"For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the Truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."
~ A.W. Tozer - The Pursuit of God
This reminds me of the analogy that Rob Bell gives in his book Velvet Elvis; the analytical comparison is between viewing
doctrine as the bricks in a wall or as the springs in a trampoline. The problems with the wall is that is one brick is taken out then the whole wall can collapse; If one of your beliefs are shaken it isn't easy on your wall because your whole wall has to change. But with the Trampoline if you take one spring out you can still jump, using the trampoline for its purpose. So you are free to work with your beliefs (the springs) and figure out what it is you believe and then put the spring back in. And with the trampoline the springs are not the point; jumping is the point. This is what Tozer was saying a long time ago. With the wall, the wall is the point it is not helping you do anything. The point can't be our doctrines or knowledge but it was to be what we are doing because of what we know. We aren't worshiping the Bible; We are Worshiping God. What a profound analogy! Both Velvet Elvis and The Pursuit of God are great books to get you thinking about what it really means to follow Christ.
7 comments:
i really like the trampoline idea. way to be awesome mike.
i also dig the trampoline analogy
you've got me interested in rob bell's book. does he say if there is any significance to the title?
Yes the is explained right at the beginning. I will make you read it to find out. Or buy it on CD to listen to it, that is my prefered way of reading now a days.
If I understand the trampoline analogy correctly, I think it is dangerous.
It seems like a mesh of two analogies, one saying that doctrine can either stop you or point you to God; the other saying that if you have a systematic understanding of doctrine, you have a greater chance of falling away than if you just take things more lightly and focus on God.
I like the first analogy, but the second connotation I either am not understanding correctly or it could easily bring someone to false doctrine.
What do you think Mike?
John, I think the second part that I might not have said clearly is that we all need to be continueosly reforming (This you might understand). It is not about being reformed and having it all down, but being able to continue to learn more about who God is, Who you are and How we all fit into that. And as we continue to learn we will probably realize how much we don't know yet. So as we keep learning we will have to change some of our ideas about life and it all. It is important that we continue to challenge/encourage eachother to be even closer to who Christ is. What do you think about that?
That makes more sense, and is not so dangerous, but important. Thanks.
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