Theology Begins with Abiding in Christ
- Theology starts not with abstract ideas but with abiding in Jesus, where love, dependence, and union shape how we think about God.
- Rather than remaining intellectual, theology becomes fruitful when the Holy Spirit draws us back into fellowship after distraction or sin.
- As we learn God’s grand story and live within it, theology transforms daily life and overflows into discipling others.
God’s love can gather us scattered wanderers back into himself, and if we really wish it, he empowers us to abide again. In John chapter 15 (NIV), Jesus tells us,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Abiding, the inward pushing and pulling subsides. Breathless, lest anything disturb the calm, we wait outside of time, anxious that no intrusive thought disturb our quiet place and mind immediately stayed on him. 
A distraction, a noise, a cough, the cat, or a pressing problem, the mind goes leapfrogging down some side alley chasing the thoughts. We stop abiding. Then, at some point down the alley, we remember, “Oh, I was home.” And the Holy Spirit helps us. We come back, and he provides the power to continue abiding.
“At some point down the alley, we remember, ‘Oh, I was home.'”
His love can gather us scattered wanderers back into himself, and if we really wish it, he empowers us to abide again. An evil thought, a relished sin—they invade with vivid detail. Our hearts race. The mind follows, stupidly drawn by the siren lure of some promised fulfillment, the puppet master behind the evil desires just out of reach.
At some point we recollect again, and we say, “Oh, I was at home. I’ll go back to abiding.” Like a child learning to walk and talk, we simply get up and go again, listening to our Father’s voice, looking into his eyes. And his hand reaches out to welcome and provide the necessary balance we need to continue.
Such is fellowship with the Father through the Son in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Their great fellowship actually enlarges to include us. We participate in the conversation, hearing and being caught up in their process. When we faint, they strengthen our faltering knees and clear our feeble minds.
“Such is fellowship with the Father through the Son in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
They open the eyes of our hearts so we can see with the immediacy of divine love. They provide a waiting chair at the family table, a room made ready, delighted to bring home to us. God’s grand metanarrative invites us to live this way. When we know where we’ve come from, whose we are, where we’re going, and the answers to other questions, our real-life theology can accomplish much fruit in our lives and in the lives of those we are discipling.
