Thoughts on Theology
By Lee Carter Maynard
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I once heard a scholarly gentleman say that he doubted if there were a dozen real theologians in the world. I suppose he referred to men so learned, recognized and respected, that they were counted as authoritative expositors of the word of God.
But recently I read in a popular religious journal that everyone who interprets scripture is a theologian. If this is correct we have a plethora of theologians in the world. I do not count myself a theologian but I have done a good deal of interpretation. Come to think of it, though, I have done very little, but have repeated a lot of things others have interpreted. It is only of late years I have really had time to sit down and read, pray, study, think, and ask the Spirit for guidance as I sought more knowledge of God--His will, way, word and work.
Most of our church publications have done their dead level best to keep alive the interpretations handed down by others "of like precious faith." Congregations were formed by men who were anxious to see that nothing adverse to the traditional viewpoint ever crept in. The result is that we now have about two dozen separate "brotherhoods," each with a list of preachers, literature, schools and congregations loyal to the notions and deductions of favorite prelates.
I humbly confess that for many years I read the good Book to prove the particular position we had adopted. I do not think it ever entered my mind that we could be wrong about anything. We had the truth. If someone suggested that we held that all outside our clan would be lost we vehemently denied it, but down deep in our hearts we really doubted that those outside of our fold could make it.
I count it a miracle of grace that God could open my eyes to great truths of the scriptures, and by a people I felt inferior to our brotherhood. They brought me new light on God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the word. I had preached for many years and truly believed, but my eyes were opened to a light I had never before seen. My love and loyalty included new horizons. I was never so happy in the Lord before. My own brethren did not understand. They thought I was being led astray. But it has been many years since the light came and Jesus has become sweeter as the years roll by. I have had a good life. I learned to trust God. I have preached all over the country and no one has sought to brainwash me. I have been at liberty to preach Christ in love. I have not had one minute of congregational strife and trouble to take away the peace in my soul. I thank and praise God for that!
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I have learned that my body really is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which I have from God. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. I want to glorify God in both my body and spirit, which are his. I learned that the Holy Spirit was not confined to the pages of a book, nor to the four walls of a building (Ephesians 6:19).
When Paul said "Preach the Word" (2 Timothy 4:2) he was telling men to preach Christ, the Word which was made flesh and dwelled among us. The New Testament had not been written when those words were penned. I love the printed page, but it is possible to preach the page and forget the person (See John 5:39).
I was taught that Jacob did not want Leah because she had sore eyes, and so I taught that to my classes. But I do not now believe that. The Bible says she was "tender of eye." It could mean that she had a tenderness that people could see. One translation said that she had "lovely eyes." The context seems to say that although Leah did have pretty eyes Rachel had the best figure and was the prettier of the two (Genesis 29:17).
When Paul told Timothy to "study to show thyself approved unto God," I was taught that he was telling him how to study the New Testament and how to divide up the whole Bible into seven divisions. Now I believe that he was giving a young preacher good advice on how to conduct himself in the presence of the people. There was no New Testament at the time this was written and we do not go to the Old Testament to learn how to be approved of God. It takes study to become a good elder, teacher, father, mother, neighbor, citizen, doctor, or musician. Few of us have really studied how we can improve ourselves, and there is room for improvement upon the part of all of us (2 Timothy 2:15).
I have found that some scriptures mean exactly the opposite to our traditional interpretations. In Colossians 2:21 I was taught that certain man-made rules and regulations taught by our group had to be observed. We could use this verse to stop all arguments when anyone dared to go against our rules of order. I found that we were doing the very thing the scriptures had warned against. If the Bible spoke we were to keep still and obey; if the Bible was silent we were free to speak if motivated by love for God and one another, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
These things are only a continuation of the many wonderful expositions you have read over the years in MISSION MESSENGER. When our Lord said, "Examine yourselves," he was not joking. We all need to take time to seriously pray for light and understanding to bring unity to believers.