I’ve been a Christian for 9 years. Three years ago, I had a firm opinion on everything. And in fact (and I say this to my embarrassment) I found myself as a third year undergraduate student thinking to myself that I didn’t really need to finish my seminary education because I thought I had all my positions staked out and knew where I stood on pretty much everything. A third-year undergrad student!! ?♂️ But now, on many secondary and tertiary issues, I’ve found myself saying “I don’t know” a lot. And I’ve not felt the least bit apologetic about it.
I’ve found myself revisiting a lot of “convictions” I had because I realized three years ago that most of them were derived from the opinions of other people rather than doing the work of studying for myself.
This has led me down a wonderful path of learning and growing in ways I never imagined, particularly in the areas anthropology and spiritual formation. I’ve found myself learning from quite an eclectic group of teachers, authors, and leaders, and it’s been incredibly stimulating. I now am beginning to see how narrow-minded I was and God has proven to me that Reformed Baptists aren’t the only group of people that lay claim to the truth. In fact, I’ve actually let go of the Reformed label (the “L” petal on my TULIP has grown a little too large for purely reformed folks to feel comfortable with, but even this too falls into the “I don’t know yet” camp) and have fallen more in favor and line with the plain old tried and true Baptist tradition.
But nevertheless, I’ve learned much from the Charismatic and contemplative traditions, the reformed camp, the traditionalist tribe, academics and laypersons, even secular writers and thinkers, etc.
Lest I’m misunderstood, ”there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:5-6), but all truth is God’s truth and you can find it many flavors and expressions of Christianity. This takes a discerning mind and approach, which means it takes hard work, but it’s so worth it.
I’m grateful for this journey I’ve been on and what God is teaching me. I’m looking forward to the future!