I am studying the Trinity with a group of men this evening and have been spending alot of time thinking about and focusing on God as Trinity. Here is a good video to watch on the Trinity if interested: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/doctrine/trinity-god-is
This is a fascinating topic for me and has been a topic of discussion for 2000 years. I like what Augustine said, "Deny the Trinity and lose your soul, try to figure out the Trinity and lose your mind." Mine is mostly gone anyway, so why not lose the rest...
One of the things I love studying about the Trinity is learning how God represents himself to us so we, as fallen man with limited minds, can understand Him better. As I look more and more into the concept of the Trinity, I am more and more impressed that God presents himself to us as...well...man, male, masculine. God is our heavenly Father (Psalm 89:26, 103:13; Isaiah 63:16) and Jesus came to earth as His son, our brother (Matthew 3:17) and the Holy Spirit is a masculine noun (Acts 5). Christianity is a distinctly masculine religion, with a God who is fully masculine, riding on a white war horse with a sword coming from His mouth, prepared to slay the nations (Revelation 19). That is not say that women can't or shouldn't relate to God or that it is a faith only for men. God is not bound by gender, but he reveals himself in that way to us so we will think of him as that. If He did not reveal himself that way, we might be tempted to worship Him as a twig, tree or dolphin... and some do.
But the Trinity has reminded me that God loves men. Women too, but definitely men. So why is the church so female heavy? Why are their more women than men in churches? Well, that is another blog for another day...
Side note - The book, The Shack, has become very popular in the past year in the Christian Community, even endorsed by the likes of Michael W. Smith. How unfortunate. This book, while not the source of all evil some make it out to be, does very little to advance our understanding of the Trinity,and quite frankly does alot to harm it. Within the video above, Mark gives some thoughts on the dangers of the book.
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Scott,
ReplyDeleteI think you quickly passed by a huge issue. God is masculine in the understanding He has given us. But, men see church as feminine in nature, weak, frilly, not appealing the the male nature. Men tend to want to get things done...now; to build things; to tear them apart; and to be able to be themselves. Women are quite the opposite and so is today's church. Question: Was "church" in Jesus' day more masculine in nature in the way services were conducted in the synagogue? What would happen today if the church became more masculine? What would it look like? What would the experience be like? Would the women go?
Trying to understand the differences God created between men and women is about on the same level as trying to understand the Trinity. His thoughts are definitely higher than our thoughts. I'm OK with simply trusting Him as a child of the Father. Amen. Thanks for generating these thoughts. May the Father richly bless you.
Jim,
ReplyDeletewell said my friend. I would love to pursue this thought more, but there is only so much room and time in a blog... I agree with your observations about church in general but do not have any answers! Thanks for your feedback. By the way Jim who?
Scott
PS,
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I do have a questions though, did you mean "God isn't bound by gender, but he reveals himself in that way to us so we will think of him as that." you wrote that he is bound by gender. Not trying to point out typos I'm just not sure what you meant. I think its interesting God chooses to relate to us by presenting himself in a way we can understand/relate to. If he didnt, the great "I Am" would blow our poor mortal minds.
I've never "blogged" before, brother Scott, so I am not aware of the limitations. Nevertheless, our God is limitless and we are totally confident in His faithfullness, whether men like it in a frilly church or not! I say "man up" !
ReplyDeleteYour friend, Jim Giammarco
Jerry,
ReplyDeletewell said my friend! I did make a typo, but have corrected it now! I have to be more careful when I post! One little word makes ALL the difference!
See you tomorrow,
Scott