Lots of info, very little out-go

I've been away for a while...lots of reasons, but no excuses. I'll be a more frequent "poster" in the days ahead.

We've got a new Christian bookstore (Mardel's) in my small city. OK, it's not all that new now, but it's still new to us. This new bookstore is huge - far bigger than the really big Christian bookstore that was opened several years ago. We also have another Christian bookstore - a smaller, more homey one. Why post about bookstores?

It seems that there is much talk in Christian circles these days - especially among the conservatives (read that real conservative) of my denomination - about orthodoxy. I think this new Christian bookstore is an illustration of that: everybody wants to know something. You can find help for sermons and lessons, help for your hangups, help for your hurts, help for your habits - it's all there, it's all new, and it's all in a Christian bookstore near you!

Now, I'm certainly not against orthodoxy or dogma or doctrine. It is essential. You can't believe anything you want and still be in a right relationship to God. Doctrine is necessary, and those who don't like doctrinal sermons have a serious problem in understanding how a Christian is supposed to live this life. And in some rudimentary sense, doctrine is all that matters. On the most basic level, it separates the sheep from the goats, the saved from the lost, the heaven-bound to the hell-bound.

That said, orthodoxy was never intended to be the end-all of the Christian experience! Doctrine was not given so we could know about God, but so that we could die to self to let God live through us! We've got way too many folks whose orthodoxy is rock-solid, but whose orthopraxy is sadly lacking. They know a lot about God, but they fail to let the knowledge hit their hearts and come out of their feet. It's as though some of these folk think that when they get to heaven, God's going to give them a Bible trivia test. Or that God is going to say, "You missed that part about women teaching men. You have to spend 100,000,000 years on the back row (or front row if you're Baptist)."

So what will God be looking for when we stand before Him? After our names our located in the book of life, I have a strong suspicion (from Acts 13.22) that He may want to know, "Did you do everything I asked you to do?" What He won't be asking is, "Did you know everything I asked you to know?"

Knowing the right thing does not equate to doing the right thing. I'm the poster child for that. I know far better than I do. It's critical to understand that doing the right thing doesn't come from your head - it comes from your heart. That's what Jesus said in John 14 - three times as a matter of fact. If you love me, you will obey me. Not if you know about me, you will obey me. Until we get this straight, we will never be transformed. And going to Mardel's won't help.