Acts 10:13, 14
“Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not Lord! Peter replied “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean”.
My mind is not my socks. I don’t want a daily change. But then it is not my liver either. Why wait for dysfunction and radical surgery to bring change? We should let God work on us year by year.
What would it take for God to change your mind? Acts 10 and 11 tell a theological change story that is a good model. The change it talks about is as big as any you can think of. Bigger than any of my changes (see below). Peter’s convictions are deep and unbendable. But, God changes him.
Here are the ingredients that led to Peter’s healthy change of mind:
- A confronting personal experience. A dream shakes Peter’s world. It gets his attention. He is open now for what God will do next.
- Confirming group experiences. Don’t change your mind because of one private dream. But if eventually there is an event like what happened in Cornelius’ house and another like the Jerusalem Council. Don’t persist, out of step with God.
- Repetition. Peter’s vision was repeated three times. His new convictions get repeated (by him) several times in these two chapters as he works it out.
- Emotion. I can change my restaurant preferences pretty easy. Ask me to change my views about heaven and it will get emotional for me. Real inner change links with big emotional responses. That emotion needs to he addressed slowly.
- A process. It takes time. By the end of Acts 11 Peter has changed his theology. But consider what it took to bring about this change. First a vision, then a coincidental invitation, then a visit to meet people who were unexpectedly warm and spiritual, then a shock encounter with the Spirit, the baptism of a house full of gentiles, and finally a conversation with the Jerusalem church leaders.
- A mission concern. Don’t change your theology for convenience. But if eternal hope is at stake pay attention to God. What is going on? Peter’s change of mind impacts the eternal destiny of many people.
- Confirmation in the Bible. A change of theology will find its roots in the Bible. Previously unnoticed verses will pop out at you. This happened to me in my journey to understand the Holy Spirit. For Peter it was the words of Jesus that came to him as the events unfolded (11:16).
- Confirmation among the leaders. When the whole Jerusalem Council praised God something profound shifted in the story of the Christian Church (Acts 11:18).
Peter’s story has similarities with Jonah’s story – they both go to outsiders to offer God’s hope, in both stories people take God at his word and salvation and joy comes to them. But, Peter didn’t need a great fish to get him to Caesarea and he didn’t get angry when God blessed the Gentiles with salvation. Peter, unlike Jonah, changed his theology.
Not everyone goes along with the new thinking. Galatians shows us a different angle (unlike the initial unity of Acts 11:18). Some people resisted the change. This can be hard. It seems that Peter may even have vacillated on his new ideals. At least that’s how Paul saw it (Gal 2:11-14).
Things I have changed my mind about include: going to the movies, selling things in church on Sunday, women preachers, the gift of tongues and the use of alcohol. All of these were red letter no-no’s for me at one time. Now I take a moderate view. I go to movies (clean ones), I condone the sale of cappuccino and music CDs following worship, I promote female preachers, I welcome those with a tongues gift to exercise it wisely and I regard the moderate and responsible consumption of alcohol as a non-issue. I respect those with different views. These are my views.
Things I have become more vexed about include: earth care, the poor, divorced people, the Lordship of Jesus, heaven and the power of miracle. These were marginal, now they are central. I think Christians should lead the way in matters of environmental concern, poverty upsets me, I feel less judgement and more pain for the divorced, I would rather die than renounce Jesus as my Lord, I think the new heaven and new earth will be more exciting than I ever imagined, and I believe miracles are real today. This isn’t the final word. I might be wrong. But this is what I have come believe.
Some convictions have not moved at all. I believe God is the creator, Jesus’ cross is the hope of my salvation, resurrection is a real bodily miracle and evil will be judged.
I am only middle-aged. Unless God takes me soon, I expect that I will change my mind again (and again, and …) on some matter of theology. That scares me and excites me. My world is not static. My faith is not frozen. My God is alive and my walk with Him is changing me – little by little.
This Blog resonated with me as I too have changed my mind on issues as I walk with God. I recall once being very against the idea of being 'slain by the spirit'. This is where one is touched by the spirit of God and falls to the floor. I changed my mind after Marg and I attended a C3 conference hosted by Phil Pringle. He called us both up the front and prophesied over us and yes you guessed it we were both slain by the spirit and although I am still not a great fan of the experience I no longer question it and am now confident that this is of God.
ReplyDeleteThank you Allan for your blog. I am enjoying it!
Blessings
Andrew
Great post, Allan. Good thoughts, as always.
ReplyDeleteI think the Scripture helps us here. Our theology may change. But the Scripture doesn't. Most importantly, the God who gave us the Scripture doesn't. Our interpretation of the Scripture may change, but God doesn't. That's a comforting thought, isn't it?
Allan, I appreciate your perspectives. I recently changed my theology. After many decades of believing in a particular character of God, I finally allowed the evidence to speak to me and, as hard as it was, had to conclude that He (or She, or It) is not accurately described in the Bible (or, more specifically, the New Testament, because that's the version that most people tend to adhere to even though it is hard to reconcile that with the Old Testament version).
ReplyDeleteNot believing in the reliable scientific basis of evolutionary theory, it still appears to me that some Intelligent Designer brought us into being - but what his intents and purposes are seem a lot harder to ascertain.
Of course, such a view is very difficult for us to accept when we've spent such a long time insisting on holding our previous beliefs "faithfully" in spite of what reason and the evidence around us suggest, but there comes a time when to live with integrity one must reconcile what one sees, observes, and experiences with their beliefs, and make adjustments if necessary.
This isn’t the final word. I might be wrong. But this is what I have come believe.
And so I agree entirely with your post - we shouldn't change our mind like we're changing socks. But we also shouldn't hang on forever ingrained beliefs that we can no longer reconcile.