Let the Mystery be a Mystery

"The mysteries of God are better adored than investigated..." (Philip Melanchthon, Loci Communes, 1521).

 

This is one of my favorite non-Bible quotes of all-time. I've even borrowed the quote and put it into the mouths of a few of my characters in some of my previous novels.

 

What's especially unique about this quote is the context. Philip Melanchthon was a professor at the University of Wittenberg at the same time Martin Luther was teaching there in the sixteenth century.

 

(Not Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights activist. I'm talking about the Martin Luther who is largely credited with launching the reformation of the church in the 1500s).  

 

Melanchthon was one of the primary "reformers" associated with Luther's movement.

 

Melanchthon's goal wasn't to produce a "protestant" theology. In fact, at the time, he was trying to prove that in no-wise was anything they were teaching a major departure from essential Catholic teaching.

 

He wrote this book around the time that his colleague - Martin Luther - was condemned by the emperor at the Diet of Worms (not a renaissance weight-loss plan... ew... but something like a convocation called by the Emperor at a city called Worms in Germany).

 

Melanchthon published this book less than a year removed from when Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther in the Papal Bull Ex Surge Domine in 1520. 

 

Martin Luther once said about this book written by his colleague: "Next to Holy Scripture, there is no better book..."

 

This book was the very first textbook of "systematic theology" that emerged in the Protestant Movement. It came at a time when the so-called "Protestants" saw themselves more as a movement within the Church rather than as separatists. The idea of being a "new" church would have seemed preposterous.

 

I know that's a difficult concept since we live in a world where there are more denominations than varieties of cereal in your grocery store. But the early Lutherans wanted nothing more than to be a voice within a single, unified, Catholic church. The notion of "denominations" or creating a new "church" never crossed their minds.

 

Now, what is "systematic theology?" You might think of it as a way of articulating doctrine or dogma... but not totally...

 

The title Loci Communes just means "common places." It was Melanchthon's strategy for articulating Biblical teaching. His method involved exploring the "common places" (the "loci" or locations) in Scripture, that forged the foundation of basic teaching.

 

Yet even while undergoing such a task... he made this necessary qualifying statement...

 

...the mysteries of God are better adored than investigated...  

 

He understood that the task of "studying the Bible" wasn't about trying to make sense of everything. 

 

He believed that God is infinitely grander than our human minds could possibly comprehend.

 

The point Melanchthon was making with that little quote is that there's a grand mystery behind everything we believe... that all doctrines, teachings, beliefs, the things we think we know have to be set in the shadow of vast "unknowable" majesty...  

 

In other words, doing "theology" is a task of humility... never arrogance.  

 

It means that to "do theology" often means studying what's just the "tip" of an iceberg visible from the surface of a tempestuous sea that might hide from view a much grander reality that transcends what we can discern from our limited perspective.

 

For some people the notion of this "hidden" nature in God is terrifying. They feel compelled to explore, to uncover as much of the mystery as possible... and when they do that, they usually end up drawing tenuous conclusions... fighting over dogma... being generally unhappy and unpleasant creatures.

 

They formulate "dogmas" and then defend those dogmas with every ounce of energy (sometimes with their lives) when all the while they aren't (and can't possibly) comprehend the grander context of it all.

 

It's what happens when people start proof-texting, picking their "favorite" verses to set against the favorite verses of other people they disagree with, in order to prove themselves right.

 

Meanwhile, the mystery of God demands that it's quite possible that both perspectives could be right in their way... or wrong... and it's not necessarily given to us to understand why.

 

Because not everything we're told in the Bible is meant to be the basis of a doctrine. In fact, most things weren't taught with that in mind. There is theology in the Bible... but it was for proclamation. The teachings were meant to change hearts in the way that a Word of the Creator only could.

 

This whole idea can be very troubling to some people. How can I possibly trust a God whose infinite nature remains so mysterious, so transcendent?  

 

The thing about an ice-berg is that it usually hides more ice below the surface. We might not know it's exact shape or what it looks like, but we can discern something about its unmeasurable character based on what we can see.  

 

It's easy to miss the forest for the trees when exploring Biblical spirituality. We can easily get hung up on minutia, specific "rules" that we discern from letters and writings addressed to context so far removed from our own that we can't possibly understand exactly what's being said... even if we think we can.

 

When people go to the Bible and selectively choose to quote bible verses so they can find a reason to condemn things they don't like... they're missing the point...

 

I'll write more about this tomorrow. Sin isn't what most of us think it is.

 

What we do know from Scripture, what we can also see from God's natural revelation in nature, is a benevolence... a part of God's character that pursues us, that loves us, that accepts us...

 

When we see the whole picture of what's revealed... we can discern that so much of what isn't revealed (the mystery) is an extension of a God who loves us beyond measure.

 

We can take comfort in the mystery. Because we also live in a world where things happen that don't make sense. We can't explain away our pain, our suffering our loss...

