MOVED

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This blog will continue to be updated at that location!

Good Theology?

   There is a war raging in the church right now between so-called “liberals” and so-called “conservatives.”  I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately and I have come to a conclusion...  We are not asking the right questions.  Before we even get-to-know a person we want to give them a litmus test to find out their short-answers on faith and theology.  We ask bad questions.  We make terrible assumptions.  We want to know “Are you a conservative,” “Do you believe homosexuals get into heaven,” “Do you believe in a literal heaven,” “Do you believe that Noah built an ark or that Adam and Eve ate the apple as a historical act?”
    In the war between liberal and conservative we have people on both sides with “bad theology.”  Bad theology is not about which theological position you take, but how you struggle with it.  The right question we should be asking is whether Christians are being faithful by growing in faith and we grow in faith by struggling in our faith.  That is good theology.  Good theology is about questioning our own faith, reading scripture and trying to look for God in places we never have before.
   Bad theology is taking a hard-and-fast ideological position and then sitting in our corner never allowing our faith to be challenged and never inspecting our faith from new angles.  When we have a bad theology -an unquestioning theology, such inspection of faith can seem like an attack because we don’t have the language or the practice of struggling in our faith.  But such an inspection of faith will actually help us grow in our faith, help us better understand other people’s faith, and give us the practice and language to go even deeper in our faith.

That practice will help us get to the right questions and that is Good Theology!

Title Photo:  Worship while on mission in Montana.  Photo by Scott Carnes, 2008


My wife, Carrie Carnes, left the following comment on this post on April 13, 2011 (before I moved the blog to blogger.com to be archived):



I believe that theological struggles and studies are a means of grace and therefore ought to reflect the life-giving, invitational and creative traits of God. Certainly, theological positions which are damaging to people's lives need to be challenged and rejected; but perhaps, its not so much that we need to re-define "good and bad theology" and more that we need to reject these labels entirely. I have never experienced a situation in which telling someone one that they had "bad theology" was helpful. Certainly, there are theological positions which are damaging, outside of orthodox tradition(s) or illogical. Certainly, I value the sort theology that leads to deeper questions rather than quick answers as I believe that that struggle is a sign of faithfulness. 


Having said all of that however; I think that it is only fair to acknowledge that we all or at least most of us (including you) hold specific positions which are so core to our understandings of God that we won't really question or re-think them. For me, God's identity as rooted in love: invitational, creative and relational love, would be be one such position. I suspect the same it true for you...that if a belief or position is not consistent with a loving God you most likely will reject it. For others that core concept might be the infinite power of God, or the infallibility of scripture. I think these are the discussions we need to have and never do because of the labels of "Good" and "Bad", I think that it is only fair that we begin not by being open to just anything but by acknowledging which positions we will not compromise so that we can then have an authentic discussion.

Biking High

I’ve been bicycling over the last few weeks.  Last year I hit it far too hard right at the beginning.  I was sore for days.  This year I’m starting slowly and building up.  Today, though, I got a phone call and ended up heading back to the apartment way too soon.  On the way home I was gliding down the street and realized I just really didn’t want to stop.  I think that bicycling has become a spiritual practice for me.  It’s not just exercise anymore.

When I bike I find my mind can wander freely.  It’s a time when I can think about whatever is most important in that moment.  Sometimes that is something unexpected that I didn’t even realize was on my mind.  I can daydream about my new job in Pontiac.  I can think about the next sermon topic or scripture for preaching class.  Perhaps, though, I find myself thinking about something as asinine as my car’s squeaky brakes or the laundry that I need to do.  But, increasingly often I find myself, simply, by myself.

Over the past few years of bicycling, my prayer life has been increasing as well.  It is not always intentional prayer, but sometimes it is better than my best prepared or most earnestly said prayers.  When I’m out on my bike, I find myself asking questions, considering my own life, and looking for answers.  I find myself [silently, i hope] talking to myself, no one, and God...all at once, sometimes!  When I go bicycling I am growing in mind, body, and spirit -it turns out.  Who would have thought?

I believe in this world of constant contact it is sometimes difficult to just be alone.  Perhaps, though, we need to find times and activities that allow us to be self-reflective.  We need to allow our minds to wander...and when we least expect it, perhaps, we will find ourselves meditating and growing in prayer...even talking to God without realizing it.  I think that each of us should find an activity that we love and as we practice it (like taking long bike rides with an iPod blasting) we will find God listening to us...perhaps we will even discover God somewhere within ourselves!

The Security of a Promise

   Northminster Presbyterian Church in Evanston, where I am an intern, recently made a decision to house the homeless.  After discussions with other area churches they realized a need to help families that have become homeless, especially in light of the recent economic crisis.  They, with other churches, founded a new local initiative called Family Promise.  Family Promise is part of a nation-wide program where church take turns housing recently homeless families so that the children and parents can be kept together and have access to their schools and workplaces.
    The church has been enthusiastic of its support for this program.  The church helped the new program purchase cots, curtains, toys and all of the things that would be necessary to create a temporary home for the people we are trying to help. This week was the first week of the program in Evanston but we found ourselves setup and ready but without families.
    We could easily become discouraged that, perhaps, this is a bad program or disillusioned that there is not need of the program.  What I have seen at Northminster, however, is excitement.  We realized that, even though there was the hiccup of no participants this week, we could do this.  We setup the church and had all of the volunteers and money in place for our turn.  We did it!
    It turned out that it was a test run, but the test run had purpose it proved that we could do it and it proved that we were faithful in our promise, even if there were not yet families to accept the help.  I’m reassured that there are applications turned in, there is a great need, and that the churches are ready.  Come our next turn hosting the program will be running smoothly and there will be people living in our church.
    Isn’t this like God’s promises?  God promises us love.  God promises us life.  God promises us faithfulness.  Northminster remained faithful to its promise and so does God hold faithful the promises that she makes.  The family that was lined up, from what I understand, became nervous about this new program.  Perhaps they were embarrassed.  Perhaps they were afraid that we would not live up to the promise we have made.
    It seems that we have become accustomed to fellow humans not living up to their promises.  We have become used to unfaithfulness and disappointment.  What God offers us is a steadfast, ironclad promise.  This promise is expressed in scripture and should be expressed through communities of faith.  As a church -as a community of faith, we must be faithful to one another, to humanity-at-large, to all of creation, and to our Almighty God.

