Kaleidoscopic Theology: It’s a Trip!

What do kaleidoscopes of all things have to do with theology? At first glance they may seem opposite. Kaleidoscopes are psychedelic, colourful, and fun; theology might bring up thoughts of a dusty old tome full of depressing and boring facts. It shouldn’t be that way though. The reason that theology can have negative connotations is that many theologians, especially in the Western world, have made it seem like a giant, boring legal contract between an angry God and His people who He is always on the verge of throwing in Hell for any infraction of the fine print of this contract. Another negative trend has been the attempt to try to understand every mystery in the Bible and resolve every paradox. Perhaps they weren’t meant to be grasped in a complete, cut-and-dried fashion as much as they were meant to be perceived sufficiently, experienced, and reveled in.

Think of a kaleidoscope, a pattern of shapes and colours occurring in a non-linear format. Consider each shape and colour as an aspect, theme, truth, or motif of the gospel. As there are patterns and structures in kaleidoscopes, there are also patterns and structures to the message of the Bible; the gospel is not the grab-bag spirituality of our age that pretends to make no truth or morality claims and offers wishy-washy spiritual principles. Yet the pattern is above the human attempts to organize it in a rationalistic manner. There is the story of God as the righteous judge, the loving father, the enlightening spirit, the great physician, the conquering king, and the pursuing lover. Obviously these are metaphors that shine light on the mystery of the gospel, but they don’t mesh at all points. If God was a literal father, a literal doctor, and a literal lover that would make him an incestuous physician with a very inappropriate relationship with his clients.

These analogies and metaphors used to teach spiritual truth  sometimes clash because they are not straightforward  statements but pictures that gives us glimpses at  truths too sublime for words alone. Analogies are always used to demonstrate some aspects of a mysterious thing, not to describe it exhaustively. It is easy to make the mistake of applying all aspects of an analogy to the thing it is trying to describe, which defeats the purpose of the analogy, because it would then become the thing it is trying to describe. When multiple analogies are stretched, the conclusions can seem contradictory and there are disagreements about which analogy is authoritative and which is subject (ie is God first and foremost to be understood as a father or first and foremost to be understood as a judge? or both? Or certain aspects of each one?) We should not try to contain God in a box based upon the limits of our understanding, but  accept all the metaphors, paradoxes, and mysteries as one mystical whole. Kaleidoscopic theology contains all the aspects of the gospel and looks at them in awe and wonder.

Consider the paradox of free will and sovereignty; we have free will, yet God is in control, how does that work?  Or the trinity: how can God be both 3 and 1? The incarnation of Christ may be the biggest mystery of all. God being joined with a human through a miraculous conception. Let’s not be too fast to  break out the Venn diagram or put God in a petri dish. We proponents of Kaleidoscopic theology certainly wrestle  to approximate the truth, but ultimately we say “I don’t know man, but it’s pretty freaking cool”. So called intellectuals may scoff at this way of thinking, but  Jesus said “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.” St. Paul also said ” The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” Clearly reason and intellect can only take use so far in understanding spiritual realities.

In his article on Kaleidoscopic theology (In the Book Nature of the Atonement: 4 Views), Joel Green noted, ” A close reading of the New Testament supports two indisputable and intimately linked claims about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The first is that Jesus’ demise at the hands of Roman justice, represented theologically in the motto ‘Christ Crucified’, is the means of comprehending the eternal purpose of God, as this is known in Israel’s scriptures.  The second is that the significance of Jesus’ death is woven so tightly into the fabric of God’s purpose that we may never exhaust the many ways of articulating its meaning for our salvation.” These many ways are the various patterns and colours of the kaleidoscope. Green continues, ” So limited is the ground on which we walk and so infinite the mystery of God’s saving work that we need many interpretive images, many tones [or colours], many voices” Some have taken one of these interpretive images and declared that it was the only or central way to understand the life and death of Jesus. These images are called atonement theories, and while there are ones I favor more than others. I am more dedicated to the mystery that is Christ (who is the Truth), than to a theological system of my interpretation. God is the kaleidoscope that I cannot grasp, I approximate his truth as best as I can, but at the end of the day I enjoy the show. I cannot connect all the dots honestly and it is time that we in the Western church learn to appreciate mystery.

