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What makes you uncomfortable? Itchy clothes, conversations over politics, dog hair in your food, shoes that aren’t the right size, extended silences in discussions, and phone calls are all things that can make some of us uncomfortable at times. We feel antsy and want to find an escape.
Doctrine may have made you feel uncomfortable as well. Has someone ever shared their theology with you and it made you feel uneasy? Perhaps a friend, a fellow churchgoer, or a co-worker brought up a theological topic with you, and when they shared their perspective you felt that desire to escape. As sweat pricked the back of your neck, you wondered how you could get away from this conversation the quickest.
Two ditches lie on either side of the believer when theology leaves us disquieted. In one ditch, if a theological position causes you to feel antsy, you should flee from it—any sense of discomfort or disturbance should cause us to run in the opposite direction. In the other ditch, people yell in all-caps that theology shouldn’t be dictated by our feelings—simply ignore them because the truth is truth despite what we feel.
Is there a place in-between where we can say yes and no to both of these automatic responses?
How can we go about investigating doctrines that make us uncomfortable?
When theology causes us distress, we should get curious. Rather than run away or ignore those emotions, we should investigate. We should ask ourselves why this theological position causes us so much distress. What bothers us about this doctrine? Next, we should investigate whether we have an accurate understanding of the position.
There are doctrines that I once rejected based on false definitions, but once I had a better grasp of the theology I received them in an embrace. Once we’ve sorted through these knots, we look to Scripture: With our accurate definition of the doctrine in hand, can we support it with God’s Word? Consider the Bereans who, rather than blindly accepting Paul’s teaching, reflected on Scripture to be sure it was true (Acts 17:10–12).
Right doctrine shouldn’t make us feel angst. While it’s true that our emotions alone shouldn’t drive our decisions and beliefs, they should play an important part. Truth is truth regardless of how it makes us feel, but truths about God shouldn’t cause us distress either. When we rightly understand God’s character, our world, sin, Scripture, and the gospel, the truth should give us rest and peace. Jesus said, “My burden is easy, my yoke is light” (Matt. 11:30), and “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
While the truth about our sin can make us very uncomfortable (2 Cor. 7:8–13), we can take heart that the Spirit is at work in us, convicting us of our sin so that we turn away from it and seek to live according to God’s Word. Our faith is one of joy (Phil. 4:4); that doesn’t mean we never suffer or that truth isn’t difficult to trust at times, but it does mean that our theology shouldn’t cast a shadow over us.
The Bible contains hard but good truths.
The Bible contains hard truths (John 6:60; 2 Pet. 3:16), but they always come with the goodness of God on the other side. Scripture says the world was perfect (Gen. 1–2), but Adam’s sin plunged the whole world into the darkness of sin (Gen. 3). Yet, Jesus came down to earth to set the world right (Rev. 22:1–5).
Scripture contains law, and without obeying the law we are destined for God’s wrath. It goes on to say that every single one of us disobeys this very law—so we are all deserving of God’s wrath (Rom. 3:23). Yet, Jesus lived the perfect life we could not and endured God’s wrath to save his people (Rom. 5:9).
God’s Word tells us we will endure suffering because the world is broken, and Scripture promises that Christians will face searing persecution for their faith (John 16:33). Yet, Jesus promises to one day lead us into his new kingdom, where all sin and suffering will be gone (Rev. 21:4).
The Bible says that hell is real, and all who do not repent and believe in Jesus will spend eternity there (1 Cor. 6:9–10). Yet, Jesus will not turn anyone away who comes to him, and he will not lose any the Father gives him (John 6:35–40). God is powerful enough to change even the hardest, most darkened hearts.
Truth, beauty, and goodness are inextricably connected.
Right theology comes with hard truths, but these hard truths are not without hope. Our heavenly Father doesn’t resemble the gods of ancient Greek culture; while they bickered and fought and used people for their selfish reasons, God acts out of perfect holiness. His every act, command, and promise are right and just. Our discomfort over biblical doctrine often stems from incomplete and incorrect views of the gospel and God.
Does your theology make you uncomfortable, Christian? Or did you hear someone express a doctrine that made you want to plug your ears as you listened? Take a moment to pause and dig in deeper to learn. Discern if you fully understood the doctrine and then take it to Scripture to test it.
We have this saying within Christianity about truth, beauty, and goodness. For truth to be truth, it must be beautiful and good. For beauty to be beauty, it must be true and good. For goodness to be good, it must be true and beautiful. Biblical theology must be beautiful, true, and good because God is the ultimate source of truth, beauty, and goodness.
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Lara d’Entremont is a wife, mother, biblical counselor-in-training, and Editor at Large for Beautiful Christian Life. You can find more of her writing at laradentremont.com.
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The Theology of the Westminster Standards: Historical Context and Theological Insights by J. V. Fesko
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