please read this book!

More from chapter one of How (Not) to Speak of God by Pete Rollins:

...revelation, far from being the opposite of concealment, has concealment built into its very heart. (p. 16)

Rollins speaks of going into a museum and contemplating a painting:

The painting could be said to offer us a type of revelation, for it stands before us and communicates a message. However, the message of a piece of art is not simple, singular or able to be mastered...When we ask ourselves about the meaning of the artwork, we are immediately involved in an act of interpretation which is influenced by what we bring to the painting. In a similar way, the revelation of God should be compared to a parable that speaks out of an excess of meaning...The parable is given to us, but at the same time its full wealth of meaning will never be fully mined. It is not reducible to some clear, singular, scientific formula but rather gives rise to a multitude of commentaries. (p. 16, 17; italics mine)

...there is more, but I'll stop here and come back later...

I've been thinking on the line in italics above. We are all influenced by what we bring to faith and Scripture. I can't believe that people deny this, but many do. How else do you explain the incredible diversity in the universal Christian Church? So many within it think they have it figured out...reformed, charismatic, fundamental, evangelical, catholic, are only a few of literally hundreds of categories Christians use to define themselves, and most are absolutely certain that their understanding of Scripture and their ways of doing church are THE right ways, or at least the best.

I was in my twenties before I realized there were people who truly loved God and followed Jesus who were not Southern Baptist! I grew up being taught that we (southern Baptists--a group from which I now feel very different) were the only ones who really "got it," and everyone else was close but not quite there.

The more I read of the emerging conversation, the more I am convinced that many of these people, who often humbly admit that they don't have everything figured out, are actually closer to getting it than those who do think they have it all figured out. What is "it"? Not sure how to define; simply put, I guess I'm talking about connecting with God. Not knowing all about Him, not being able to explain the "true" meaning of all the Bible, but humbly living a life that strives to reflect His character.