Swingsets, Theology, Tools and Instruction Books

I was playing outside with Claire when I got home this afternoon before I left again to go to Bible study. She was enjoying her swingset that Santa brought her. As I watched her play I remembered that the experience of putting it together was a revelation of sorts to me. I am not the kind of man who tries to put something together without reading the instruction book first. I am the complete opposite! I read the entire instruction book at least once all the way through before I put A and B together. As I put together the swingset over a month ago now, I realized that I approach my faith and my theology the same way. I don't talk through things, I read through things. Reading other people's stories and their perceptions of God and faith and especially their theology is what pushes me and challenges me to grow in my own theology. I don't believe that our theology is ever permanently set, because theology is "thinking about God". If it were completely set and finalized then I would know the whole counsel of God, therefore making me God. I clearly am not God, so then my theology must always be willing to grow and develop as my understanding of God, the Bible, and the life of discipleship continues to grow and develop. I say all that to make a point, I promise. The point is that my theology doesn't change by reading something one time or one author's perspective. For me theology develops as I read something in multiple sources or have conversations with people were the theme comes up. There is a process of incubation that theology must endure for me before I either accept it or reject it. My hope is that my theology never becomes stagnant. That is not to say that ever new fad or trend in theology is what I will readily accept, but it means that I recognize that God is God and I am not. The Bible is His written revelation of himself, but my comprehension and understanding of God and His ways is by no means complete.