Hello, Theologians!

Last Spring my wife and I were made the proud parents of our fifth child.  The location of this momentous event was not at the local hospital but the local courthouse.  We became the adoptive parents of a precious two year old boy.  I remember feeling the gravity of the occasion as the Judge officially pronounced the legal standing of our new relationship.  This little boy was now entitled to all the rights and privileges of our other children.  As I signed the legal paperwork, I mentally made the connection between this worldly adoption and the spiritual adoption of those that are in Christ Jesus.  As the adopted children of God, we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:17)  In that courtroom I was learning about the character of God.  This could also be called theology.

Theology is not only for stiff old men over a cup of coffee.  Theology is the study of God’s character and we participate in this activity often without even realizing it.  Far from being a remote field of study reserved only for churches and the halls of universities, theologians are found in hospitals and homes.  A mother struggling to keep patient with her rebellious child is amazed at the patience God has shown herself in comparison.  An artist that spends painstaking weeks perfecting a work finally stands back and holds a greater appreciation and understanding of God’s creative nature.  This hardly scratches the surface and I could go on, but you get the idea; theology is a very practical field of study. 

While we are all learning about God’s character every day – yes, even the atheist, though they are in denial – we rarely acknowledge that we are doing so.  Does it matter?  It does if you care about your spiritual growth.  If you are a disciple of Christ it most definitely matters since disciple means “learner.”  Some Christians consider it pious to be content with simply loving Jesus or staying with a “childlike faith” and avoid the rigorous study of God’s Word.  This, however, only denies them the opportunity to learn more about God, which runs contrary to the very character of a disciple of Christ.  Outside of God’s Word, self-help books often seek to guide individuals on a path of understanding oneself better, yet they often miss what should be the most obvious element in accomplishing their goal; studying the one that made them.

Studying God’s character is a great joy for me.  Theology took an already amazing experience like adopting a child and highlighted its greater meaning for me.  While the practical benefits are obvious, we should not forget that studying God’s character is also a duty.  Rather than hear this word “duty” as an arduous concept, consider God’s command here as an act of grace because our understanding of who we are in relation to God is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.  

"Why" A Great Leader

A few years ago there was an email that posed the situation of two people fighting in a boxing ring.  You were supposed to take your closest friends, supposedly viewing the match from the audience, and make up comments that each of them would have said or thought at that moment.  My friends unanimously agreed that I would have thought, “Why are they fighting?”  Perhaps it was the philosopher in me but I do often find myself asking why things are the way they are.  I pick apart problems, continually asking “why” until I believe I have come as close to discovering the root cause as I am going to get.

This is why when I came across a recent book titled Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek I thought, “Asking why is just common sense.”  However, as I noticed the reference to the word “leader” in the title, I considered that the trait of asking “why” might be more than just a philosophical itch.  I am the oldest of six siblings; father of five children; going on 13 years of military service -- a profession that prides itself on grooming leaders.  Asking “why” is most definitely a trait of a leader.

As we begin another election year, the concept of asking “why” as being a leadership trait has been at the forefront of my mind.  Many of my friends on social media admit that there is something different that they like about the GOP candidate Congressman Ron Paul.  Some specifically mention the honesty they sense from him.  While I am convinced that Paul is honest and tells the American people what they need to hear, I believe it is something more.  The other candidates, including our President, point to our nation’s problems and have many ideas on “what” we need to do and “how” we should do it.  What we do not hear from the likes of Gingrich, Romney, or Obama is an examination of why we are in this dire economic and foreign political situation.

What is different about Congressman Ron Paul is that he asks the “why” questions even if it means uncovering some very difficult truths.  Asking why a problem exists is imperative to discovering real solutions.  Without this, politicians will only come up with more misguided “what” and “how” answers.  A great example of this is our response to the 9/11 attacks.  Our leaders immediately burped the shallow, but very patriotic sounding answer of “they attacked us because they hate our freedoms.”  Ten years later they croak the same tired response, but we Americans are intelligent enough, if a bit slow in response, to know that there must be something deeper.

 

Congressman Ron Paul, who mind you has been saying the same thing for decades, asks the “why” question and came up with a very different answer.  Suddenly, our place on the foreign political stage makes much more sense, even if it was hard for Americans to swallow; we were attacked here because we were over there.  Painful to hear, but healing can also be painful.

 

Since 2008, Ron Paul’s message of economic, social, and foreign political liberty has seen a surge in popularity.  While receiving single digit numbers in 2008 GOP primaries, his message now receives over 20% of the vote.  We find his honesty refreshing, at times comical, but most importantly we find it intriguing.  Even the other candidates have admitted to being inspired by the questions Paul asks, especially regarding economic issues and the Federal Reserve.  Ron Paul inspires all of us to ask “why” and to do our own research.  What America needs now is a leader that is courageous enough to ask the hard questions and inspire the nation into action.