Thursday, August 11

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READ: Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him. Matthew 21:31–32 (CSB)

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I have many wonderful uncles, one of them is Uncle Harold. He was the uncle that if you told him you had had a birthday, he would give you five bucks – at least until you turned 12. He was also a giant so all of us kids were devoted to growing as tall as him. (I don’t know how tall he is… but he was the tallest uncle and that made him a giant.)

When Tara and I got engaged, he and Aunt Judie had us and my parents down for a meal. I can’t remember everything on the menu, but I do remember the portabella and garlic dish. He said there’s enough garlic in that dish to keep you stinking for days. It was delicious.

Uncle Harold and I have had some wonderful conversations about life and faith over the years. Conversations that challenged me to see the world differently.

When you are a young adult though, the world is far more black and white than it is when you get older. I was arrogant to boot and knew my way around a debate, so I often took Harold to task on his beliefs.

One such conversation happened at a cabin that the wholefamily was staying at for the weekend. (I mean we had aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma and grandpa at this one location for a weekend.)

I was in university at the time and my theology about creation was being challenged in those classes. In particular, the literalness of the six days of creation. Harold didn’t hold to a literal six-day creation model and embraced biological evolution. I thought this was wildly incompatible with a biblical worldview, so I pushed back.

And I had ammo. I worked twice as hard as my classmates in those years because I was reading the textbooks as well as Christian authors who argued against evolution. So back and forth we went on the deck of the cabin and I’ve gotta say, Harold was very patient with me.

Then he said something that stuck with me and which I’ve repeated many times, “Thom, the Bible doesn’t care how God created the world, it only teaches that God created the world.”

I wasn’t comfortable with that statement at the time, but I am today. In fact, I tend to agree with Harold.

Now, this devotional is not about creation theology, it is about holding our beliefs in such a way as they can be challenged, examined, and yes even changed over time.

One of the mistakes that the young earth creationists make is that they equate what you believe about creation with salvation. (I’m not kidding, I can show you the book…) But there are very few things that need to be held onto uncompromisingly. Things like the deity of Christ. The bodily resurrection of Christ. And the necessity of Jesus’s forgiveness.

But things like End Times theology, creation models, the nature of God’s sovereignty – these are interesting and important but not essential beliefs to agree upon. My views on just about everything have changed over time, I would say they have matured.

In this parable, the views of the one son changed over time, while the other son had outward beliefs but didn’t allow them to truly affect his behaviour. The first son represented the tax collectors and prostitutes who had the honesty to say “No” to Jesus at first but then given time abandoned their unrighteous lifestyle to become one of His disciples.

On the other hand, the second son represented the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the academics of the time, who gave verbal assent but didn’t move from their rigid religiosity.

I want to make an observation – those who hold most doggedly to a theological position (one of the important but not essential ones), often smack of inauthenticity and are less attractive human beings. While those who understand that there is room for many theological positions in the Kingdom are often more welcoming and compassionate.

The reason is that to allow your beliefs to be challenged – even if you never change them – takes humility. And humility is the most attractive quality in a human being.

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Worship – Passion’s Sam Bailey, Matt Redman, Nick Herbert & Ben Cantelon wrote a song in 2016 called “Simple Pursuit.” Here is the version sung by Kristian Stanfill. It is about getting back to the most important… that is an essential part of our belief.

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PS. I’m preaching at LaSalle Community Fellowship Church tonight (get this…) with my mom! This is the topic we are tackling in a conversational sermon. If you are so inclined you can watch us here – https://lscf.online.church/ – at 7pm CST.