“Flip-flopping was for politicians and people who didn't really believe what they claimed to believe.”
Chris Lacivita used “flip-flopping” as a sign of weakness in the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth campaign against John Kerry back in 2004. Regardless of Kerry’s history, that campaign against him infuriated me, increased my respect for principled mind-changing, and left me with a lot of pessimism that we’d ever come to see it as a virtue. Still don’t know if we will, but I really appreciate your assessment of mind-changing as an act of faithfulness.
All this resonated with me! Evangelicals like structure and security but that doesn't mean our growth in Truth is that way. Its filled with paradox and a lot of whys that don't get answered. Even in Job, when God answered Job, He didn't feel compelled to answer all Job’s “Why me?”.
Repentance is a daily part of our growth in sanctification and changing our mind /metanoia is Stage 3 of the cycle. Your post is warm with growth! I loved it! Thank you !
You put your finger on the idol nobody admits is on the altar: intellectual consistency. We’ve confused loyalty to God with loyalty to our first draft of Him. Saul had to become Paul. Peter had to be broken and remade. And yet modern church culture acts like evolving is betrayal. Thank you for naming that repentance isn’t groveling. It’s metanoia, the holy art of outgrowing our old cages.
You are walking the road that I am on, and it’s as if you’re writing out my own thoughts. The thing I’ve most changed my thinking on-I can’t say I’ve changed my mind because this is so big-is just how much God loves us. His love is bigger every time I look at it. It consumes everything else and grows simultaneously bigger and more intimate. It’s big enough to handle our hatred and small enough to enter our most private and painful moments. “See how great His love, that we should be called children of God!”
One thing that’s changed is my belief that it matters much the details of what you believe in the grand scheme of things. I tell folks that there’s not going to be an exam waiting on them at heavens gate. Answers are really not as important as the questions one comes to form as life and faith evolve. I’ve come to realize it’s about faith, not belief. Faith in a few things-that the Creator made me out of love and that the Creator is love itself. “From stardust you were made and to stardust you will return.”
Marcus Borg (if you don’t recognize him you should add him to your reading list) defines faith as trust. Trust in the Creator-trust in the Holy.
Welcome to the journey of spiritual formation. It began before you were created and continues throughout life and beyond.
I am a work in the progress changing my thinking that I knew anything about God. His power. His sovereignity. His mercy. His love. I let go of thinking I had any ability to define what He is. I slip back into old ways sometimes, and when I do, I remind myself to look outside to the planet he created for us to care for. That is my very real reminder that I know nothing about the awesomeness of God.
I loved this. I appreciated highlight the change Paul and Jesus showed us.
I think one of the main reasons for the rigidity that I have seen, is that many believers have unknowingly build a house of cards theology. They have made all truths equal- which means if they allow for questioning or dismantling of any of those truths, the whole thing threatens to fall apart.
I teach a layered approach. Dogma and what you have wrestled out to be your nonnegotiables.. the things you don’t need to keep open forever. (Example - God is good. Or, andrew was the person I was meant to be with. He is who I choose. Period. This means I don’t need to consider even the possibility that he is wrong for me. (Caveat: Our relationship is beautiful and has no abuse). Then the layer of doctrine. Wrestled and taken seriously but more flexible. The ability to allow for new understanding of Scripture and doctrine.
Then the layer that is personal, experiential and from our quiet moments with God. The most flexible bc it is the most intangible and subject to our own maturity and life seasons.
:) just sharing bc this is why I’m writing for my first book!
Thank you. A great walk through the issue in a positive nonthreatening way.
I have been thinking about lot about idol worship lately and all that can be built into one. The rigidity in beliefs lead to people giving up their discernment for it. Even in the OT, God was the living God not the idol of stone.
Well said. I’ve changed my mind on just about everything I believed for 50 years and my concept of ‘God’ has grown and deepened in ways I couldn’t anticipate when I was defending the doctrine I inherited. I feel so much richer for it.
I recently started reading about and listened to a webinar on Open and Relational Theology by Thomas Jay Oord. I’m still new to the subject but I have to say that the opening paragraph struck a chord with me: “Open and relational theology is a contemporary theological movement that emphasizes two central convictions: 1) God experiences time moment by moment and therefore is not immutable or impassible in the classical sense, and 2) God engages in genuinely reciprocal relationships with creation.” Oort proposes that “God’s nature is inherently loving, responsive, and dynamic”. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this theology.
When I became a paying subscriber in July I wrote to you saying that "your writing is worth paying for." You kindly made a comment about that. This article is proof that I was so right!
I used to believe it was the unfortunate fate of some folk to eventually suffer "eternal torment in hell". But after reading Gregory of Nyssa, George MacDonald, and David Bentley Hart I changed my mind and came to believe Universal Salvation is the best way to reconcile what at first reading seem to be contradictions in Scripture concerning final things.
This is so good. Thank you. I feel like I’ve been slowly doing this over the years. “The sin of certainty” by Pete Enns helped me in this regard. There is so much freedom in not having to have the right answers all time, but it’s hard letting go.
“Flip-flopping was for politicians and people who didn't really believe what they claimed to believe.”
Chris Lacivita used “flip-flopping” as a sign of weakness in the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth campaign against John Kerry back in 2004. Regardless of Kerry’s history, that campaign against him infuriated me, increased my respect for principled mind-changing, and left me with a lot of pessimism that we’d ever come to see it as a virtue. Still don’t know if we will, but I really appreciate your assessment of mind-changing as an act of faithfulness.
