Ed Stetzer Interview-Godology

Here is a recent interview from Ed Stetzer’s blog.

Godology is the idea of theology up close and personal. I wrote Godology because I sense within my generation a real hunger for authentic Christianity. This is a book for those who want to dig deeper in their faith–to trade rakes for shovels. In each chapter I explore an attribute of God, a spiritual discipline that helps us know him better, and a practical way to express that truth in the world. It’s my hope that this upward, inward, and outward approach will foster intimacy with Christ and community with others.

How is this book different from other books about God and spiritual disciplines?

One thing I try to do is use fresh language to talk about ancient truths. There’s so much in the past that evangelicals can draw on that will aid us in the future. What I’m saying in this book isn’t new – it’s orthodox Christian evangelicalism through and through. But I love to look at the Bible through lenses that help us think about our faith in new ways. You won’t find some of the spiritual disciplines I talk about on typical “top 10 spiritual discipline lists” (art, labyrinth walking, and vow making, for example), but they’re practices that have benefited Christians throughout the centuries and can invigorate our spiritual lives.

You have some pretty creative chapter titles. In “Jesus Ninja,” you talk about God’s power and say things like, “Sin bows before Christ its sensei.” How did you decided to use these kinds of images in Godology?

I always try to view life holistically. Christianity isn’t compartmentalized to one part of life. It touches everything. I try to see Christ at work in everyday activities – as a [wannabe] martial artist, as a student, and as a musician, whatever. What I’m trying to do is incarnate theology for people who might not pick up an academic theological textbook, and to show people that theology is exciting. Jesus used word pictures to talk about eternal truths. He connected with people through images they could relate to. So when I say that “holiness is the lone Kit Kat bar in a bucket of Butterfingers,” or “journals are blogs for the soul,” I’m trying to paint the Christian life in a way that a new generation can resonate with.

In Godology, you challenge some of the ways we live life and do church. Talk about some of these.

I’m very hopeful for my generation. I believe God is brewing a revival in our youth groups and on our college campuses. It’s not boiling yet, but it’s brewing. We’re taking our faith outside of the walls of the church and showing the world that Christianity is a call to serve and love in radical ways. In other words, we’re tired of a kiddie-pool Christianity; we want to go deeper. In Godology, I encourage believers to take seriously practices that fuel our faith and draw us closer to God and each other. These disciplines are a call to a counter-cultural way of life.

Silence is a forgotten element that can play a significant role in our worship services. Fasting teaches us how to really feast on Christ. Virtual prayer walking can open our eyes to what God is doing in other parts of the globe. God uses practices like these to wipe off our spiritual milk mustaches and exchange earthly habits for holy ones.

In Godology, you talk about God’s attributes. Is there one that you have struggled with the most?

Definitely God’s holiness. I actually wrote that chapter barefoot – kind of a Moses-before-the-burning-bush approach. Trying to condense God’s holiness into twelve pages was an impossible (and probably dangerous) thing to do. I think a more solid understanding of God’s holiness is one thing we’re starting to recover in our churches – the high voltage glory of God. We’re getting glimpses of a God who is bigger and brighter than we thought, and it’s reminding us of how God got down and dirty on earth so we can be holy too. That’s the beauty of Christianity. Christ came down to lift us up. When we recognize this – when we understand that a holy God intersected with a broken world – we can offer the world something truly worth living for.

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