Thursday, August 03, 2006
Since I was accused of “mailing it in” on my
last blog entry, I guess I need to have some substance in my next few
entries. I think it’s about time for my first blog series. This is
generally a reactive blog; that is, I blog about my reaction to
something I’ve read or experienced recently. This series will be a bit
of a change of pace. One way or another, announcing a series will
(hopefully) force me to write a bit more so I don’t leave my faithful
readers hanging.
As you can see from the title, I’m too foolish to write my first series on something simple…like quantum physics. The concept of the will of God has vexed most Christians at one time or another in their lives. Bill Bright’s famous “Four Spiritual Laws”
have been quoted over and over again in evangelical circles until they
have become dogma. His first “law” is “God loves you and offers a
wonderful plan for your life.” You may have heard this referred to as
“God’s perfect will” or “being in the center of God’s will.” I heard
those terms a lot when I was younger. While Dr. Bright’s statement is
true, it is also misleading. It has caused many Christians to believe
that their job is to find out exactly what God’s wonderful plan is so
they can follow it. I’ve seen Christians paralyzed in decision-making
as they waited for divine guidance, and others who have endured the
guilt and confusion of believing they failed to hear God’s voice
correctly.
In this series I’m going to attempt to clear away
some of the common misconceptions about God’s will and lay out my
personal framework for Christian decision-making. As I do this, I’m
standing on the shoulders of much wiser men who have done great work on
this topic. I’ll do my best along the way to give credit where it’s
due. The one book that really got me thinking about this topic is Decision Making and the Will of God
by Garry Friesen and Robin Maxson. A revised edition was published in
2004, so it should be easy to find for anyone who is interested.
Up next: Defining our terms