Estee and I were talking the other day for a sermon she is preparing for on Feb 27th at FUMC Arlington. The scripture she is using is the first verses of 1 Corinthians 4. The bit that spoke out to her was the statement at Paul writes "Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries."
We got talking about this and she shared with me that as she began to look at commentaries on this chapter, many comments said that the mystery of God is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ humanity is saved by Grace through faith.
Agree or not, I was appalled by this idea.
Not the idea that we are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ, but that anyone would be so bold as to declare they know God's mysteries.
It seems to me that to know and declare the mysteries of God removes the wonder and beauty of God. This is a bad analogy but if you know how a magic trick works - the mystery is gone. That does not mean you cannot appreciate the art of slight of hand, but the mystery is lessened.
I could not help but think of the movie Spaceballs when hearing this verse.
There is a scene in the movie in which planet Spaceball has run out of oxygen. The emperor of planet Spaceball knows of another planet that has a lot of oxygen. The problem is this oxygen rich planet has an air shield that keeps the oxygen locked in the planet. The great mystery of the emperor of planet Spaceball is the code for that air shield.
The emperor is highly resourceful and has tried a number of ways to obtain the mystery of the air shield code. At this point in the movie the emperor has captured the daughter of the king of the oxygen rich planet (Druidia) and is threatening to "give her, her old nose back". (Please remember Spaceballs is a Mel Brooks comedy).
The king (the steward of the mystery of the air code) breaks down and shares the code.
The code is - 1 2 3 4 5
The mystery is gone. In fact, the villains in the movie make fun of the former mystery!
Again, not a great analogy, but I am willing to bet that anytime Christians declare we know God's mysteries we are not only acting out of arrogance, but we also make a mockery of the mystery.
We got talking about this and she shared with me that as she began to look at commentaries on this chapter, many comments said that the mystery of God is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ humanity is saved by Grace through faith.
Agree or not, I was appalled by this idea.
Not the idea that we are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ, but that anyone would be so bold as to declare they know God's mysteries.
It seems to me that to know and declare the mysteries of God removes the wonder and beauty of God. This is a bad analogy but if you know how a magic trick works - the mystery is gone. That does not mean you cannot appreciate the art of slight of hand, but the mystery is lessened.
I could not help but think of the movie Spaceballs when hearing this verse.
There is a scene in the movie in which planet Spaceball has run out of oxygen. The emperor of planet Spaceball knows of another planet that has a lot of oxygen. The problem is this oxygen rich planet has an air shield that keeps the oxygen locked in the planet. The great mystery of the emperor of planet Spaceball is the code for that air shield.
The emperor is highly resourceful and has tried a number of ways to obtain the mystery of the air shield code. At this point in the movie the emperor has captured the daughter of the king of the oxygen rich planet (Druidia) and is threatening to "give her, her old nose back". (Please remember Spaceballs is a Mel Brooks comedy).
The king (the steward of the mystery of the air code) breaks down and shares the code.
The code is - 1 2 3 4 5
The mystery is gone. In fact, the villains in the movie make fun of the former mystery!
Again, not a great analogy, but I am willing to bet that anytime Christians declare we know God's mysteries we are not only acting out of arrogance, but we also make a mockery of the mystery.