A Walk Through the Forest

Almost anyone can enjoy a walk through the forest. The sights are as diverse as they are beautiful. Towering leafy trees, providing spring buds, summer shade, autumn colours, and the stark winter contrast of white on dark dominate the scene. Various smaller plants rely on the shade and support of the larger trees. Occasional streams or ponds, rock formations, and sightings of birds and animals round out the picture. It is an extremely rare person who cannot appreciate at least some aspect of a forest.

But that's only what I see. If I were to walk in the woods with an expert in natural sciences – in botany, or geology, or wildlife biology, or a host of other disciplines – I would be shown so very much more. As we walked they would be able to stop along the way and explain to me things like the various vital functions of the trees, which plants are edible and which are not, how to tell where the various critters have dens or burrows and tips for spotting them, and a thousand other things. If you get the right person, they can make moss interesting.

As usual, I'm not really talking about a walk through the forest. I believe that everything I've said is true of forests. It's also true of scripture. Sometimes I run across people who are suspicious of theology, or scholarship, or biblical and theological academics. Don't we just need to know the gospel? Isn't it just about reaching as many as possible, as soon as possible? Can't we all just read the Bible and understand what it says? The answer to those questions is yes – mostly. Almost everyone can appreciate the Bible, see it's beauty, and understand the big story of the great Creator who turns his rebellious creation into redeemed and righteous sons and daughters. But in the same way that an expert in matters of the forest can open my eyes to a world so much deeper than I had ever seen before, so too can the academics of a theological education open our eyes to a world of scripture that some have only glimpsed.

Those of us who've spent some time and accumulated some “forest” knowledge aren't any better than anyone else. There's no special class of “forest appreciators.” We have the same need to spend the time in the forest, to see its beauty, to be restored by the peace that is there. We're walking the same path as everyone else. But we have the privilege to be able to poke our fellow hikers and say, “Hey! Lemme tell you about this thing over here. It doesn't seem very big, but the whole forest depends on it.” We have an excitement for the deep things and the details of the forest, and we want to tell others. We want everyone to appreciate the forest better, because we believe that it will help us to love better and see more fully the Lion in whose forest we wander.

In Christ Alone, On Election Day

Something happened a few weeks ago when I was travelling in the States that bothered me. I've been trying not to say anything about it, because a lot of ink has been spilled and hype has been built over this election. But I haven't seen anyone deal with quite this issue, and I just can't get it out of my mind.

I was in an adult bible class, and in the context of talking about God's greatness, the teacher remarked, “our presidential candidates are not God.” The person beside me immediately muttered, “Candidate X certainly isn't.” Wait, what? If we say that Candidate X certainly isn't God, doesn't that imply that there is a way in which, or a possibility that, Candidate Y is? Now, I know this person. This person is a faithful Christian. Of course they don't think that any human is God, except Jesus. And yet, as that same God-man once said, “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Matt 12:34).

A number of people have reminded America that they are not voting for a Messiah-in-Chief. Of course no one would dare to disagree with that statement. But an off-hand, knee-jerk reaction like I heard suggests to me that it is all too easy to affirm right belief, but to pin too many hopes on a candidate.

Christian, remember that in your native land, there are no elections. You have a king. In him, and in him alone, your hope is found. Only his blood makes you truly free. Only his government is truly just. And there is no one – no one! – like him.