Thinking
The death of theology has profound ramifications. Theology is dying not because the academy has failed to devise adequate procedures for reconstructing it but because the church has lost its capacity for it… The church is the place where biblical knowledge must be learned, developed, and applied. The church is the context in which God and his Word should receive their most serious thought… If the church can begin to find a place for theology by refocusing itself on the centrality of God, if it can rest upon his sufficiency, if it can recover its moral fiber, then it will have something to say to a world now drowning in modernity. David Wells, No Place for Truth
One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is the ability to think and reflect on Him. At MBBC we want to remain committed to teaching the truth of God’s Word as well as providing opportunities for people to continue to increase in their knowledge of God. We want to think rightly and deeply about Him so that we might live correctly for Him. We place a priority on Biblical thinking for the following reasons:
1) We are commanded to love God with our mind (Mark 12:30).
2) The local church is called by God to be the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
3) The pastor must be deeply concerned that people grow in doctrine (Eph. 3; 1 Tim 4).
4) We must actively renew our mind in order to make progress in the faith (Rom 12:2).
5) We are commanded to grow and become mature in our thinking (1 Cor. 14:20).
6) We must be able to discern the difference between true and false doctrine (Eph. 4).
7) We must fill our minds with truth so that we will be able to think correctly (Col 3).
8) True Biblical thinking promotes unity among God’s people (Phil. 2; Acts 1-2).
9) The enemy wages war against our minds and we must fight it with the truth (Romans 7).
10) We must “be ready” to defend our faith (1 Peter 3:15).
We have created Sunday morning Foundations as the primary venue for developing the Biblical thinking of our people. We are also writing a series of theological reflections called “The Column” that is available on-line or at our bookstore
For further study take the time to read the sermon by Jonathan Edwards called “Christian Knowledge”.