I like this post by Heather Zempel, a pastor friend of mine in DC. http://discipleshipgroups.blogspot.com/2008/05/color-outside-lines.html
What I like is that she expresses something that I've known but never really been able to express. For example, I chose to attend seminary at Regent, a pretty conservative institution. If you know me, you know I'm not really very conservative. Although I'm not liberal either... I couldn't express why I chose Regent, I just knew that I wanted my education to be very conservative, very literal, very "inside the coloring book lines," to reference Heather's post. But now I'm starting to see. I grew up believing that the Bible was true and accurate, 100%. All the miracles happened, exactly as written, etc. Now I start to see discrepancies and stories that make no sense. I have to wrestle with the Bible now in order to believe it. Coming from inside the lines forces me to wrestle with the Bible in a very deep and meaningful way. Reconciling my conservative beliefs about the Bible with my intellectual honesty has forced me to go deeper into the Bible. I've read through the Bible twice in the last 2 years, and plan to continue that pattern, because I believe I must read the WHOLE Bible in order to understand its parts. The legalism and conservatism of my background requires this of me.
So maybe you can get to this place from a liberal background - I wouldn't know. But I think there's something very powerful in realizing that we start from rules, regulations, and legalism, but then growth necessitates leaving those behind. What are we moving to? Ultimately, I hope God. And fortunately, the Holy Spirit is with me, giving me the guidance I need. I don't think She'll let me go too far wrong. :)
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Sorry about the inactive link - I meant to test it prior to posting.
The link was active for me.
Think about how God revealed Himself. He started with one rule, advanced to 10, and then there were all kinds of regulations, perhaps to teach people how to be obedient and what holiness might look like. Paul called the Law a schoolmaster.
Then, Christ came, and we are told that we are saved by grace if we believe (and Jesus defines believing as obedience).
So, in a sense, isn't humankind being told "you know the rules---now live in grace and Spirit."?
That's pretty much the way of education: learn the rules, master them, then do what you will in your creation of whatever---life in this instance.
Ive read this topic for some blogs. But I think this is more informative.
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