It is true that when I speak to most people, I am very simplistic in my beliefs. My theology is systematic and the parts I do not understand, I just resort to faith. No doubt that this can come across as someone who chooses not to question the nuances of Christianity because it is easier. Or perhaps, some see this as a sign of a 'young Christian', whose unadulterated desire for God simply triumphs over the burning questions of the intelligent.
Those who are closest to me know that that is the furthest from the truth. I have wrestled with questions of predestination, trinity, time, space, evil, omniscience and such since high school. These questions have led me to doubt and disconnected me from Christ. On the other hand, when He has brought me back into his arms, the questions have become scars with telling stories and now no one can use them as a weapon against me. I have a stronger foundation of systematic theology, I have a deeper understanding of the character and the nature of God, I have learned to tackle new questions that arise, and most importantly I have learned to believe in midst of the burning questions in my heart.
The simplicity of my faith is not because I have blindly accepted the Word, but it is because of the countless hours I have spent fighting against my self to understand God outside of the Word. My simple, sometimes ordinary, conclusions are not without myriads of premises. Of course the more I know, I only know that I know so little.
One of the problems of today's culture, and the reason I left the debate club, is that we have forgotten to sit down and think... not for minutes, but for hours, days, months, and sometimes even years. We think only our Thesis is worth the time to spend more than a semesters worth of time. We think nothing is worth pursuing for months, that as long as we've thought/discussed about it once, its enough. Even when we journal, we recollect merely one day out of time, and then just move on (As if yesterday had no effect on today!). The problem of debate club, as reflected by the wider culture, is that we get into a habit of wittiness, and we begin to believe that think we know it all, even as we know we don't. We become used to the arguments told on the news, and as long as we've heard those arguments, we've heard it all. Rome was not built in a day, neither was Microsoft, nor the Confession.
In fact, it is my observation shaky theology, and
If I may make on little connection to the season of lent, It is only after fighting our deepest desire, we realize our weakness and the strength we find in Christ.
So, is my faith fairly simple?
Yes.
We know, brothers and sisters, that I have confidence in the answer, not because is is the summation of all of my own thoughts, but it is the answer revealed to us in Christ, the Word.
