the searbys

When I was at Lincoln Christian College we had an event about once a month called a "theological coffee house" at which would be discussed various tough issues such as open theism, women in ministry, inclusivism and the like. Today has been an informal version for me here at Coffee Culture. I spent two hours this morning in an ongoing dialogue with one of my co-workers about his worldview, that there is an overarching "social norm system" that guides all life, not any god or religious beliefs. We had a great discussion and I felt like it was meaningful and important. He grew up in the Christian Church, even went to a Bible college for a year, and left the church with more questions than answers and a lot of disappointment from the answer he did get, "you just have to have faith." This statement has hurt us as Christians too many times. Why can't we just do the hard work of figuring out our beliefs for what they are and be able to answer people intelligently when they have questions or challenges to the truth of One God, as manifested in Christ and working as the Holy Spirit? Or at least have the humility to say, "I don't know," instead of a pat statement like, "you just need more faith." I think our discussion will be an ongoing one as we work together most mornings for a couple of hours and I'm looking forward to it.
Not one hour after my co-worker left a Gainesville police officer came in, as they often do (we give them free drinks) and in the course of a friendly conversation got to talking about religion. He asked, "so with your theological training, what do you think happens to people who follow religions other than Christianity?" Not a small question in the realm of theology! We talked about it for a few minutes with me sharing my view that I'm just not sure about people who never get to hear of anything other than the one religion they're raised in but the bottom line for me is that it is not my decision who goes to heaven and hell and I'm really glad its not.
So in the course of one morning at the coffeeshop I've had two very deep theological discussions with relative strangers. Is this how God teaches us? I kind of think that in a lot of ways, yes. I am so thankful for those two conversations which, while challenging me to think, did not shake my firm beliefs, rooted in a thoughtful journey, in the God of the Universe as I have come to know him in the person of Jesus Christ, teaching us through His Holy Spirit. A great morning.
-joel

Thats is really cool, Joel. I hope that you can continue those conversations and bring "real answers" to the questions that your co-worker has.

--Jake  

_____________________

Post a Comment