There are many different perspectives on Scripture but not all of them are right. It defies logic for them to be. Otherwise the ideas of all the wacky and dangerous cults that get all sorts of mistaken ideas from scripture are correct just because they use the same bible as orthodox groups. This is modernist "logic" perhaps but society has moved on or, more precisely, is moving on to a post-modern world. The Church is only just coming to terms with modernity and here we are in the midst of another paradigm shift and the Church is all at sea. Today it is very difficult to decide who is right and who is wrong, and more importantly, who decides anyway?
When we come to looking at interpretations of texts, some are better founded than others, but it is
rare that we can state the one, true, definitive and authoritative meaning of any passage. While everything may not be open to interpretation the only vantage point we have is a subjective one. Care needs to be taken if we claim to hold the truth and that others are simply wrong! It is arrogant and ignorant. This also raises the question for me of who or what do you worship? Put another way,
what would you rather defend, your own interpretation of Scripture or real hurting people in the world. The Word became flesh but the Church has been very good at turning it back into the Word. Love is nothing if it doesn't have flesh on.
Some Christians believe that they are on a journey of faith exploration, and what they believe tomorrow may be different from what they believed yesterday. Other Christians will say categorically “I am not on a journey, I have found God, I know He is my Father and Jesus is my saviour. I am in the process of discovering more about Him but I reject the language of journey as it sounds like we are still looking for God.” Perhaps the difference here goes back to interpretation and understanding of words. Personally I like the image of being on a theological map and having the freedom to explore. My theology is an eclectic mix and I could never describe myself as a "card
carrying" anything. Just as the bee takes pollen from a variety of flowers yet makes its own honey, so do I with the variety of theologies I have encountered and read. It serves me well. For me journey is a useful metaphor. It must be nice to have things down so certainly but not everything is black and white. To view everything in absolutes is a very naive and immature thought process. The reality of these mixed up things that we call life and faith is that there are varying shades of gray. I find that those who can't live with the ambiguity are mildly delusional, as reality doesn't match up with their thinking. And by the way I am always tempted to say to people who say they have found God “No, you didn't find God, as he was never lost in the first place”.
The fact that someone believes something different to me on a particular question does not make that person stupid or worthless and does not mean their motivation is suspect. But we also have to recognize with humility that they can still be wrong as I can be wrong myself.
Everyone who has faith in Christ is my brother or sister, whether they or I like it or not. However, that does not mean that what they are doing (or sometimes I do) is not offensive to God and grieves Him. God is a Holy God. Sanctification is still one of our doctrines. I want to be more like Jesus and walk in holiness. But it is difficult to define holiness without reference to the law, for obvious reasons. God is a holy God, but his holiness only makes sense when it is in the context of his love and grace. The two are not two sides of the same coin (this puts God at war with himself) they are inseparably enmeshed with one another. If you only say that you want to walk in holiness that is only part of the story for I have learn that I want to walk in mercy and love which, I believe, incorporates holiness. Above all we have to let God be God. You may think you have God all contained in your nice doctrinal formula but if God is God then he has to be free to act and that means free from human rules, regulations, tradition and dogma.
