I can't remember where I first saw this, but I love the humor of it:
Jesus said unto them: "Who do you say that I am?"
And
they replied: "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground
of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our
interpersonal relationship."
And Jesus said: "What?!?"
This
morning I spoke about "missing the point" and how we so often do. We
overcomplicate the gospel, we add to it, we confuse it with other
things. Jesus said
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as
yourself." The religious people of his day had complicated faith to the
point that it was unattainable by the average person. Jesus simplified
things. He explained God's purpose for mankind in simple, yet
challenging terms.
I love theology as much as anyone. I love the
depth of people like Dallas Willard, D.A. Carson, F.F. Bruce and A.W.
Tozer.* That being said, there's also a place for the depth of "Jesus
loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so." Modern worship music
has long been criticized for being too simplistic and lacking
theological content. While some criticisms may be warranted, in general
I think the critics are off-base. Music, in particular, is not a tool
for theological dissertation; it's a tool for helping us feel what we
know.
Yes, we need to maintain orthodoxy and avoid a
pop-psychology version of the Christian faith, but at the same time
it's not just about believing the right facts. Being a Christ-follower
is not just intellectual, it's experiential. We know it and
we feel it. Our interaction with God is not limited to simply agreeing
with certain facts. It's submitting all that we are to Him; heart,
soul, strength and mind. Anything less is missing the point.
Now and then we need to stop and remind ourselves to receive the kingdom of God like a little child. "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so."
I'll close with the prophetic words of a brother of mine:
God's laughter echoes in heaven
We really think that we've figured Him out
With our systematic theologies
There's just one thing I wanna know beyond a shadow of a doubt
Does Jesus love me?
If that alone is true,
Maybe then I have a clue to ponder:
What's the Big Idea?
*Side
note: Why do so many of these great authors simply use their initials?
Carson, Bruce, Tozer, Tolkien, Lewis, Torrey, Wright, Packer...all
known just by initials. Would I be taken more seriously as J.R. Mitton
rather than just Bob? Actually, I already know the answer to that
question, but that's another story. 