How we change over time

One of the things that continues to fascinate me as I grow and mature (as opposed to getting older, which sounds less appealing) is how my ideas and beliefs go through a process of
growth and maturation as well. Some of the things that I thought as a young man I now
know were misguided or wrong. Some of the ideas that I felt so strongly about have been
replaced by concerns that I now know are more important.
One example of that is politics. As a teen, I was very concerned with politics and interested in the political process. Perhaps I'm only more cynical about politicians now, but I just don't seem able to get as excited about the latest political development; I've also noticed that after my ordination such concerns have really taken a backseat to ministry needs/concerns; I won't go as far as Cal Thomas (columnist who advocates the Church's withdrawal from politics following his experience with the Moral Majority), but I certainly have refrained from offering my political opinions at church (believe it or not people; I can hold my tongue), I certainly don't ever want the Gospel of Jesus Christ being confused with any political agenda (however well intentioned)

The area in my thinking that has undergone the most radical change is easily my understanding of how to define the Church (that is, the universal Church, all believers regardless of their particular church; for a complete breakdown, see the posting on my book which deals with this extensively). When I was in H.S. we worked our way through Galatians verse by verse in our student Bible study. I clearly remember my comments on Galatians 1:7 "If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned." With the fire and conviction of youth I told everyone that the Catholic Church was clearly preaching "another gospel" and was thus clearly condemned by the words of Paul. At the time, Mrs Sanford (the teacher who hosted our weekly meeting) asked me if I was sure about that, if maybe I wanted to tone it down a bit, but I was too sure of myself to listen.

A couple years later, at Cornerstone University, as I learned more about the history of the Church; about the variety within the Church; and especially about Paul's contention that the Church is like a body with many parts, I began to soften my stance to the point of admitting that the Catholic Church certainly contains many believing Christian in spite of the theology of the Church.

After College I worked for the Methodist Church and a Reformed Church as their youth pastor; more experience in the wideness of God's mercy. My understanding of the Church was in flux; I was considering the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in a new light. Then God decided to put me to the test. He brought a young woman into my life as a friend whom I would not consider dating because she was Catholic. So far so good, then I fell for her. Those of you who know the story know that we've been married since 6/30/01. It was this relationship that forced me to get back into the Bible; to LOOK at all of the N.T. and to really ask myself the tough questions about who the Church really is.

Many of my answers were found in the letter of I John. In it John describes his own definition of a Christian as someone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; someone who loves their brothers and sisters in Christ, and someone who obeys God's commands. Not a word about Baptism, Communion, church structure, etc. I eventually decided to use my own curiosity on this issue to write a book (yes, another shameless plug; please feel free to read it if you're interested in the topic) about Ecumenism and I John.

Over the years my ideas on a variety of topics have grown, changed, or matured in ways that I would not have anticipated from my the lofty perch I occupied as a teen. I guess that's the biggest lesson in all of this; don't walk around thinking you know everything because God has a way of waking people up and letting them see the light.