{"id":88790,"date":"2025-05-06T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/club31women.com\/?p=88790"},"modified":"2025-05-08T13:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T20:15:16","slug":"how-theology-invites-us-to-feel-more-honestly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/club31women.com\/how-theology-invites-us-to-feel-more-honestly\/","title":{"rendered":"How Theology Invites Us to Feel More Honestly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discover how understanding the difference between formal and functional theology can transform your faith. Explore the practical power of theology in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been teaching the Bible for many years, but I\u2019m finally near the very end of my doctoral program at Denver seminary. Let me tell you, I\u2019ve had so many aha <\/em>moments there that I wish there was an emoji of a saucer-\u00adeyed middle-\u00adaged chick with the caption, \u201cWOW!\u201d In fact, I almost fell out of my seat on the first day of class when I learned the difference between formal theology and functional theology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Theologies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the deal: Most Christians have two theologies. We have a \u201cformal theology,\u201d which could be loosely described as the statement of faith that hangs in our church foyer or is written on their website.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, our \u201cfunctional theology\u201d is how we live our everyday lives when we\u2019re not<\/em> worshiping in church or a Christ-centered small group or attending a Christian concert or faith-based event. And the areas where they don\u2019t overlap are seedbeds of hypocrisy. Because if what we believe to be true of God doesn\u2019t change the shape of our heart and how we live our lives, then it\u2019s simply a conceptual idea.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the part where I almost committed the very unladylike act of sliding out of my chair in the middle of class. Because knowledge\u2014conceptual ideas or cognitive information\u2014is a bunch of fig leaves I\u2019ve often used to camouflage fear and shame<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lament<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with the good news coming from the Psalms, but before we dive in, I should qualify that it might sound like bad news at first because it\u2019s one of the saddest songs in the Psalter.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Ps. 42:1\u20132)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Since water is used as a metaphor for God\u2019s grace throughout the Bible, I think it\u2019s fitting that the Sons of Korah (the ancient worship leaders who wrote this sacred song) use thirst here at the beginning of their bluesy tune to underscore how only God can quench the parched heart of despair. But then the whole liquid theme starts running downhill straight to self-\u00adindulgent city:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
\u201cWhere is your God?\u201d
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng. (vv. 3\u20134)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sons of Korah originated from the tribe of Levi and were given the task of leading worship through music, and these particular lyrics express melancholy nostalgia about their former glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, these pensive hymn writers finally stop pining for the past and remember why they can hang on to hope<\/a>. It\u2019s as if they pinch themselves back to reality and exclaim, \u201cOh yeah! Now we remember how Yahweh said He would never <\/em>leave or forsake us, no matter what!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say to God my Rock,
\u201cWhy have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?\u201d
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
\u201cWhere is your God?\u201d
Why, my soul, are you downcast?<\/em>
Why so disturbed within me?<\/em>
Put your hope in God,<\/em>
for I will yet praise him,<\/em>
my Savior and my God.<\/em> (vv. 9\u201311, emphasis mine)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Invitation to FEEL<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What I appreciate most about psalms of lament like this is that God allowed them to be included in His hymnal in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of disowning disillusioned people, God offers us the fifty-\u00adnine<\/em> psalms of lament like an engraved invitation to express our sorrow. What a glorious relief that our Creator Redeemer doesn\u2019t expect us to curate our emotions and only bring the ones before Him that are perfectly congruent with an ancient Christian creed or our church\u2019s statement of faith.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What forms your formal theology vs your functional theology? Are there any areas where they differ or that you haven\u2019t thought through and been honest with God about?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you enjoyed this post, check out the book A Jesus-Shaped Life: How Diving Deeper into Theology Can Transform Us and Our World with the Radical Kindness<\/em> of God<\/em><\/a> by Lisa Harper. We love how she makes theology engaging, practical, and applicable by explaining how academic-sounding concepts are not rigid theoretical propositions but transformative realities that we get to live out with God and with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Lisa Harper<\/strong> is an engaging communicator as well as an authentic and substantive Bible teacher in person, on TV, and on the radio. She holds a master of theological studies from Covenant Seminary and is in the final dissertation stage of an earned doctorate from Denver Seminary. She and Missy, her adopted daughter from Haiti, live on a hilly farmette south of Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy eating copious amounts of chips, queso, and guacamole. Connect with her online at LisaHarper.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover how understanding the difference between formal and functional theology can transform your faith. Explore the practical power of theology in everyday life. I\u2019ve been teaching the Bible for many years, but I\u2019m finally near the very end of my doctoral program at Denver seminary. Let me tell you, I\u2019ve had so many aha moments…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":88795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[241,345],"tags":[],"coauthors":[934],"class_list":["post-88790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-non-fiction"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Theology Invites Us to Feel More Honestly - Club31Women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how understanding the difference between formal and functional theology can transform your faith. 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