I also like the idea of a prism as an analogy of the gospel message; the white light beam is the “eternal purpose of God” or the saving act of Jesus Christ and it goes through the prism of language and culture to reveal its many beautiful layers. You see, the gospel is not the depressing legal contract between humans and an angry God. God was never against you and the gospel is anything but boring and depressing. That is why kaleidoscope is such a fitting word to describe the gospel and God himself. The one who created lights, music, puffins, stars, raspberries, and colours is anything but boring. Evangelist Todd Bentley described a time when he saw a vision of Jesus as a kaleidoscope (The Reality of the Supernatural World).So join me as I write more mind expanding articles to explore the meaning of the Gospel and the person of God; it’ll be a trip!

Cosmic Christ by Alex Grey. A nice representation, though I would change the images in the gaps to represent aspects of Jesus’ ministry, character, and personality.

I don’t know who made it, but it’s on Nicholas Eastman’s Twitter.

Spirituality and Adventure

On first thought, you might not think that monasticism has anything in common with adventure; after all, on one hand it’s guys in robes chanting and on the other it’s navigating uncharted rivers and the like. Nonetheless, I have noticed many parallels, here are a few.

1.) THE SIMPLE LIFE

 Life on the road or in the back country is simple. One does not have a full schedule, countless social obligations, or distracting luxuries and technologies. The food is also simple: one learns to live off oatmeal and noodles, cherishing the occasional treats. It is very freeing and puts things into perspective.

Like travelers and adventurers, Monks are known for their simple ways of life. They don’t really have iPhones, gourmet food, designer products, cars, big houses, or crazy schedules. They often sleep on uncomfortable beds in small rooms, eat simple food, and spend much time in silence and contemplation. This leads away from a sense of entitlement, instead of demanding the daily mocha, a monk will cherish the smallest luxury with detachment. This also helps keep them aware and conscious: instead of rushing about with a constant stream of erratic thoughts and overpowering stimuli, the monk has a simple awareness and a perpetual consciousness of God. The straw bed in the dim cell of a monk is not too different from the sleeping pad in the tent of a backpacker.

2.) SELF-DISCIPLINE

Friedrich Nietzsche believed the morality and spiritual disciplines of Christianity were born of what he termed “negative will to power”. For Nietzsche, the need to exert power was the primary human drive. He thought that Christianity was the religion of people who could not or would not exert power in the traditional sense, so they denied themselves pleasures and underwent hardship to exercise their will to power. Now, I disagree with Nietzsche that the basis of spiritual discipline and morality is will to power; I believe that it is living our lives how God meant us to live them (in harmony with Him, each other, and creation) but he is on to something. We all want to be great, successful, and competent; in other words, will to power is a major human drive (just not the primary one in my opinion). Will to power is therefore present in any arena of human activity: fasting, backpacking, weight lifting, prayer, overcoming temptation, rock climbing, etc.

