Warning! The Philosophy of Man

I have been pondering this topic for a while and felt it necessary to record my thoughts.  I mentioned it in part during last Sunday service.  Anyway I hope that you will patiently read my pondering here.

I have to confess that at different times in my life I held to certain man made philosophies.  I once was an extreme conservative, now I am not.  I once identified myself as a Baptist when asked about religion, I no longer do.  I used to label myself as an Arminian in my theology, then as a Calvinist, then as an Augustinian, but now I do not ascribe to any of these.  I used to follow humanistic concepts, but I see them now clearly as broken and have left them behind. 

I am in no way perfect in my beliefs but I have grown in my conviction that man driven and made labels for my beliefs are actually contrary to what I believe.  Let me explain.  I firmly believe that Jesus is the center of all things.  That He is also to be the center of my beliefs, values, philosophy and actions.  His Word, the Bible is my source and guide for learning, growing, teaching, inspiration and so much more.  It is on this foundation that I find myself sitting.  I firmly believe that those who claim to have submitted their life to Jesus as their Lord and Savior, are to have this same conviction.  So if people want to know my "religion", I am a follower of Jesus or a Christian.  If they ask what I do for work, I am a Pastor at a Baptist Church.  But no longer am I defined as a "baptist" but as a Christian.  If the Baptists began to follow some crazy false doctrine then I would no longer be a part of that group but I will always be a part of Christ.  

My Theology in similar fashion is Biblical meaning based on the Bible.  Not Baptist, Calvanistic, Reformed, or whatever other designations that might be more common.  I refuse to even use the label of "systematic" in regards to my Theology due to the connection that this word has with the idea of subscribing to a particular man defined theological system.  Instead I firmly believe we are to follow proper systematic methods of study so that we learn the proper context and meaning of the Bible.  However the Bible itself is our guiding document for Faith and practice not just a resource book for us to use to back up our own documents.  

Why do I say all of this?  Because I have found that even some of the scholars that I greatly respect have at times fallen to points of belief that they include as doctrinal truth and yet they do not have proper Biblical basis for such a point.  They may have a verse or two that they have been told supports this point because it is a part of their denomination's systematic theology.  The problem is that sometimes people fall to what we call "proof texting".  This is a process where people state a belief and then find some verses that seem to back it up.  Instead we should study the Bible as a whole and accept the obvious teachings taken from the author's intent and original context.  Then as we study and God opens our minds to His Truth our doctrine should change more and more to fit His Word.  

So the problem is that if I proclaim a particular system of belief other than the Bible then I am in danger of declaring a man developed set of statements as being what I believe, instead of those statements helping me to be challenged in what I believe so that I get into the Word and know what I am supposed to believe by It's teaching.  It is not wrong to write out our beliefs and statements.  But they are not to be our primary identifier.  Not only are we in danger of placing our statements about Scripture but we also can cause division in the Church.  Sure I think it is ok to have division over doctrine but we should not cause it by our man made philosophies and statements.  Instead let us study the Word of God together and if some refuse the Word then we pray that God would open their mind and heart to His Truth and that if we lack understanding on the matter that God would open our minds to better understand His Truth.

In short form I am saying that we should not answer people's questions of doctrine with canned statements from Calvin, Luther, Piper, Wesley, Origen or any other person. Rather we should direct people to God's Word and help them learn how to study the Scripture taking in the obvious and hard Truth that it has.  Too often people will jump around from verse to verse to prove their belief.  I know that there may be instances where this is valid.  But often it comes with avoiding other verses that seem to give a different answer and this is not how we are to treat God's Word.  The Bible was written in large sections we call books and letters.  It is meant to be understood within the context of the whole not just verse at a time but as God gave it.  Also keeping in mind that we are not to use His word to fit our purposes but rather our purposes are to shaped by His Word.

Anyway I could go on and on and I am not sure if more would really be of value here.  If anyone wants to talk or chat about this with some specifics feel free to message me and we can do that.  

Stand with your gaze centered on Jesus firmly on His Word.

Pastor Bruce

Walk as you have been made

Here is a little video I made today ... just sharing my heart and how God has challenged me.

Let us walk together

Pastor Bruce