As a philosophy major I have found myself doing intelectual gymnastics for much of my clases. Which although I find it interesting as well as fun in helping me to play intelectual mind games with my friends, in many ways it can loose its purpose. My buddy Mike told me once joking about our two majors something to the effect of, “philosophers think about real things and conclude nothing, mathematicians talk about nothing and conclude something”. Although I can’t speak if the statement is true regarding math, I have seen over the last semester that for philosophy it is true as well.
My point in saying all of this that I believe theology can become in danger of the exact same problem as Philosophy. We talk of things like free will and predestination, the implications of the words “take care of my sheep”, or perhaps “forgive them seventy times seven”. We debate over these issues, their meanings what action it requires of us. We leave a bible study feeling satisfied when we feel we have made some sort of intelectual progress on what these things mean. But what has it all been for?
Have we perhaps made our theology into a intelectual excursive that reaches no further than talk and reciprocates no action?
Christ did not say “Go into all the world and think about what I have said and what it means.” he said Go into all the world and make disciples”. How are we obeying?
BEARDED DISCIPLE 