The exertion of the mystic may be inward or existential exertion, but it is exertion nonetheless. It is interesting to note that monks and spiritual warriors have traditionally been referred to as athletes. This connection is also made by St. Paul in the Bible “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable trophy, but we an imperishable prize. Therefore, I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Paul wasn’t saying this because he was a masochist or because he thought that pleasure is wrong, but because he is a spirit-builder. Just a body builders must tear muscles to have them rebuilt stronger and deny themselves certain foods and things, so must spirit builders stretch and exert their spiritual muscles and deny themselves things that will hinder their spiritual life. Self-actualization (fulfilling one’s calling, utilizing one’s gifts, and being devoted to a purpose greater than one’s self) is more pleasurable than self-indulgence. Happiness is not eating Cheetohs on a couch watching movies about other peoples’ interesting lives; true happiness involves meaning and purpose, which cannot be achieved apart from sacrifice, discipline, and self-denial. The results of that discipline are sweet though: I may not always enjoy working out, but I never regret it when I’m standing on a peak overlooking a beautiful mountain lake after a strenuous hike. I never regret saying no to sin when I’m standing in awe of what God has done in my life. In the book of Hebrews (12:11), Paul adds “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Don’t misunderstand me: self-discipline is NOT the essence of spiritual life. The point of God’s grace and Jesus dying was that we CAN’T do it ourselves. Union with God is the essence of spiritual life. Any attempt of self-discipline alone to bring us to perfection and empowerment will lead to beating ourselves up or hating ourselves. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a word that describes the spiritual life: synergy- God and man working together. Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He didn’t say I will give you a bunch of stuff to do. Yes, He has adventures, battles, and work for us, but not burnout.

3.) Uncertainty

Adventures usually always contain some element of uncertainty. While exploring mountain ranges, one never knows what is over the next ridge. While hitchhiking, one never knows where he will end up next. This unpredictability keeps life interesting. So it is with spirituality. Unfortunately, many people view Christianity just a set of routines: read bible, say prescribed words, go to church, follow rules, etc. It was not meant to be that way though. If you read any of my hitchhiking journeys, you probably picked up on the spiritual nature of adventures. I never know what’s going to happen when I let the Spirit lead, but it’s always pretty cool! I meet people I’m supposed to meet and end up in random places. In the book of Acts (in the Bible) there are several accounts of the Spirit of God leading the apostles to different areas for meaningful purposes. They usually didn’t know what they were in for.  Not only is walking with God an adventure, but so is knowing Him. Just when I think I have him pinned down a new paradox about his nature comes up or a deeper understanding about His character. These discoveries usually lead to more questions, which lead to more discoveries, which lead to more questions, ad infinitum. The being of God is an ocean that cannot be fully explored even in eternity.

4.) Awe and Wonder

Most of the time when I’m going somewhere, I’m looking for beauty. While the journey is valuable in itself, I long to see peaceful lakes, majestic mountains, bubbling streams, strange plants and animals, and mind blowing skies. The spiritual life is also full of wonder. As I noted in the following point, God is an ocean to be explored, full of hidden treasure. Sometimes I will get a revelation of His majesty that is too sublime for words and the closest experiences I can compare it to are times in nature. I remember one time when I was in Mexico on a mission trip and we were singing songs about the Lord to the Lord on the edge of the Copper Canyon (which is bigger than the Grand Canyon) at night during a lightning storm. In that moment the majesty of God was reflected so much in the natural scene. So not only do encounters with God remind me of nature, more importantly perhaps, encounters with nature remind me of God. Walking by softly bubbling streams on a mossy forest floor, surrounded by massive cedars has moved my heart so much to think of peace, innocence, paradise, and the state in which we humans were meant to live.

Spirituality and the troublesome idea of church

I, for one, have struggled with church. Often, it seems like some superstitious event that really doesn’t connect with me. Let’s go sing some songs, not because we feel like it, but because that’s what we do. Let’s listen to a spiritual pep talk. Let’s have superficial conversations about the weather. Honestly, it seems like that at sometimes. I, as an individual, often have an easier time connecting with God in the mountains, at a rave, hitchhiking, even on my bedroom floor than at church.  Church, however, was never meant to be the core of spirituality; union with God is. For me,that union is best expressed and experienced in different contexts. Here is the deal: church is not about me. It is not about my tastes in music, ambiance, or art. It is not about my personality or my temperament. It is about coming TOGETHER to support one another, worship God TOGETHER, and cooperate to make a difference in this world. The church is a family not an event, getting coffee with believers and encouraging each other is a better example of church than many Sunday events.

