CREEPY THEOLOGY

I know it’s Fourth of July weekend, but it feels a little more like Halloween. There are so many creepy things happening in our nation and in our world. Literally, a creepy microscopic protein called COVID-19 has turned everyday life upside-down. But to me, it’s not the creepiest thing that we are transmitting in the air. To me, the creepiest virus is the theology that many of us Christ-followers are spouting, spewing, and spreading.

For instance:

The Theology of Place. This theology is rooted in ideas like living in a certain country, speaking a certain language, or living in a certain neighborhood matter more than the location of your heart. That being patriotic and following Jesus are on equal footing. I’m sorry, that’s creepy. In God’s Kingdom, the single-father who speaks farsi in Iran and lives in a two-room hut is on equal footing with the father that lives in America in a 3,000 sq. foot house in a subdivision with a golf course. (If that last sentence makes you uncomfortable or it’s hard to believe, check your theology.)

The Theology of Race. This theology is sickening. Because of the color of someone’s skin they are automatically supreme or stupid or sinful or even racist. Some have gone so far to use things like the Tower of Babel to explain God’s plan for the races. Really? There is no supreme race. In fact, race is a man-made construct. Don’t allow something invented by man to creep into your worldview. Lift up your eyes and get a glimpse of heaven, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.” (Rev 7:9) If you’re uncomfortable here, you won’t like it up there.

The Theology of Space. This theology was on Paul’s mind when he said, “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples” Simply put, God’s Presence doesn’t live in your church's sanctuary. Please hear me, I hope we all get to worship together, shoulder-to-shoulder, in large crowds again one day. But if we do not, I hope we will remember that God is with us. Literally inside of us. All around us. There is no space that He is unable to fill with Himself. Your bedroom, your living room, your neighborhood, the Target dressing room, you name it. Stop waiting for everything to “get back to normal” to talk to Him, sing to Him, read The Book written by Him!

There are enough creepy things going on in our world to last a lifetime, let’s leave out our theology.