“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall.”-Donald Trump
Why in the world am I quoting Donald Trump when he boasted about building a wall he was gonna make Mexico pay for?
Because it has everything to do with our discussion on Systematic Theology…
See, the reason why Trump wanted to build a wall was to separate legitimate American citizens from the illegal immigrants.
Now for a given church denomination, Systematic Theology fulfills a similar purpose…
It’s like a tall straight wall where on one side lies denominational orthodoxy…
And on the other side lies heresy.
One side of the wall is truth…
The other side is falsehood.
There ain’t no middle ground or room for discussion.
You’re either on the right side or you’re on the wrong side.
For instance…
You either believe Jesus is God and go to heaven.
Or you deny his deity and go straight to the eternal barbecue.
Never mind that there are several verses spread throughout the New Testament that seem to argue both ways with regards to the so-called deity of Yeshua with several shades of nuance in between.
Again, the biggest problem with using a wall to represent theological truth is that it’s too black and white and not an accurate reflection of reality.
There’s no room for being partly in and partly out.
You can only be here or there or you’re nowhere.
A wall also sends a negative message to those on the other side and is hardly welcoming.
It says we’re right and you don’t belong here.
It’s a cold symbol of division rather than communicating the unity and peace that Messiah came to bring.
This is classical Orthodoxy versus Heresy in action.
Ya feel me?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For he himself is our peace,
who has made the two groups one
and has destroyed the barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility.”
-Ephesians 2:14
When YeHoshua tore down the wall it wasn’t so that the gentiles could introduce another type of practice of worshipping the creator, it was so that they can entrance to “Join” in with God’s covenant people in worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Hey thanks for your comment. I think I’m gonna use this as the New Testament reference for this post.