The Experience.

Every since I got engaged this blog has been hi-jacked by personal stories that are probably not very interesting, so today let me reflect a bit on something even more obscure:  Groundhog Day!

    Here is an interesting holiday.  We ceremoniously parade out Punxsutawney Phil to see if he will retreat back into his den or cage.  American culture has set aside a day that we watch with fascination as a groundhog retreats into her/his hole.  Can we all agree that this is an obscure and bizarre holiday???  Now is the time when I admit that I love groundhog day.  Not because I’ve ever been to see Phil nor because I put any stock in Phil’s predictions, but I love groundhog day because it is obscure.  It reminds us of our fascination with the unexplained, the accult, the bizarre, the supernatural.  It reminds us that we want to believe in more than what can be seen or measured by science.
    By all accounts Easter is much like Groundhog Day to many Americans.  Crazy Christians gather in their churches to see if Jesus is in the tomb.  If Jesus has risen (He always has) then they are inexplicably ‘saved.’  For those of us who are Christians, Easter is not meaningless like Groundhog Day but it is bizarre, really.  Can we imagine what it must look like to those of other faiths?  Can we imagine what it looks like to those with no faith?  How is it that we bring forth the story of Easter that others will appreciate the mystery, the excitement and even the bizarre nature of the day without writing it off as a superstition?
    I think first of all we have to take time to just enjoy the moment.  We can use groundhog day to practice.  Can we just experience Groundhog Day in all of its uniqueness?  Can we forget about the fact that weather and sunlight contribute to whether the animal wants to come out or not?  Can we forget about meteorology, climate and weather patterns?  Let’s set aside science and technology and just enjoy the moment today.  We’ll watch a groundhog for what it is and we’ll accept that the experience of watching the groundhog is worth something.  As Christians, when we arrive at Easter in just a few months, perhaps we will remember this exercise.  Let’s set aside the technological and scientific and just accept that the experience of Easter is where we will find the truth.

New Year's Lobster Party

   Two weeks of time spent with family and friends is coming to a close and we ended the time with a great New Year’s party at Carrie’s parents.  Each year Bob and June put on a Northeast-style New Year’s Lobster dinner.  It was great fun.
    I was pretty much a nervous-wreck, though, before New Year’s Eve.  At the start of the fall, before I had even proposed, Carrie had a conversation with me, “So Scott, don’t be mad at me, but I was talking to mom and dad...and they want to invite you parents to New Year’s.”  It took me a moment to recover but I realized that if I was going to follow through with asking her to marry me- then the families would have to meet.  Carrie said, “Great!  There is one other thing, and don’t be mad, but actually my parents didn’t ask.  I told them to invite your parents.”
    Well, you can imagine how this conversation went.  The whole thing began to stress me out, but over the last few months I warmed up to the idea that our parents would, indeed, meet.  But a few days ago I realized with horror that they really were about to meet!  Now, really I know, there isn’t actually anything to worry about.  We both have likable parents.  Yet, knowing, that everything will be alright doesn’t change the feeling of fear and trepidation that I was feeling!
    It is actually something her father said that calmed my nerves just before my parents arrived.  He said, “Scott, it doesn’t matter if we like one another or not.  It’s not us getting married its you and Carrie!”
    I don’t exactly know why I told all of this, but in the end, our parents got on very well.  Our dads talked politics, our moms talked wedding, and we got to hang out with Carrie’s cousins and friends.

Not Planning A Wedding

    So the last few days, if judged by our expectations, would have to be deemed a failure.  We had intended to go down to Carrie’s parents and spend three full days of wedding planning so that Christmas with each family could be wedding-planning free!  It was a well thought out plan...
    Carrie still had a mountain of work before her that was due a.s.a.p. so she was working feverishly between our appointments with the pastor, a bridal shop and her dentist (not wedding related, but thought I’d be thorough).  That night she was up all night getting the paper done so that it would be in the professor’s email before 8 a.m.  She came by my room at 8:30 a.m. to ask that I would come wake her up before her appointments started at 10.  She had scheduled appointments with bakers, dress shops and florists but her mother and I conferenced for a few minutes over breakfast and made the executive decision to cancel everything and let her sleep.
    We were, in the end, still able to go see the reception site but Carolyn got some much needed sleep.  We had to cancel about half of what we intended to do during the three days, but it made the rest of the trip very enjoyable.  Carrie got a full morning’s sleep. And we’re heading to the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Springfield on our way back to Chicago.  All in all it was a great few days.  We just didn’t get much wedding stuff accomplished.

Title Photo:  With Carrie at the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, IL.  You can't see so much in this photo but it was decorated beautifully for Christmas but, of course it is a beautiful house anytime of year.