The Trinity is a Trinity of Love. The Persons of the godhead love one another perfectly. This establishes a simple pattern for the people. We too, must be a community of love imitating the perfect love of Father, Son, and Spirit. The more we understand this Trinitarian love, the more our world will be framed by it.
However, getting to the point of Trinitarian application may take some work. Unfortunately, too many have avoided this topic because in their minds it belongs to the elite class in the Christian society. Proverbs 25 says that searching things out is the matter of kings. This is precisely Peter’s point in I Peter 2. We, as new kings and priests, are called to search out God’s revelation for the sake of the well-being of the community. Understanding doctrines like the Trinity are communal-oriented activities. They do not simply belong behind the seminary desk, but in the pew.
It is true that the minister’s job is to articulate truth in a clear and concise fashion. There is in fact a triad hierarchy of scholarship. The scholar spends his life digging profound Biblical truths, which are passed on to the minister, which are passed on to the parishioner. It is not common, nor is it recommended that a parishioner study the patristic polemics on the Trinity. The parishioner has other concerns and duties. It is not for the pastor to spend his week analyzing original documentation in museums to better understand the trinity. The pastor has other duties to his parishioners and his own preparation for Lord’s Day Worship. We all have different roles, and we must not strive to know every jot and tittle of Trinitarian controversy. It will drive us mad! However, we are called to know the importance of the Trinity in God’s revelation and how the Trinity speaks to our daily lives.
We are a worshiping people. True worship is Trinitarian worship. For this reason alone we are called to know about the Trinity. We are called to meditate on the Trinity and to find the Trinity a source of comfort and delight.
4 Replies to “Pastoral Observations on the Trinity, Part II”