“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. ² These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.” 1 Tim 4:1-2

When you have been immersed in evangelical theology and culture for all of your adult life you come to know ‘truth’ and ‘error’ very easily when you spot it. Of course part of the capacity to do this is a learned awareness of core tenets and creedal statements. These things are taught as orthodoxy and to stray from these is to enter error or even worse, ‘heresy’.

So can we possibly learn new things if a) the system of belief is thought to be ‘closed’ and b) a choice to explore new ideas could result in professional demise. For example, to ponder the place of women in the church is considered a current ‘theological debate’, but to seriously reconsider the nature of the trinity would be to put yourself on the outer of a significant part of the community. Therein lies a serious problem – as Upton Sinclair once said – and I paraphrase ‘it is difficult for a person to think new thoughts when his salary depends on him adhering tightly to the old ones.’

I have been listening to Peter Enns book Curveball while dog walking and gyming and have really appreciated his provocative writing. I find I have a love/hate relationship with Enns’ work. I love that he pushes me to think in different and usually uncomfortable ways. I hate that sometimes the tone of Enns’ podcast and writings is a little self assured.

But Enns challenges our thinking about how we view scripture, what is to be taken literally or figuratively. He challenges our thinking about God himself – or even whoever or whatever God is. I get the sense Enns self professed panentheistic approach sees God less as personal and more as infused in every part of creation. He challenges our thinking about eternal destiny, salvation and how the age to come will take shape.

I imagine many of his speaking gigs will have dried up and many people will be ‘farewelling’ Enns as they did Rob Bell before him. Perhaps a less contentious but equally provocative theologian was Clark Pinnock, who was almost ‘expelled’ from the American Evangelical Association for spouting incorrect theology. Pinnock was an early proponent of open theism, where he focused on God’s self-imposed limitations in dealing with humanity. He also was an early questioner of the idea of biblical inerrancy – in a time when it was virtually professional suicide to do so. Of course this is still much preferred to being executed for heresy as was Michael Servetus in 1553, when John Calvin pointed out what he believed were 33 errors in his theology…

I believe we need these pioneering thinkers to keep us from settling on ideas of God that are comfortable but not true.

In Curveball Enns writes:

I firmly believe that how we make God intelligible today cannot rest simply on how others made God intelligible yesterday. As the universe continues to expand beyond our imaginations, so too must our understanding of God.

He argues that as our knowledge of the universe (both macro and micro) grows so must the way in which we think of God. You may not agree with his conclusions – but I am grateful for his contribution and his tugging at my sleeve saying ‘what about this? What about that?’ I need those voices in my life and I think all of us who pastor in conservative evangelical churches need to be engaging with provocative voices.

As one who is not currently employed by a church I feel a freedom to think and explore theological ideas in a way I didn’t when I was in a community and responsible for a bunch of people. I don’t think it’s wise or fair to unleash an Enns type faith explosion on a bunch of people who are simply trying to faithfully follow Jesus. On the other hand, you could argue that failing to alert people to ‘new truth’ is dereliction of duty also. In that regard, I have no hesitation in rejecting the idea of eternal conscious torment as the nature of hell. I cannot reconcile my image of God with this thinking, nor does it feel like justice to be sentenced to infinite suffering for finite mistakes. I’m happy to push people on how they view hell as I feel it matters when we shape our understanding of God and his purposes. Similarly, I have been influenced by Pinnock & Greg Boyd in reconsidering what we mean by a sovereign God and I would now lean towards a more open theistic understanding of God. I’m not sure if that is enough to place me in the sin-bin, but if it does then so be it.

Those two ideas scratch at the surface of my thinking and I am hesitant to write much more of my musing, lest I find myself exiled too in some way. But that is the problem. Those of us who are vocational Christian workers – who derive our income from the work we do in the Christian community – are to a large degree prohibited from exploratory theological thinking. Our jobs quite literally depend on us keeping to script and affirming what we have determined long ago to be true – even if we no longer believe it.

I’m not privvy to what goes on in theological seminaries – failing to pursue a Masters degree means I have never been able to legitimately teach there. But I imagine there must be significant tension for those employed to teach a particular brand of theology, but for whom that theology feels like it has gaping holes or at very least is tearing. I’d love to hear the musings of professional theologians outside of the classrooms where they are required to keep to script.

I wonder what we miss out on knowing, engaging with and experiencing because we are trained to operate with blinkers? I wonder how we can welcome divergent thinkers and value their contribution without fearing their impact. I opened with Paul warning Timothy about false teachers in the church and I acknowledge this as a real issue – but I wonder how we cultivate better communities for thinking and exploration of ideas that are risky, dissenting and maybe even completely wrong. Surely we need to be able to do this more effectively and graciously. (My mind just turned to the inerrancy debates of the 80’s in my own local denomination and I shudder as I remember the venom and vitriol that fuelled those conversations.)

Anyway – this is a thank you to the stirrers and dissenting voices who have provoked my own thinking and rattled my theology in such a way that I am richer for it!

When it comes to choosing who to vote for each election my simple advice to people is to consider which party best depicts the kingdom of God as Jesus describes it and vote for them. Easier said than done I know, but generally when people are pursuing righteousness, peace and joy – a description of the Kingdom in Romans 14 – then the outcome will be a healthier and more just society. And in case it isn’t clear – there is no perfect political party to throw your lot in with. They all line up in some ways and depart from a Jesus-like ideal in other areas.

That said, the fireworks that have emanated from the Trump appointment point to what the world is like when someone totally disregards the ethics of the kingdom of God and simply pursues the kingdom of me. When a person sees themself as the centre of the universe and is also the most powerful person in the world, then they may be tempted to use their power in self-centred ways. Every day I wake to read the news, wondering what has happened in the last 12 hours. It is like a reality TV show unfolding around us, except it is real life and one man is using his power to simply bring maximum benefit to himself. It is horrific.

The world is reeling from the misuse of this power, from Ukraine to South Africa to Gaza, not to mention the chaos that must be present in his own country. And it appears no one is reigning him in. It seems those close to him have their own jobs to consider – but surely someone must have the courage to stop the insanity. The result of one person pursuing their own agenda without regard for others is tension, strife and conflict escalating, rather than being resolved. While secular politicians may not use the language of the ‘kingdom of God’, the values and ideals they espouse are often aligned with kingdom concepts. This is why Trump is such an abberation. He has complete disregard for any ideas that do not benefit him directly, while being seen as a great benefactor for the working class. As for the so called ‘evangelical Christians’ who are finding a way to endorse this craziness, it’s time for those folks to also admit that they can no longer fudge their way thru on this one. This guy is a clown and the world has become a circus – but it is just too critical for him to be allowed to keep making his messes everywhere.

And I don’t write this as any kind of lefty as I’m a self confessed ‘swinger’ when it comes to politics. However right now the unfettered destruction one man is wreaking on the world is some of the greatest craziness I have seen in my 61 years.