On Simplicity

I was 16 and talking with an older friend at Church about whether or not I should go straight to Bible College once I left school. I asked what he thought about going to Bible College, to which he replied "I don't want to study theology, I want to have a simple faith."

Thinking about it tonight as I was going to sleep (haha another going to sleep thought!) I also want to have a simple faith but I get to that through intellectual reading and study of God's word, history, dogma & doctrine, apologetics etc.

I guess it's just part of the way I work. A part of my story is that I have always wrestled with the questions 'is God real? Is salvation real? Is grace real? How does it work? What's the evidence for/against Christian faith?' So a lot of my faith comes from answering these questions.. but some of my faith comes from the un-answerables.

For example, a question I was asking at 17 was 'Should I believe in God, should I live for Him? even though I knew beyond doubt that God was real, I still couldn't decide. I didn't feel close to God at all and despite all the the intellectual answers that I knew were correct, I still couldn't answer the question. I distinctly remember lying in bed one night and deciding then and there that it didn't matter whether God had chosen to let me know Him or not. I would still worship Him, becuase He is worthy of that in Himself - not just because of what He's done for us. All glorious was my God and I would live for Him even if I never knew Him in a close way or never went to Heaven. I life lived for God, even if I was eventually away from Him in eternity, was a life well spent. A bit religious and fundamental, but it was a turning point for me. I made a leap in the dark - not knowing which was the correct way to go and it lead me past complex questions into simple trust. I just trusted that God would make a way for me to know Him.

Now I know His grace is real because I have experiences His forgiveness and His unending patience and love. I have so much knowledge of the way Christianity works and I fully intend on expanding it, but at the same time this knowedge drives me towards simplicity, not complexity, in my relationship with and all-glorious, all-powerful God.

Karl Barth (pronounced 'Bart') a well noted theologian and intellectual of the 20th Century was at a press conference in Chicago. He was asked if he could summarise what he had said in all the volumes of books he had written. He paused for a moment before replying, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so..." I guess that's the way I also feel...