I'm a bit of an information junkie. I simply can't cram enough information into that head of mine. In fact, I pride myself on knowing trivial pieces of information for just the right time - although I can never say when that time will be. Whether it be music, movies, sports, politics or just general world information, I like to know it. However, what I really love is commentary on world happenings. I like to see political pundits talk about world events. I like to read movie reviews and "best of" lists, and I love to read the writings of sports columnists who take sporting events and elevate them to the heights of poetry. Simply put, I love to hear what people have to say about the world around us.
But...
What if a sporting event, film or song was just too magnificent for words? What if a global event could not be summarized into the alloted copy size of our newspaper? Or what if a person, upon their death, would not have justice or honor placed on them by just writing up a standard obituary?
Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden recently passed away. While I cannot say that I have much knowledge of the man and the life he lived, I did have the chance to learn about him via many daily devotionals sent to me a few years back from the Athletic Director and Chaplain of the school I used to work at. It seemed that just about any devotional relating to anything from integrity to fairness - honor to courage somehow had a mention of Coach Wooden in it. John Wooden had not only one of the greatest records in college basketball, but all of sports. Ten national championships (7 in a row), 4 perfect seasons (30-0), an 88 game winning streak, 7 Coach of the Year awards and many more accolades I can't begin to name. However, when I listened to sports writers and TV hosts recollect their memories, I didn't really hear much of those things. I heard words like 'integrity', 'faith', 'character', and most of all 'humility.' I heard stories about a devoted husband, father and grandfather. One sports writer said this about him: "The awful thing about knowing John Wooden was when you left him, you realized how weak you were as a man. Every time I left his little 700 square-foot condo in Encino, California, full of books and learning and morals, it would hit me how far short of him I fell. He made me want to be more principled." But what struck me most of all was when these prolific writers were at a loss for words. There came moments when they simply didn't know what to say. It wasn't that, if given enough time, they couldn't compose the right words. It's just that for that one moment their lives were so effected by this person that they simply couldn't speak. And yet, what was so beautiful about that one moment was how they were saying everything by saying nothing. Thousands of words were encapsulated in their lost composure. They spoke volumes with their silence.
Sometimes in the world of 24-hour news, twitter, facebook, the internet and everything else, we all feel like we have something to say. We think our thoughts are so monumental that people's lives will be deeply enriched by hearing them. We use words with more than 4 syllables, and we make sure never to repeat the same word twice in an effort to show just how much of a sesquipedalian we can be (I learned that word on wikipedia). We talk longer and more than we ever imagined and yet, for the most part, we don't really say much.
A recent trend I've noticed that has become common in the church community is people trying to envoke emotion by using their big, eloquent, poetic words to describe God. We use high and lofty literary phrases and metaphores that are sometimes so "deep" they are senseless to try to paint a picture of our Creator. We work so hard at using our limited language in new, inovative ways to portray God that we forget He is the one who gave us speech. We don't want to sing the songs that have been sung for hundreds of years because we want to say something "new" to God - even though nothing is new to God. We don't want to quote pastors from centuries ago because we want to look more educated, more philosophical, and capable of producing newer and deeper thoughts. All this goes to suppose that we think we are more than we really are when in truth, we're not much at all compared to the Almighty.
Jesus often calls Himself our shepherd. In John 10:11, Jesus says that He is the good shepherd. Now if Jesus is the shepherd, what does that make us? The answer of course is sheep. And what are sheep? That's right, sheep are stupid. Sheep by their nature do not think much for themselves and despertely need a master to maintain their survival (hence the shepherd reference) . The moment a sheep thinks it is smarter than its shepherd is probably the moment that that sheep has had its last thought.
Trying to describe an infinite God using our finite human minds is akin to climbing Everest without oxygen - we simply cannot do it. We know nothing about Him apart from what He Himself has already told us. There are simply no metaphors or analogies capable of capturing his majesty no matter how or metaphoric we try to make them. Some pastors and Christian writers put together words that don't make sense on the surface to try to imply that they have a different meaning when it comes to referring to God or Christian principles. It would be like me trying to tell you that God is like a 'bulletproof pancake.' You wouldn't get it at first glance but I would attempt to explain its meaning with deep philosophical thought, somehow relating it to God's character. In doing so, I would sound deeply in tune with God in a way that showcases my higher thought process. And you would be in enlightened.
I just think this kind of expression is unnecessary. And God must find it somewhat comical as He watches us attempt to relate Him in a way that we think is so high and lofty but must be nonsense to Him. This is the same God that according to His word we can't even look upon without dropping dead. Sometimes I don't think we grasp just how higher than us He really is.
Sometimes there is more power in our silence than in our words. Sometimes it is better to let our words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2 says:
"Do not be quick with your mouth,
Do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth,
so let your words be few."
Most people get a better picture of who God is through our actions than our words anyway. We need to stick to using God's own words to describe Him and letting God's character be displayed through our actions... and sometimes our silence.
That's all I have to say.
