The following is a quote that I read years ago from Frank Viola. It expresses
so well how I feel about continually moving forward in knowing Jesus
which requires that we be willing to let go of how we have known Him in
the past.
In the following, Viola is referring to the encounter between Mary and Jesus in the garden after Jesus' resurrection:
He was moving forward, but she was clinging to
Him. Jesus was in effect saying to her: “Mary, stop holding on to me.
There’s a new way to know me that’s different from what you’ve
experienced thus far. Let me go. I must move on.”
Viola then speaks of the encounter between Jesus and the two disciples on the Emmaus road...he proceeds to say,
"These stories hold a critical insight. You cannot cling to the Christ you know today. He will vanish from your midst.
Jesus Christ is an elusive Lover. Seeking Him is a progressive
engagement that never ends...We all wish to cling to the Lord who we
know now. We all wish to hold on to the Christ who has been revealed to
us today.
"But mark my words: He will come to us in a way we do not
expect—through people we’re prone to ignore and inclined to write off.
Perhaps they don’t talk our religious language. Perhaps they aren’t
theologically sophisticated. Perhaps they don’t use our vocabulary.
Perhaps they don’t share our insider knowledge nor parrot our religious
idioms.
"So we cling fast to the Lord we recognize—receiving only those who
talk our language, use our jargon and employ our catchphrases—and all
along we end up turning the Lord Jesus Christ away.
What, then, does Jesus do after we fail to receive Him when He comes
to us in an unexpected way? He moves on. And the revelation we have of
Him ceases to grow. Jesus Christ is richer, larger and more glorious
than any of us could ever imagine...
"There is something in our fallen nature that, like Peter, wishes to
build a monument around a spiritual encounter with God and remain there.
But the Lord will not have it. He will always break free from our frail
attempts to pin Him down, box Him up and hold Him in place. And He does
so by coming to us in new and unexpected ways."
It wasn't until I was willing to take seriously the thoughts and findings of people outside of my western evangelical charismatic classic theological mindset that I really began to awaken more fully to the beauty and goodness and bigness of God in Jesus...it can be (and will be) a wild ride into losing control over certainty to allow 'others' in but in time, very rewarding. Don't be afraid to listen to those you consider outsiders and people on the margins of society in your search. God bless you in the venture!
