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Let me start this post with a question: as human beings, what rights do we have before God? I’m not going to give you an answer, but I’ll give you a hint. A word-picture. When my boys were younger, they used to play flashlight tag all the time around our house and neighborhood. The game is simple. Find a dark area of the house or yards, and one kid is “it” with a flashlight. Everyone else scatters into the darkness and hides.

Jesus’ parable is less than one line (in my extra-large print Bible). Yet, it packs a sobering punch. If we listen to and follow teachers that are spiritually blind, we are heading for calamity. Who is guiding you will have a huge impact on where you are led.

Where theology meets life. That was my alternate title, but theology gets such a negative reception in some circles, I decided against it. The study of God, though, is not a brainy exercise or an intellectual enterprise for seminarians. It is a great treasure for us all. In knowledge of God and dependent belief in what He has revealed about Himself exist all the meaning and answers in life. HE, HE, HE is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Not principles. Not mottos. Not religious practices. Not traditions. Jesus is Life. Jesus is Truth. Jesus is the Way. So, yes, we study Him. We are theologians.

I heard this phrase in one form or another three different times in the last two weeks. Each time in a religious setting (not at our church). I’m not sure exactly what the various users of the phrase meant by it, and I’m not making any judgments about their intent, but I will say that several questions come to my mind when someone offers to help me become the “best version of myself.”

Jesus’ teachings in His sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) are just so mind-bogglingly counter-cultural they would almost seem outrageous if they didn’t simultaneously call out in the Spirit-filled heart, YES! That’s right! That’s beautiful! Our “natural” thoughts are so upside down and opposite of God’s thoughts.