Greetings, friends.

This past Friday I was teaching one of the theology courses at St. John’s University. I had previously giving the students an assignment to write a paper on “What’s so special about the Bible?” What I received back from them, as they shared their thoughts in class, was very interesting, and enlightening. After several students shared thoughts about the Bible being God’s Word, very old, a good book, and helpful in life, one student stood and read what she had written. She shared that, “If you have a Bible, and use it, you will become rich.” When I asked her what she meant by “rich,” she promptly opened to Hag. 2:8, where God says that the gold and the silver are his. So, she said, if you have a Bible, and read it, then God will give you gold and silver.

When I asked her why Jesus didn’t have gold and silver, since he obviously was acquainted with the Bible, she said he chose not to have those things. When I asked her if she had gold and silver, she said, “Not yet, but I will soon.”

Friends, a theology that God physically rewards with riches, popularity, easy life, health, etc. all who follow Him is just not found in the Bible. I’m certain that this young woman, studying to be an evangelist, had heard these teachings from several places OTHER than the Bible. I tried to share with the class that our believe system (theology) is not built off of experience or our feelings, but rather what the Word of God teaches, whether or not we’ve experienced it or like how it feels. The truth is that Jesus promises hardship and suffering to his followers, as unpopular as that notion might be (Jn.15:18ff; 16:31-33). We don’t back away from this notion, just because it doesn’t feel as good as believing we’ll be rich if we follow Jesus. We embrace the truth, and preach the Word, in season and out of season.

I have my work cut out for me in these theology classes. But by God’s grace, these students will take steps forward in valuing the truth God’s Word teaches, and clinging to a biblical theology, whether it feels good or not.

Pressing on, Eric