a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

how true is that? sit in a theology class once in a while and it becomes overwhelmingly obvious. there are many people i take class with who will not listen to anyone else concerning anything. it is their way, it always has been and it always will be, no matter what anyone says....

so i generally try not to ramble about theology stuff but....

i've been having a lot of discussions about grace lately. it seems to be a concept that most people cannot fully comprehend and therefore disregard or ignore. it seems to me that we cannot remove grace from our worldview if we claim Christ. who are we to limit the mystery and power of God's grace? who are we to say who is saved and who isn't?

i'll never forget the first time i was confronted with an almost non-existant view of grace. someone told me (and many people agreed with the statement) that babies/children who die before they understand faith (in a profession of faith sort of way) do not go to heaven. i remember how upset i was by this concept? how could a God, who i had been taught was a God of love, not accept babies and children into heaven. doesn't his grace cover those children, who may never have been able to express faith in doctrinal terms, but who probably had a very real awareness of the presence of God?

i've just been frustrated as of late because it seems like we put grace into a box (to use the common language here at dordt). actually it seems like we put most things pertaining to our faith into boxes. neat lists and categories. it's like we can't stand to have anything messy or bigger than our understanding in our views of God or of this whole faith thing. is this simply because our society is obsessed with effiency and understanding and time managment? why do we feel the need to categorize people and beliefs and traditions so they fit into these labels? why do we dismiss things we don't understand? why do we assume that as soon as someone makes profession of faith they automatically have a full understanding of faith? what happened to valuing child-like faith? why do we define ourselves by these seemingly abstract doctrines that don't seem to affect any other parts of our life? when did we become this exclusive club for the "good" people only?

i heard a sermon this past sunday that horrified me. the general thrust of the message was this: "The Lord says, 'Your heart is not right with me. Please do not come to the table.'" this is a direct quote from the minister as he talked about partaking in the Lord's Supper. basically he said sinful people who partake of the sacrament are degrading the sacrifice of Christ and the table itself. it seems to me that we are all sinful. so, does no one come to the table this coming sunday when communion is offered? and doesn't God know we're sinful? isn't that why he sent Christ, to take our punishment for the sin? isn't the sacrament in part to remember this sacrifice? why are we supposed to leave who we are at the door when we come to worship or to the sacrament? shouldn't it in part be a reminder of our sin, and therefore a reason to rejoice at the sacrifice? i just couldn't understand how what this pastor was saying made true sense....

what happened to mystery? messiness? a desire to learn more? a desire for everyone to be in the community of God? shouldn't this be our goal? why wouldn't we want all of humanity to enjoy the new heaven and the new earth? why do we want it to be "the elect few" that dordt loves to talk about? if God decides that his grace covers everyone, from the Christians who grew up in Christian-everything to the Muslims from Iraq to the aethiest in Canada, are we going to be upset?

sorry. i'm just frustrated by a lot of my own thoughts.