I left the church for 1 1/2 years on a mission trip over seas. By the time I returned home the church was practically gone. The Pastor had moved and 7 out of 11 other ministers on staff had moved on. What I found among the people was a disheartening and movement away from their faith. Many people had hung on every word of the Pastor instead of studying and learning for themselves.

We must learn from our Pastors, but never elevate them to rock star status.

1 Corinthians 3:11 says:
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Isn’t He the only foundation? I think that sometimes we put our trust in beliefs about Jesus instead of in Jesus Himself. It seems like a subtle difference, but it can be worlds apart. If our safety is in our doctrine alone then it can be hard for us to be teachable about anything. After all, if I’m wrong then I’m not safe. But, if our trust is in Jesus alone, we can survive questions, disagreements, changes of mind, and we can remain teachable and pliable.

I like the way Paul put it:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4
I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

This seems to be a very simple (but profound) Gospel. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. But wait Paul! Where is the doctrine of the Trinity? Where is the virgin birth? Where is the inerrancy of Scripture?
Please hear me; I’m not saying that these things are not true, but are they essential to one being “in Christ”? Paul does mention many other things that are part of the message of Jesus throughout his writings, but what is essential? If what Paul stated above is the Gospel by which “you are saved” , then why do we expect every believer to hold to a fully-formed, flawless, systematic theology?

Rodney thanks so much for your honesty in sharing your journey, and thanks for sharing your journey with us! What a privilege! I enjoy sharing my thoughts (as they are continually being formed) with you and being sharpened by yours.

Just wanted to share something somewhat unrelated to this particular podcast, but I’ll tie it all together with a quote from U2 (since you mentioned U2 in the podcast).

Here recently I’ve been engaged in a very lengthy debate/discussion with a previous coworker and friend of mine when I lived in NC. Our discussions have revolved around the tenets of the Reformation movement and how dogmas are accepted as revelation. I’ve challenged a few of those tenets and have been accused (indirectly) that I’m on the path to falling away from Christ. Just this morning, I was driving home from a job and I flipped on the radio just in time to here a well-known Atlanta pastor warning his listeners against those who are falling into the scheme of Satan by questioning the “foundations of the Christian faith”. I have to admit that I’ve been rather hurt by these accusations. I feel as though I’m trying to hard to follow Christ, to be led by the Spirit and even to obey the teachings of scripture. But my questioning of these “foundations” have all of the sudden turned me into someone who is dangerously teetering on the brink of heresy. They continue to exhort me to return to these foundations and all the while all I can think of is the lyrics found in U2′s “Stand Up Comedy”:

“Stand up for hope, faith, love.
But while I’m getting over certainty,
Stop helping God across the road like some little old lady!”

It was a real blessing and encouragement to me just to hear you guys this morning.