Let me show how my individualism got in the way at church with a quick story. I was attending this tent revival meeting last summer. I really like the idea of being proactive in engaging the community. Yet, the vibe was totally wrong for me. It was a bunch of shouting Pentecostals playing cheesy rock music. I was cringing and shaking my head inwardly, yet fighting the impulse. I found myself rebutting the program inwardly, yet trying to value it. I had thoughts like “this is so corny and traditional, this will never reach youth with this music. Why do they have to shout and pressure others to shout incessantly, yeah sometimes I like to get wild if the time is right, but I’m not going to do it just to conform. What’s with this lady droning on this hour long monologue, yes God is faithful, but I don’t want to hear your life story right now”. I left the meeting thinking it was cheesy and outdated yet I appreciated “what they were trying to do”.  On the way home I picked up a hitchhiker. We talked about the revival meeting and the young man begins to share how it was impacting him. ARE YOU SERIOUS? It was lame! He also shares how he is struggling with substance abuse (I seem to run into a lot of people that are, interesting because I am majoring in chemical dependency counseling). I share some stuff with him and ask if I can pray with him. I pray for him and he starts crying. God was touching him big time!

So why is this significant? The very church event I was criticizing and dreading was used by God. The ironic thing is that I was used by God together with the event. Here I am at this revival meeting, a culture that I cannot relate to, something that is contrary to my personality, temperament, and disposition and God makes us work together! It is not about me, it was about the young man struggling with addiction that night. My criticisms of their “outdated spirituality” was really just me being an individualistic narcissist. Are you getting the picture? This church event was certainly not the essence of my spiritual life, yet we worked as a team. It was important. Church is important. There are many other times that I have been sitting in church and God has spoken to me through the pastor. There are times that God has spoken through me to others. I’m not always wild about going to church, yet I need it, others need me; we need each other. When I was 18 years old living in Phoenix, I probably would’ve spiraled into heavy drug use, serious sexual problems, and overall spiritual collapse (it was a vulnerable time) if I didn’t have my church.

So maybe God has never spoken to you specifically in church, maybe you have never helped others, maybe it has never done anything for you other than put you to sleep; what now? God has a design for the church: a family, a team, a community. If it is not fulfilling that design, does that mean we should throw it out? Do we walk out on our families when they “don’t do anything for us”? What about the government? Should we embrace anarchy because of some of the failures of our government (if you answered yes, take a look at Somalia and the histories of other anarchist states)? Certainly we should find a church that is a good match for ourselves, or good as possible, but we can’t expect perfection. The church will fail you and let you down, it is “a hospital for sinners not a museum for saints” but it is what we have to work with and God is doing amazing things in and through His church these days.

Let me share another experience to demonstrate how the church both failed me and saved me.I mentioned how the church in Phoenix pretty much saved my life, yet I didn’t mention how the first church I went to didn’t do jack for me (not that it’s JUST about me). Yeah, I got greeted with the typical formalities. The soundman even let me check out the audio setup. Yet I went there for a month and was crumbling on the inside, no one was there for me. At the other church I went to I was engaged. The first night I was asked if I was saved like three times, that may have been a bit over the top, but let me finish. People at the church talked to me. They gave me rides, they took me out to eat. They involved me in church activities like community outreach, not just sat me down in some pew. I had some great friends there, for which I am infinitely grateful for. It was a family. We played ball together; I even got to help out with sound at an outreach to Flagstaff. The funny thing is, that church was not really my style either. Everyone there dressed up and shouted. That church did not do enough social outreach (mercy ministries, feeding the poor, etc) and taught that tattoos were wrong. Yeah, I got rubbed the wrong way there several times,  but I guarantee that God used that church to keep me from spiritually deteriorating.

So whether you’re a Christian burnt out on church or a spiritually oriented person very turned off by the concept of church, I hope you have seen that the church IS meaningful and important to spirituality, but it surely is not the essence of spirituality.

***FOR MORE EXAMPLES OF THE CHURCH IN ACTION, FIND MY POSTING ON MY YWAM CIRCUIT RIDER EXPERIENCE, IT WAS RAD!!!!!***