Trinitarian Theology

I know what you're thinking (yawn! I can skip reading this one). But Edwin and I just spent the most wonderful weekend at the annual Northwest Church Planters Workshop hosted by Kairos. Instead of telling us why or how to plant churches, Leonard Allen talked about evaluating the very foundations of our faith. He did that through talking about the trinity, and talking about it in relationship terms.

3 in 1. All throughout the Bible we see the story of God's interaction with his people. He created the world and everything in it. He loved his people. He showed emotions that fleshed out his feelings-- jealousy, rage, grief, love, tenderness. Then he came to earth. Fully God and fully man. He lived with his people. He walked with them, experienced all they did. Then he left, or his body did, so that his Spirit could return.

It's so exciting to me to think about God in the way again. Put aside the cosmic conundrum of how there can be 3 in 1 or 1 in 3. It's a puzzle we may never grasp. But just think about it.

God made you. He made good stuff. It's okay to appreciate the beauty of the world, the wonder of creation. That's God the Father.

God loves you. He wants to spend eternity-- that's FOREVER-- with you. So he sacrificed himself in order to offer you life. That's God the Son.

God is living and active in the world. He pours out blessings, discernment, and comfort on his people. He draws the lost to himself. That's God the Spirit.

We Americans see ourselves as lone rangers. We come to God alone. "The gate into heaven is only wide enough for one person at a time," a friend said recently. True. We all must be responsible for our own lives in a way. But I think we have much to learn from our African brothers and sisters. They come to God as a group. They don't really even see themselves as individuals-- they are a community. Perhaps we enter in one by one, but we approach the gate with our family.

God is all about relationships. That's what the trinity is all about. All of it.

Later this week I'll share what happens when our understanding of the trinity is lopsided. That's the part of the conversation that struck me-- how intensely practical our faith in the triune God is.