I preached recently on the temptations of Jesus from Luke 4. One of the resources I used was a book by Diogenes Allen, formerly? of Princeton Seminary, entitled simply Temptation. The book was first published as Between Two Worlds. In the introduction and the approach to the book Allen gave me an interesting handle on the difference between modern and post-modern perspectives.
Allen says that to enter into a relationship with God or with other human beings is a mystery. Mysteries are things we delve into, we search, we explore, we learn, but never master. They are beyond our control but not our participation. The greater the depths the more the mystery. Why is this important?
The book is about perceiving good and evil and how we are tempted and deceived in deciding what is what. Temptation is often in the guise of something good not bad, and what is good is often in the form of what might appear dull, boring or even bad itself. Why is it this way?
"For we do not solve mysteries; we enter into them. The deeper we enter into them, the more illumination we get. Still greater depths are revealed to us the further we go. In contrast to this, when a problem is solved, it is over and done with. We go on to other problems. But a mystery once recognized is something we are never finished with. It is never exhausted." p.18
A modern view of life would say that it is a problem or series of problems to be solved. Once solved it is settled. I believe we can see this approach in our own lives and others as well. In our time and maybe in all times, this approach is not particularly helpful. Take this story from Allen's book:
"One woman tells this story. Her husband, who had attended Harvard Business School, had in time unconsciously come to use its techniques in all his affairs. One day her husband cam home and found her sitting on the sofa deeply depressed. He asked her what the problem was. She replied, "The problem is that you treat everything as a problem!" He had come to regard their life together as essentially like a problem of management. In management you define your goal, and then by suitable planning and arrangement of all the relevant ingredients, reach it...We resent being treated as something which by proper management can be made to yield the desired results."
When we talk about being a Christian as a relationship to be entered into, not a program to be followed, or a bunch of rules, we are saying that we are entering into the mystery of a relationship. When I am asked by my wife to consider a circumstance she finds challenging or difficult, I have learned that she doesn't want my opionion or a solution, she wants my attention. That is a mystery. I am so modern in my relationships. One way of thinking on this is to consider the request of many men who would say, "Just tell me the rules of being a good husband and I'll do them." The point is: You can't. Not this way. The only way is to enter into the mystery of the relationship and explore the other. Learn and live together. You can't make someone love you. Love is a gift to be given and received. It's not a program.
I believe this is one of the main differences between modern and post-modern times. Though we have tons of modern language and categories, I believe that people are looking for more from relationships than mere principles, they want to go deeper and be understood more deeply as well. This is why modern attempts at programming faith along the lines of principles and purposes may work for a while but it will never satisfy. Why?
My life is not a problem to be solved. Because once you get the answers to solve the problem, it is over. Our life is not every over in that way. God is never "solved". This grates against our modern tendencies and that grating is the presence of a postmodern disatisfaction with the way things have been explained.
The more problems we believe we have solved, the more problems seem to come to the surface. The distrust of modern techniques stems from this experience. Postmodernity offers us the time and space to move away from problem solving to entering into the mystery that is our relationship with God and others. Postmodernity says - "I know there is more." Just what has yet to be discovererd.
What do we do? Next blog about making room for God to do something new.
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