Once Again, In Case You Missed It, Theology Matters

It's been done before.

Too much, really. The point's been made and the dead horse still gets beaten.

But in today's Dallas Morning News there was a Chris Lehmann Sunday Commentary regarding Joel Olsteen (of publishing & Lakewood Church renknown). Like I said, lots of articles have been written about Joel Olsteen's books/CD's/Church and he's quite the easy target. He's done it to himself, frankly. But there seem to be 47,000 folks that he's "reaching" each Sunday, not to mention book sales and such. I'd imagine he's doing quite well for himself in a number of "quality of life" index categories.

But that's not what the article is about. It's about his theology. The author refers to it as "Word-Faith," but the label is irrelevant. Lehmann is bringing to the forefront the logical "ends" of what the pastor believes. His theology. His theos--Godhead--logos--word. His words about God. And what he believes about God has an effect on his life and those who hear him. The article closes this way: "This is a long, long way down the road from the inscrutable, infant-damning theology of this country's Calvinist forebears – it is, rather, a just-in-time economy's vision of salvation, an eerily collapsible spiritual narcissism that downgrades the divine image into the job description for a lifestyle concierge."

It isn't Joel Olsteen I want to talk about, though.

It's the reality the article sets forth: That your "god words" affect your life. The things you believe about God all have logical "ends" and ways you live that out in the moment-by-moment of your day. Every day. From now through eternity and beyond. It's just how it is.

Hence, theology matters.

Now, it's obvious to some (apparently there's 47,000 and change that aren't so quick to grasp it) when you get to an extreme like Olsteen's that there might be something fishy going on. More or less "cooking the books" or whatever you want to call it.

But every pastor/teacher has theological underpinnings and beliefs that affect their life & teaching in such ways. We all have 'em. They all show up in our teaching from time to time. Our "god words" touch every facet of our lives, from how our church services look & our body is governed to what we teach about the spiritual life now to what we believe about the end times to salvation to how we treat our wives/children, to how we view authority, to how we treat the grocery clerk, to how we drive, etc. You get the point. Every facet flows from a belief system.

Which is why it came to a head yesterday.

A family who used to go to our church was out and about and I bumped into them. We chatted and got caught up on kids and such. I mentioned how much I enjoyed one of their children--a former student--and missed their family being around. It was very pleasant. In fact, the mom said, "Listen, we love you and appreciate all you've done for our family. And we kind of miss Crossroads. So many great people and so many gifted teachers and so much good stuff going on. But, our kids had more friends going to [current church] and we got tired of fighting that battle every week."

Now, don't get me wrong. The church they mentioned is a fine church. As far as I know, their staff loves the Lord and all that jazz. But I can read their doctrinal statement.

And I know the logical "ends" of that theological bent. In fact, I could get anyone that asked to some web sites that would help them think through the ramifications of that theological bent.

And I'm not against someone choosing to go to that church because they're in alignment with that theological bent. Obviously, I disagree with it, or, frankly, I'd probably go there. Like I said, they've got staff that love the Lord from what I can tell. They've got decent programs. Fair enough. I understand why folks like the place. Really. I do.

Ultimately, though theology matters.

Those little underpinnings that don't show up at first will rear their ugly heads in places folks least expect...

...and legalism will rule the day. In their lives as well as in the lives of their kids and all their friends who go there.

And, I can't for the life of me figure out why grownups would let their kids pick a church for the family. Or because of any pastor. Or because of any program. Or because of convenient times or location. Those things are nice to have, but they're the gravy. And, to be honest, I wouldn't want folks to choose my church because of our "gravy." The meat & potatoes are the god words at our place or anyone else's.

I guess their theology matters, doesn't it?