers of the Law. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

Shall I share my reason?

I love this verse so much because it serves as a constant reminder to me of how precious it is to know God, and how wonderful it is to be able to share His word. I love this verse because it forces me to make certain of what I say to anyone, believer or not, so that I will not mislead them. And this verse is all about letting the “learned” know their place, that it is not higher, rather, that it is lower than that of the common everyday man who doesn’t know all of this garbage we call theology.

A true leader, a wise leader keeps not the flock in check. Rather, he seeks always to free them from snares and hindrances, to keep them clear of danger, and guide them to the Reason, that Reason being Jesus Christ.

This new aggregator irritates me in such a way because it smacks of arrogance. The very arrogance that Jesus killed on the cross, and here we are two thousand years later trying to resurrect the death that is this arrogance.

The common believer has no business discussing theology on his blog? Well, if you mean by theology that garbage which “learned” men, people with pedigrees worship more than they worship God, then I say, you are damned right! Throw it all away, I say! It is garbage, utterly useless compared to the power of grace.

Our theology cannot save an ant, much less a human being, and I would rather live one piece of truth, than know twenty five volumes of the crap we call theology. So learned men, I say this; I have met few men or women who are pedigreed who have any business telling any common believer what to do. I have met few who could carry a candle next to Jesus, much less tell others what to believe, and what is right and not right in “theology”.

Swallow your arrogance, it has no place in a believer, and silence not the sheep. They know more than you think. But the academia that is theology is not Christianity, it’s bar room brawls disguised underneath so-called courtesy. You would sacrifice your brother on the altar of right to prove your point. That’s not Christianity, that’s intellectual assault and battery. I have seen it so often in “Christian” blogs that it makes me sick. For a while, I even participated, until I realized what I was doing.

If the common believers want to discuss theology, I say, let them! At least they’re using their own minds, rather than being led astray by the same men who make the same mistakes time and time again. Or is that what “theologians” are afraid of? That the believer would think for himself, know the truth, and thus, be set free from the hindrances and legalism that the modern church is becoming?

Martin Luther battled this very issue so many years ago. In his time, “theologians” believed the common man couldn’t understand the holy words of God, and thus, the common man was not even allowed to read scripture. I see in these comments by theologians, and partially in the forming of this aggregator the same arrogance that would have driven Martin Luther insane with rage.

Maybe the aggregator is going to be completely benign. I doubt it, though. The works of men are never completely benign. Our motives speaks volumes of our deeds, and who knows the deep motives of every theologian, or even of every man? If we are honest before God, and we say such a thing as “the common believer has no business discussing theology on his blog”, is there even a chance that the major motive behind such words is not arrogance? I’d say, knowing me, that if I said such a thing, arrogance would be the driving force, and all men have the same thoughts running around in their heads, regardless of what their lips say to everyone else.

I am saddened that hundreds of years after Luther, we still have to be elite to “know” the secret things of God. I will tell you this truth. A child knows far more about the secret things of God than any theologian ever learned in a book. See a child someday, and watch the joy they portray. That is the secret knowledge of God. The knowledge that men can gain from praising each other’s books and suppositions can never match the truth of God that is found in the joy of a child.

Jesus wouldn’t be caught dead in an aggregator that excluded the sheep. Rather, He’d seek to keep the sheep from the hands of all those who ever came before Him, the robbers and thieves. It seems today’s theologians don’t have time to do that simple task of guarding the sheep. Instead, they are too busy pontificating about theological issues. I wonder what that’s all about.