A saying passed on to me by one of my mentors is, ‘theology that doesn’t lead us to worship, is probably leading us to hell.’. The meaning being that over the course of our spiritual journeys, Christians will inevitably grow in knowledge. Whether we have a habit of putting our knowledge into action however, is the key to either spiritual growth or simply human pride. As Scripture says, ‘knowledge puffs up, but love builds up’. The key is integration of our theology, not aggregation.
In our Next-Gen space, the focus of our spiritual formation this year will be on the theme of integrated theology. How can we not just enjoy the strong, robust theological foundation of our church, but put it into practise?
Our focus will be in these areas:
1. Grow in our belief and knowledge.
Where there’s no integration of our knowledge into lives, our sense of wonder in Christ can be easily diminished. Let’s approach scripture with renewed eyes, there are no limit to God’s revelation.
2. To fall deeper in love with the person of Christ.
However, the purpose of the knowledge of God is to know the One behind the theology. Our knowledge ought to deepen our love and reliance on Christ. To know that the prodigal son was forgiven is one thing, but to realise that our Father loves us despite our consistent rejection and dysfunction is another thing all together.
3. Find areas of integration.
In John 1, we see the love of God through the incarnation of the Son. ‘The Word become flesh’ is not just a fact of God, it’s also an invitation for His disciples to follow. As God’s love for us was revealed to us in flesh and blood, so too our faithfulness to Christ must also be expressed in a manner integrated with reality, not simply theory.
A Christian that only knows how to parse ‘karitos’ in Greek is infinitely less effective than a Christian who knows how to BE gracious.
4. Accountability to grow in self-awareness.
Just as God is relational in His being, we must not neglect our need for community either. Self-awareness is the key to internal growth, and there’s no self-awareness without a community around us. Integration is a team sport.
I hope in 2022, we endeavour to not just know more about God, but to see more of the gospel out worked in the flesh. Let us all see the power of the gospel is in Christ revealed in our world.
我的導師中有一位傳給我的一句話是，「一個不帶領我們進入敬拜的神學可能會帶領我們走下地獄。」當中的意思是指在我們的屬靈旅程中，基督徒無可避免地會增進知識。但我們是否有將知識付諸行動的習慣，是靈命成長或衹是人自大的關鍵。正如經上說，「但知識是叫人自高自大，惟有愛心能造就人。」關鍵是要融合我們的神學，而並非滙集。
在我們下一代青年團契中，今年靈性養成的重點將放在融合神學的主題上，我們要如何地不祗享受我們教會強大而穩固的神學基礎，而是要把它實踐出來。
我們的重點將放在這些地方：
1. 在我們的信仰和知識中成長。
在沒有將我們的神學知識融入生活的地方，我們對基督的奇妙驚嘆感很容易被削弱。讓我們以更新的眼光來看待聖經，上帝的啟示是無限的。
2. 要更深刻地愛上基督這個人。
然而，認識神的目的是要了解神學背後的那個人。我們的知識必須要加深我們對基督的愛和依賴。知道浪子回頭被饒恕是一回事，但意識到儘管我們一直抗拒和失控，我們的父親仍然愛我們卻完全是另一回事。
3. 尋找融合的地方
在約翰福音第一章，我們通過道成肉身的聖子看到神的愛。“道成肉身”不僅僅祂是神的事實，也是邀請衪的門徒來跟從衪。正如神對我們的愛以血和肉身來向我們顯明，所以我們對基督的信實也必須與現實結合的方式來表達，而不僅僅是理論。
一個衹懂用希臘文去解析“karitos”這個字的基督徒絕對比一個懂得如何活出慈悲為懐的基督徒會低效得多。
4. 提高自我意識的責任感
正如神的本體是存在著關係的，我們也絕不能忽視我們對群體的需要。自我意識是內在成長的關鍵，但沒有我們周圍的群體也就沒有自我意識了，融合就是一項群體運動。
我希望在2022年，我們不僅要更努力地多認識神，而且要看到更多的福音在肉身中發揮作用，讓我們都看到福音的大能是在基督裡並顯現在我們的世界中。
