Is having theology, “Putting God in a box?” Is having theology that divides people, “Putting God in a box?” Does God want us to, “Put him in a box” as believers? Many people today, even those who love Jesus, appear to believe that it’s “Putting a God” in a box to speak definitively on just about any Christian truth if it ever creates division. I understand why some people say this because we need to learn to be patient and longsuffering, for sure, but at the same time, perhaps most of the time, I think this can become problematic depending on how far we take it. And especially when we begin excusing bad teachings or even clear heresy from teachers in the church. James 3:1. Even if we don’t right now have a leadership role among God’s people, we need to be willing to speak with biblical authority on matters of faith commensurate with the clarity and weight given to those subjects in the Bible. If we’re not ready to do this, we cannot ever hope to lovingly do what James (and the others) exhorted us to do: “…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” Jude 3.
“Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord!” Psalm 149:5-9.
Christians are in the New Covenant today, not the old. But the stakes are just as high if not higher than when the Psalmist said these words.
“Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:28-29.
With this from the Psalms and Hebrews in mind, may we also remember and humbly apply the following:
“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:6.
