The study of ultimate truth, and the unyielding quest for
human significance and meaning-making is the most profound journey one can
undertake. For me, being a pastor is about taking that journey very seriously
and candidly, while also helping other people to engage in the same journey.
Unfortunately, in an effort to help people get going, we pastors sometimes make
the mistake of becoming nothingmores.
I have spent years (literally) trying to wrap my mind, my
heart, my soul, around truths like “Trinity,” the “God-Man,” the nature of “canon,”
and employment of “Sacrament.” The struggle to understand, to grasp, to
experience; has been a struggle yielding much reward, and joy. I’m still
reaping a rich harvest in the grain-field of basic Christian understanding.
One of the problems with Christianity is the paradoxical
nature of the most basic truths. They are difficult to grasp. How could God
love a creation so deeply flawed, when He can’t stand imperfections? How could Jesus
be the very enemy of sin and evil— yet love evil, sinful people so much that He
volunteered to die in a rescue attempt? How could such a loving and powerful
Being, once victorious, entrust the rescue of the world to people like Peter,
Paul, you, and me?
The answers to these questions need to really be considered.
They require spiritual fitness. A life lived in the presence of God is not for
the weak or faint of heart.
Pastors, however, tend the flock of God. The flock of God is
full of weak and fainthearted people. How do we help such people to endure
their struggle with deep and profound truth? Unfortunately, sometimes we turn
to the easy way: the doctrine of nothingmore.
The doctrine of nothingmore is how we make deep things a bit
shallower. It’s how we make mind-blowing truth more digestible. After all, you
won’t get a scared child into the lake without telling them, “Sweetie, the lake
is nothingmore than your splash pool at home. It’s just a bit bigger.” And
truthfully, while the child’s fears may be but at ease, and they may approach the
lapping shore more confidently; the nothingmore actually makes the lake much
more dangerous to the child. The child actually thinks the lake is as tame as
splash pool.
Break.
Perhaps an example would be helpful. I've heard it taught
before (I've even been guilty of it): “Baptism is nothingmore than a public
declaration of a personal faith. Nothingmore than a sign of the work of God.”
AHHH!
Or again: “The book of Revelation is nothingmore than an
ancient apostle having a vision of the future, and trying to describe to his
ancient audience the incredible technology that he sees.”
Nothingmore? Nothingmore!
We, who steward the Word and Sacrament of God, perhaps have
allowed the doctrine of nothingmore to drain the sacred Cup of its mysterious
wine; stale the Bread of its sweet body; and vacuum out the Breath of
scripture.
I think we should be aware that our reductionism is lending
itself towards robbery. Not only are we robbing ourselves of a fuller
understanding of the mysteries of God, but we rob the weak and fainthearted an
opportunity to bravely plunge into the depths of His Presence.
