While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:1

Dear God, I was listening to a podcast yesterday about how our current American Evangelical perceptions of the rapture came to be. It turns out that this understanding is less than 200 years old, and, apparently, started with a layman from Ireland. I don’t want to get into that here or debate tribulation/rapture stuff. Mainly because I don’t care. But this passage made me think about it this morning because this is another example of people feeling like they need to have an opinion on something and then getting it wrong.

The truth is, we know and understand so little. Your ways are not our ways. Your logic is not our logic. Your understanding of the universe is so far beyond us they do not even resemble each other. We are small. You are God. At the end of the day, the answer to almost any theological question should be, “I don’t know.”

For example, right now there is a movement among some conservative Christians to put the 10 Commandments or “In God We Trust” up in schools, as if that will really turn people around. But only two of the 10 commandments are even against our human written laws (murder and theft–although in certain circumstances, you can be punished for lying too, but only in certain circumstances). These are mostly things that cannot be legislated. They must be embraced by the individual heart and then followed as a personal commitment/decision. They won’t be followed by just putting them up on a wall as a sign that is ignored. We will only follow them when we come to the end of ourselves, repent, take up our cross and follow you.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, please help me to simply pursue you and let your fruit from your Spirit grow from there. I don’t have to have all of the answers. Frankly, I have almost none of them. I can’t tell anyone how to be a father, husband, friend, or boss. All I can offer is pursuing you, telling people how I pursue you, and then letting your Spirit grow fruit in me that they will want for themselves. But it starts with my own decision to pursue you. To observe your commandments (and not just the top 10). But to think that I have the authoritative opinion on anything as it relates to you is complete hubris, because I am a foolish man in the hands of a forgiving and loving God. Thank you.

I pray all of this because you gave me a path through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and it is in his name I pray,

Amen