I Smell a Skunk

Skunks are scavengers. They eat garbage. They have no natural predators, except birds of prey, but they nevertheless have musk glands that they will spray if startled.

Anyone who has ever been sprayed -- or have had a pet sprayed -- knows the unmistakable, unshakeable stench of skunk.

There's another creature that Christians needs to shy away from, and that's bad theology. "Theology" is literally the study of God, but basically it means trying to understand God by studying the Bible. Unfortunately, too often we don't base what we know of God on the Bible but on what we pick up from the culture around us or wise sayings that sound Biblical. For instance, "God helps those who help themselves," is not in the Bible and actually is opposite of God's character -- He helps the weak who are unable to help themselves.

But there is one bit of bad theology I want to address today. It's one that I see crop up over and over in my own life.

God will bless me if I .... Fill in the blank: go to church, tithe, pray, serve the needy. It also has a flip side that's just as wrong: God can't love me because....

Both of those statements forget a basic truth of God's character. God is good. Full stop.

His blessings flow from His goodness and have nothing to do with my performance. And His mercy pours from His goodness, despite the extent of my sin. The flood of God's love covers all things. Like Noah's flood covered the whole earth.

But why is this so important? Why is using correct statements about God so important?

It is always important for us to know who God really is.

But thinking wrongly about God has a way of clouding the rest of life, too. God will bless me if... leads to an idea that I can bargain with God. I can earn my way to heaven. That negates the Gospel. God can't love me because...will undoubtedly lead to feelings of insecurity, worthlessness, and all of its intendant problems. Problems that take root and are so hard to dig out.

A skunk's musk is one of the hardest scents to wash away. Bad theology is as insidious. Avoid bad theology the way you avoid a scared skunk.