Now and again I bump up against someone who likes to define the Christian life and interpret the Bible in terms of systems. For that matter a great deal of Christian writing focuses one’s attention on developing a system by which one relates to God.
What am I referring to? I’m referring to the habit of organizing ideas in the Bible into certain categories. A theological system gathers verses together about God and puts them into headings and subheadings and may refer to them as “The Doctrine of God”. A moral system rallies verses to create a code of conduct and may dub it “Christian Ethics”. And there can be verses that together would make up soteriology or the “Doctrine of Salvation”. And then there’s ecclesiology, the “Doctrine of the Church” and eschatology, the “Doctrine of Death, Judgement, and our Final Destiny” and so on.
The early Christian church took many of these doctrines and in a sense condensed them into a concise set of affirmations such as the Nicene Creed.
Is there value in this? In organizing the teachings in the Bible into various confessions and categories? I would say so. We do well to be acquainted with what the Bible does teach about these various topics. But I suggest that there is a limit to the value of doing that.
My contention is that theological, creedal, or ecclesiastical systems are temporary supports that, like a cast or crutch, help us get moving in spite of a compromised limb. But there comes a point sooner or later when the call comes to quit looking to a system and “walk in the truth” — 1 John 1:3 — and “strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees” — Hebrews 12:12.
In the words of Jesus to the master systematizers of his day, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39,40)
That sounds to me like a call to find out what it means to live in the immediate and constant presence of Jesus with him as our sole interpreter of both the Scriptures and everyday life. The cast or crutch serves a vital role, but only up until his hand takes yours and you’re off!
