The Structure

As I said in my last post, when I put together a puzzle I need two things: the big picture and a strategy. Needing the picture is kind of obvious. I mean, if you pick up a piece of a puzzle and it's simply blue, is it sky, water, a car, a dress, etc? The strategy is a little less obvious, but I'm betting that if you've put together puzzles, you've used a similar strategy as me. First of all, you start with what you know: edge pieces. These pieces stand out as different and as obvious. Putting them together gives you the boundaries and the overall direction of the puzzle (not to mention putting them together is great for morale since it goes pretty fast). What I do next is to start to focus on the pieces that have obvious changes. I don't try to put together the sky; I grab the pieces that are part sky and part mountain. Again, these are different, more unique, more obvious. I use a similar strategy when putting together Christianity.

  We want a big picture as soon as possible, so let me start there. Let me explain my strategy for getting a big picture. I think you'll find that it becomes almost obvious after I explain it. 

  First, let me point out that the big picture looks a little different to God than it does to us. What I mean is that God created the universe for reasons. His purposes and his plan are his big picture. And we need to know what these are in order to formulate an appropriate response. That response becomes our purposes and our plans...our big picture. So in order to capture both perspectives, God's and ours, I want to present to you another picture.

You probably recognize this simple sketch. It is a stick figure rendition of the Vitruvian Man made famous by Leonardo DaVinci. This image is meant to represent, in some artistic/mathematical way, Man. I am hijacking the image to represent, in some artistic/mathematical way, Christianity. Basically I am personifying our world view.  

  Like a human soul, Christianity is made up of a mind, a heart, and a will. To understand a person you need to know how they think, what they feel, and what they do. I see the same pattern with Christianity. To understand it, we need to wrap our heads around what the Bible is teaching us concerning what to believe, what to value, and what to do. I have found that most people either over-focus on proper beliefs or they over-focus on proper actions. Unfortunately, both of these approaches are not only inappropriate, but I think they both miss the point. I'm sure you've seen good theologians behave very poorly. And of course the emphasis on behaviour just ends in legalism. We all know that isn't right. No, we want a balanced "person". We want to think right thoughts, feel right feelings, and do right actions. In addition, we want to do right actions BECAUSE we feel right feelings. And those feelings should be BECAUSE we have right understanding. Let me illustrate by beginning to fill in the picture.

Three sections. First, the mind, which I've labelled "Theology". This is the big picture from God's point of view. I will divide this section into three subcategories that handle God's nature, God's purposes, and God's plan.  

  The other two sections are our response, our big picture. The first is the heart of Christianity which I've labelled "Worship". I have a great deal to say about worship. Suffice it to say, I am making worship to be the central nervous system of Christianity. It is the right heart response to God, which drives the right behaviours. Nothing works without worship. I will subdivide worship into three sections as well. The third section, the will, I've labelled "Discipleship". This is our day-to-day lives - what our theology and worship look like in the physical world...also subdivided into three categories. 

  Hopefully you can already see the benefit of this approach. Understanding God. Understanding why God has acted. Understanding those actions. Then responding with our hearts in a way that honours him. Aligning our values to his. Making his priorities ours. Coming alongside him in his plan in order to participate in his purposes. Connecting to him personally. And then living our lives intentionally as a result. Making the most of our time here. Having eternal impact, enjoying true partnership with our God.

The Puzzle

 Hello, my name is Phil Smith. I am a married, 45-year-old father of two preteen girls. I've always been fascinated by Christianity. I absolutely believe that Christianity is God's answer to all that ails us. I love learning about it and I love teaching about it. 

 You may be thinking, "Phil, if Christianity is so great, then why isn't it working?" Well, I have two basic answers for you. First, because most people won't adhere. If you find a drug that cures cancer but only a small fraction of cancer sufferers will take the pill, you can't blame the pill for not working on a majority of cancer patients. Second, because it's very misunderstood. There are many reasons why it is misunderstood, but the reason that drives what I teach is the problem I call, "Whaaaaa?" 

 When we are given new information, we process it by relating it to information we already have. When new information doesn't relate as we think is should, we tilt our head slightly to the side and go, "Whaaaaa?" Christianity isn't like anything else but it is enough like so many other things that people are constantly trying to push it into some already-created file folder. But it won't fit. And the harder people push, the less Christianity works. So I need you to take a moment right now and create a new folder in your mind. An empty folder. Can you see it? Now label it, "Christianity". There, that's going to help a lot. 

 Since Christianity is so easily misunderstood, everyone interested in it must be very good at listening, the teachers very good at teaching, and the leaders very good at leading. This is because the natural tendency is always to fall into comfortable, convenient categories. Defining words with familiar meanings. Jumping to conclusions based on experience or common sense. Organizing in ways that look familiar. Making decisions on prearranged logic with already established premises. It's a good thing Christian teaching is so well presented, eh? 

 That was sarcasm. It is not well presented at all! Here's how it usually goes down... When a person responds to the gospel with faith, they are largely thrown into the general population of some church somewhere. Most of their instruction will come by way of 30-45 minute sermons that are largely disconnected from the sermon (or sermon series) before and after it. They will also read books and involve themselves in studies that are largely disconnected to the other books they will read and the other studies they will attend. As a Christian teacher, I find this frustrating. Not to mention there is no accepted standard for what qualifies good Christian teaching from bad. Anything else you study in the world has a linear and progressive approach to it, so as to maximize learning. But Christian teaching is like opening a 50,000 piece puzzle (10,000 of those pieces belong to a different puzzle entirely), randomly taking out pieces, and then tossing them one or two at a time to a person, hoping they can make sense of it. This approach is not only inefficient but also counterproductive. The results fall into two categories:  Nonfunctional Christianity (the world view is empty and has very limited effect) and Dysfunctional Christianity (the world view is false to some degree and has adverse effects).  These results are at the very least sad and all too often tragic.  I have experienced the sadness as well as the tragedy. I am betting you have too. And of course, the greatest tragedy is the harm to the name of Jesus and to his gospel. I believe much of this can be avoided simply by employing a structure to our belief system. 

 I like putting puzzles together. They are challenging and rewarding. I'm not at all intimidated by the number of pieces or by the fact that the puzzle we are putting together is the size of the meaning of life, but I do need two things: 1) a picture of the finished project and 2) a strategic approach. And that will be the challenge of this blog: to provide a big picture and a structure that helps define the new file we've created called, "Christianity". Sound fun? Does to me.