 

How comforting it can be to know that a God who is SO MUCH BIGGER than my pain... who sees a big picture, the whole story of our lives... who sees us in the context of eternity rather than merely these present struggles...

 

And to know that this unlimited, infinite God is still in control.

 

How comforting is it to know that this God who is greater than the worst we'll ever experience loves us with a depth we can't possibly comprehend?

 

In a world where there's so much unsensible suffering, we need a God who transcends what's sensible. It's the only kind of hope worth having.   

 

We don't need explanations for everything. We don't need to make sense of why God allows some things to happen. We don't need to fear anything at all. Because in the end, God is the one writing our stories. We're certainly players. But as an author, he will bring it to a more-than-satisfying conclusion

 

God didn't write Game of Thrones, obviously.

 

But he is writing your life.

 

We know from stories that our heroes usually grow through their challenges, their trials... even their failures. But when we're reading a novel we trust that the author isn't going to leave us hating the hero in the end, or leave him wallowing in pain and regret and anger.

 

We expect good protagonists, in any good story, to grow. That's what's called a "character arc" in fiction.

 

That's why I believe that fiction is usually (ironically) more realistic than non-fiction.

 

Our lives are stories. And we have an infinite author - a God beyond our comprehension - writing the narrative.  

 

That doesn't mean we don't make our own choices. It's our "limited" dogma-driven know-it-all mindset that tries to put things like freedom/destiny or free-will/predestination at odds with one another.

 

As an author I get it. I often allow my characters to go through some pretty awful things. They end up making choices that we wish they didn't make. Sometimes I don't know how they're going to get through it even when I'm writing it. As the author, I get to know the characters... I have to allow them to make the wrong choices sometimes because that's where they're at in their "arc."

 

But I also know as an author that it's my job to redeem their struggles and failings. I know I need to bring new things into their lives and adventures that transform their sufferings into victories. It's the author's job not to remove all pain... but to redeem it... and use it for good.

 

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, ESV).

 

Don't even start to ask if that includes you. Because if you're the least bit worried if you've been "called according to his purpose" it means you have been. No one who isn't called cares enough to ask those questions. Let your doubt, there, be evidence of your calling... let that doubt become faith. 

 

Your life is a story. You are a player, but you aren't the author.  

 

You might (at times) move in a way that doesn't fit where the author of your story wants you to end up. But maybe he allows it... because that's what you have to go through to get where your author wants you to go.

 

The "mysteries" of God don't require our investigation. To even try to sort out everything about God's true nature is a fruitless endeavor. But we can stand in awe of it. We can trust what we already know about God's character... his love... demonstrated in the narrative of Scripture where we find a God who pursues us no matter how hard we find ourselves running in the opposite direction.

 

After all... consider the birds of the air... the lilies of the field. Do not have anxiety about anything. For God cares for them and adorns them in beauty. (Matthew 6; Luke 12).

 

Are you not worth more to God than birds and flowers?

 

Absolutely.

 

If God cares for the birds, and adorns the fields with flowers... how much more will He care for you?  

 

You have a story that's still being written.

 

But I can tell you this much. No matter how bleak it might look right now, or how dark it might be in seasons in the future, there is a victory for you in the end.  

 

That's one "trope" that God always follows. His stories (our lives) don't end in tragedies so long as we allow him to do the writing.

 

You see, unlike the characters in fiction, we don't have to trust our author to sort things out. If you insist on ripping out the back-half of your novel and start writing things yourself... God will allow you to attempt it. We can take over our own stories.

 

I don't recommend it.

 

When we try to be "in charge" things never end up well. I've tried it many times. It always ends up in a mess.

 

We aren't nearly as proficient at "redeeming" our pain as our author is...

 

...we're more inclined to wallow in it.

 

What you have to do isn't complicated. It's not really about making a public decision, or going through a bunch of steps, or taking a class. All you have to do is let go and allow the author of your life to tell your story... and trust that he's bringing everything to a meaningful and satisfying climax/conclusion.  

 

There's another side to this, too. Your life isn't the only story being told. Everyone's life represents a new story that our infinitely creative Author is composing.

 

We need to respect where other people are on their journeys. 

 

If you've been through the "darkest" part of your story... it's not your job to rescue other people out of their darkness, to end their struggle before they've learned and grown as they're supposed to.

 

Though you may play a role in their story as a a supporting character.

 

But we need to be careful not try an "rob" people of the chapter in their story that they're going through. Every chapter is important. It's all a part of getting where the story must go.

 

Support people you know who are going through the harder parts of their stories. Encourage them.

 

But don't disrespect their story or try to reveal the end (in any specific terms) before they're ready for it.

 

In other words... judge not. 

 

A story must be lived... explaining it all robs us of the adventure...

 

And we need the adventure. It's how we grow.

 

Because our lives are written by a God whose mystery is better adored than investigated.

 

Keep the Faith,

Judah 

 

Check out the "Better Adored than Investigated" T-shirt at my store! It features a 16th century portrait of Philip Melanchthon and the quote above in an old-style woodcut font used in the 16th century printing presses.