I have asked in various places and found many Christians are unclear about many of the core doctrines of the faith.  Sure, we will spend all of eternity learning about them, but there are some basic doctrinal beliefs we ought to be able to explain clearly.  And we should know why they matter.

Explaining these doctrines raises a common mistake many Christians make.  Many times I have found Christians who say you “can’t explain the trinity.”  What they mean is that you can’t understand the trinity.  Explaining what the general contours of the trinity are (one God, three persons who all are fully God, not three gods and not all three persons adding up to make God) is not difficult.  Conceptualizing what this looks like is impossible.

Recently, I led a small group through Augustine’s Confessions.  LIndsey and John Scholl, some dear friends from Brenham, were with us.  Lindsey said it would be offensive to either not try to get to know her husband at a much deeper level or believe that she had already gotten to know all about him.  It tied in wonderfully with my comment about the trinity: sure we can’t fully know the triune God, but that should not keep us from seeking to know Him better.