Thank you for the encouragement and for reading along.
All this resonated with me! Evangelicals like structure and security but that doesn't mean our growth in Truth is that way. Its filled with paradox and a lot of whys that don't get answered. Even in Job, when God answered Job, He didn't feel compelled to answer all Job’s “Why me?”.
Repentance is a daily part of our growth in sanctification and changing our mind /metanoia is Stage 3 of the cycle. Your post is warm with growth! I loved it! Thank you !
I’m so glad it resonated, Phil!
You put your finger on the idol nobody admits is on the altar: intellectual consistency. We’ve confused loyalty to God with loyalty to our first draft of Him. Saul had to become Paul. Peter had to be broken and remade. And yet modern church culture acts like evolving is betrayal. Thank you for naming that repentance isn’t groveling. It’s metanoia, the holy art of outgrowing our old cages.
You are walking the road that I am on, and it’s as if you’re writing out my own thoughts. The thing I’ve most changed my thinking on-I can’t say I’ve changed my mind because this is so big-is just how much God loves us. His love is bigger every time I look at it. It consumes everything else and grows simultaneously bigger and more intimate. It’s big enough to handle our hatred and small enough to enter our most private and painful moments. “See how great His love, that we should be called children of God!”
One thing that’s changed is my belief that it matters much the details of what you believe in the grand scheme of things. I tell folks that there’s not going to be an exam waiting on them at heavens gate. Answers are really not as important as the questions one comes to form as life and faith evolve. I’ve come to realize it’s about faith, not belief. Faith in a few things-that the Creator made me out of love and that the Creator is love itself. “From stardust you were made and to stardust you will return.”
Marcus Borg (if you don’t recognize him you should add him to your reading list) defines faith as trust. Trust in the Creator-trust in the Holy.
Welcome to the journey of spiritual formation. It began before you were created and continues throughout life and beyond.
These are wonderful comments and insight. Thank you!
I am a work in the progress changing my thinking that I knew anything about God. His power. His sovereignity. His mercy. His love. I let go of thinking I had any ability to define what He is. I slip back into old ways sometimes, and when I do, I remind myself to look outside to the planet he created for us to care for. That is my very real reminder that I know nothing about the awesomeness of God.
Thank you for sharing so honestly about your journey, Berta! We are all a work in progress. :)
The “I don’t know” part is often the hardest to practice for me 😂
Oh totally! Right there with ya. 😊
I loved this. I appreciated highlight the change Paul and Jesus showed us.
I think one of the main reasons for the rigidity that I have seen, is that many believers have unknowingly build a house of cards theology. They have made all truths equal- which means if they allow for questioning or dismantling of any of those truths, the whole thing threatens to fall apart.
I teach a layered approach. Dogma and what you have wrestled out to be your nonnegotiables.. the things you don’t need to keep open forever. (Example - God is good. Or, andrew was the person I was meant to be with. He is who I choose. Period. This means I don’t need to consider even the possibility that he is wrong for me. (Caveat: Our relationship is beautiful and has no abuse). Then the layer of doctrine. Wrestled and taken seriously but more flexible. The ability to allow for new understanding of Scripture and doctrine.
Then the layer that is personal, experiential and from our quiet moments with God. The most flexible bc it is the most intangible and subject to our own maturity and life seasons.
:) just sharing bc this is why I’m writing for my first book!
Thank you. A great walk through the issue in a positive nonthreatening way.
I have been thinking about lot about idol worship lately and all that can be built into one. The rigidity in beliefs lead to people giving up their discernment for it. Even in the OT, God was the living God not the idol of stone.
Well said. I’ve changed my mind on just about everything I believed for 50 years and my concept of ‘God’ has grown and deepened in ways I couldn’t anticipate when I was defending the doctrine I inherited. I feel so much richer for it.
I recently started reading about and listened to a webinar on Open and Relational Theology by Thomas Jay Oord. I’m still new to the subject but I have to say that the opening paragraph struck a chord with me: “Open and relational theology is a contemporary theological movement that emphasizes two central convictions: 1) God experiences time moment by moment and therefore is not immutable or impassible in the classical sense, and 2) God engages in genuinely reciprocal relationships with creation.” Oort proposes that “God’s nature is inherently loving, responsive, and dynamic”. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this theology.
I’m a big fan of Thomas Jay Oord! Glad you brought it up. Super fascinating.
Love this! Thank you!
Thanks for reading! Glad it resonated. 😊
When I became a paying subscriber in July I wrote to you saying that "your writing is worth paying for." You kindly made a comment about that. This article is proof that I was so right!
You’re the best, Barb! So grateful for your kindness and support.
Very nicely put.
I used to believe it was the unfortunate fate of some folk to eventually suffer "eternal torment in hell". But after reading Gregory of Nyssa, George MacDonald, and David Bentley Hart I changed my mind and came to believe Universal Salvation is the best way to reconcile what at first reading seem to be contradictions in Scripture concerning final things.
What a beautiful journey! Thanks for sharing that Barry. 😊
This is so good. Thank you. I feel like I’ve been slowly doing this over the years. “The sin of certainty” by Pete Enns helped me in this regard. There is so much freedom in not having to have the right answers all time, but it’s hard letting go.
I love Pete Enns! I also found this book super helpful. Thanks for reading. :)