My main interpretive task, as I understood it, was to distill from the Bible principles, technique, a series of points to ponder or steps to take. It was to compress the infinite into the numeric, corral the miraculous into the pragmatic, tidy the messy earthiness of the Bible into a neat-edged moral-ism, parse its poetry into prose – or worse, propositions. In short, it was to banish mystery…… The worst consequence of losing our imagination, our wonder, is that we no longer see the Christ-ward life as an adventure. We see it as a duty, a chore, a list of dos, don’ts, and how-tos. We think the point of life is to stay safe and undisturbed as possible. We think borderland is not a bad place to live. The stories we read in Acts about the church “turning the world on its head” (Acts 17:6) – well, what would that kind of thing do to our tax-exempt status?”
How true this is. We are drawn by your majesty and mystery,yet at the same time scared to death of it. Your majesty that speaks of your omniscience, omnipotence and beauty that words can't describe that makes us feel safe while at the same time makes us feel vulnerable. Because that same majesty that tells us of your power and might also demands a surrendering of ourselves to the very omniscience and omnipotence it displays. And of your mystery; we love that you are mysterious but then we want so much to be able to dictate when you are mysterious and when you are not. We want to tell you when and how to reveal yourself. We even fast and pray in hopes of somehow bringing you under control by our actions, that by our doing something we can push some cosmic spiritual button to get you to behave in the way we desire. and how offended we can be when you don’t.
It is true there is part of us that desires a God who is safe, but then a God who is "safe" is not the God who came to save us. A safe God is not one who would risk it all by coming to earth via the womb of a woman to reconcile men to himself. As you have often reminded me; I want you, but I want you on my terms and you will not be had that way. The truth is although I am not always comfortable with that I am also glad, because if I could have you that way it would make you less than what you are. I would rather know you in truth even if I am offended by what you reveal than to not know you at all. I realize more and more that if I would live the life you have chosen for me, the more I will have to live by faith. Faith is what draws you, and the atmosphere in which you dwell. The problem with knowledge is it seeks to create an environment in which faith becomes unnecessary. Yet without faith it is impossible to please you.
January 25, 2010
January 25, 2010
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