The Wonderful Plan (2)
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 NASB
Tradition – “It is tragically true that we are often wrong about God, believing in that which is not God, in a counterfeit ideal, in a dream, in a cosmic force, in our own father, in our own selves. We must never cease to question our own faith and to ask what God means to us. Is He an alibi for ignorance? The white flag of surrender to the unknown? Is He a pretext for comfort and unwarranted cheer? a device to cheat despondency, fear or despair. From whom should we seek support for our faith if even religion can be fraud, . .”[1]
The questions Heschel raises are critically important. Religion, with all its theological triumphs, is not a safe place for personal answers. We have a colloquial saying about this: The Church shoots its own members in the foot. Religion is subject to cultural influences, paradigm commitments, and social bias. To seek safety in religious doctrine or tradition puts us at peril. Group think conformity does not produce deeply personal resolutions. It anesthetizes pain rather than curing the illness. But where can we go if even our religious safety net has holes?
“Even piety will not sustain the tedium of unlimited repetition. To preserve one’s commitment with the intensity of its first ardor requires more than obedience. Surprise, spiritual adventure, the search for new appreciation—all these are necessary ingredients for religious renewal.”[2]
When our religious experience becomes ordinary, routine, predictable, we are at risk for worshipping a placebo God. “Acts of worship counteract the trivialization of existence. Both involve the person, and give him a sense of living in ultimate relationships. Both of them are way of teaching man now to stand alone and not be alone, to teaching that God is a refuge, not a security.”[3] What is needed is a sense of awe, an appreciation for the amazement of life itself. Perhaps we need to recapture the absolute surprise of God’s concern for us, not the reiterated doctrinal message heard again and again. Perhaps what is really necessary is training in standing still. “The average man does not know how to stand still, how to appreciate a moment, an event, for its own sake. When witnessing an important event or confronted with a beautiful sight, all he does is take a picture. Perhaps this is what our religious traditions must teach the contemporary man: to stand still and to behold, to stand still and to hear.”[4]
If Heschel is right, we will discover that God is not safe but He is reliable. If Heschel is right, we will realize that ignorance is not bliss but sin. If Heschel is right, we will learn that commitment is not surrender but freedom. If Heschel is right, we will find out that certainty is not security but exclusion.
“The central issue is not Truth in terms of a doctrine, but veracity, honesty, or sincerity in terms of personal existence.”[5]
Topical Index: tradition, wonderful plan, Colossians 2:8
[1] Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone, p. 160.
[2] Abraham Heschel, A Passion for Truth, p. 93.
[3] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 252.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Abraham Heschel, A Passion for Truth, p. 45.
