Learning to live with paradox is essential for navigating the complexities of the Christian faith. In this episode, I explore how embracing seemingly contradictory truths can enhance our spiritual endurance and understanding. I draw from biblical insights and personal reflections, emphasizing that life is often filled with challenges that coexist with joy. By accepting paradox, we can find peace amidst confusion and trust that God is in control, even when circumstances seem contradictory. Ultimately, this perspective allows us to experience both the pain and joy of life without feeling the need to resolve every conflict.
Takeaways:
In this episode, we discussed the importance of living with paradox in the Christian faith, which can facilitate deeper understanding.
We explored how Jesus exemplified the balance of suffering and joy, showing us that both experiences can coexist.
The concept of paradox is crucial for Christians as it reflects the complexities of our faith and life experiences.
We emphasized that life is filled with paradox, and accepting this can lead to greater peace and trust in God's plan.
Welcome to the Hobo Soul Podcast of Road advised from the Bible and from me, Yvon Prehn someone who's a little further down the road of life.
I'll talk to you every Tuesday and Thursday for about 10 minutes and if you'd like more in depth information on walking with Jesus, you can find at my www.bible805.com website. For now, let's get started on our topic for today, which is
Episode 51, Learning to live with Paradox.
"Let us run with endurance, the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith because of the joy awaiting him.
He endured the cross disregarding its shame. That comes from Hebrews 12:1, 2
Jesus endured the cross because of the joy awaiting him. Incredible agony but but then unending joy.
Somehow Jesus was able to hold these two experiences inside him at the same time. And the passage recommends we live in a similar way as a key to our endurance in the Christian life.
This idea is challenging and deserves a deeper dive which we'll get into now and it will make an incredible difference in your life if you really grasp what I'm going to be talking about in the next few minutes. So please listen carefully.
I think the key to this passage and to many seemingly confusing things in the Christian life is to accept that the Christian life is full of paradox. First let me explain the meaning of the term and then why it's important.
I'm going to for both of these, quote something out of a book I just finished. I'm very excited about it. The title of the book is called if the Battle's over why Is Life so Hard now this is a very short little book.
It won't take you long to read it, but it is life changing. And let me first of all just quote what I talk about in terms of paradox in the book. The book has so much more in it.
But here's how I talk about paradox.
A Paradox according to Dictionary.com is a self contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be one well founded or true. In other words, two things that appear to be contradictory yet may on a level we may not fully comprehend. And that's important.
You can't always comprehend why it is. But these two things that appear contradictory may be true.
That Jesus death brought us finished peace and that we do not experience that peace at this time is a paradox. In this way.
One of my seminary professors years ago said their paradoxes were at the core of the Christian faith and following are some additional examples of paradox. The reality that Jesus is both divine and human is a paradox. That the Bible is a product of human creation and yet divine authorship is a paradox.
That God is in control of all things and yet we have free choice is a paradox. Both parts of each statement seem to contradict each other, yet both are true.
Though, unfortunately, I do not remember which professor or which class this came from.
I have remembered what he said, and I found it comforting over the years to know that we don't have to explain or understand every paradox in the Christian faith to trust the Creator of them. Well, that's what I talk about in the book. But let's go on.
We have problems, I think, with the idea of paradox in our Christian lives because it'd be so much easier if paradoxes just didn't exist. We want things to be simply black and white, clear, nicely laid out. You do this, God is guaranteed to do that, while that.
We want stuff to be just one thing to be true, nothing to vary from it. We love certainty, but we also know that life rarely works out in that way.
This overly simple view is sometimes sadly reinforced by the way the Bible is often studied today. And that's by taking verses out of context and quote, unquote, claiming them. I know we've all heard that term.
You know, I'm going to claim this verse in the Bible. I'm going to claim that verse.
And, you know, if I'm honest, I'm not really sure exactly what people say when they mean that, other than they pick out a verse and they tell God that they want him to do something. Because we think we can forge God to do what we think he said. Because we picked this verse and we said, well, I claimed it.
God promised that I'd be healthy, wealthy, or, you know, whatever. But maybe God didn't promise to do that at all. Maybe we've pulled something completely out of context.
Now, we'd love to have it work that way, that we just demand God do certain things, and he will. But if you try to live your Christian life based on, on thinking like that, you're going to be greatly disappointed.
Even worse, though, is that God may grant you a request you kept demanding without seeking his will and without knowing if that's truly what he wants for you.
A warning passage in the Bible on how something can be pulled out of context and yet be completely incorrect is in the story of the temptation of Jesus by Satan. Now, Satan, remember, quoted the Bible, he said to Jesus, you know, the Bible actually.
Well, he didn't say the Bible says this, but he said God said and then he quotes out of Psalm 91 he just tempted Jesus to throw himself off the temple. And he says for it says he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Now yeah, the Bible did say that, but but that isn't what God meant by it.
And Jesus responded that you shouldn't put God to the test by putting ourselves in stupid, dangerous situations just to see what God's going to do instead of I want this and God's supposed to give it to me kind of thinking because it seems like one verse interpreted it that way or seemed to guarantee it Learning to Live with Paradox Living in quiet trust that God has us in all situations in life that are both wonderful and challenging, scary and secure, painful and yet productive. God alone decides the outcome, and we can claim all we want, but God is still in charge.
But living with paradox means learning to trust that though I cannot and may not ever figure out the balance of how I'm supposed to feel or what to do in a seemingly contradictory situation, I can rest in God knowing that he's in charge of working out all the confusion for my good and his glory. No matter what we think or claim or wish for, life will always be filled with paradox.
And the sooner you learn to live with that, expect that, and trust God in it, life will be easier.
It can be easier in that when you understand paradox, you don't need to beat yourself up for wanting to be joyful and yet crying out to God when you're sad because he said to cast all our cares on Him.
Understanding paradox helps you in the situation of grieving over the loss of a significant person or a career or anything precious that was good and hurts horribly to lose, and at the same time rejoicing over the new things that God is doing and the ministry work that can be done that maybe couldn't be done before. Our journey to the kingdom is often confusing.
But whether we understand the reasons or chalk it up to paradox, when things are conflicting and confusing and yet maybe two ways are both what we think God might want us to do, and we're not sure exactly which way to take, we do have the promise that in the midst of this confusion, we could have the peace of Jesus and the peace that he gives no paradox can disturb. That's all for this podcast, for transcripts, links to related material, and much more to help you learn to know, trust, apply and teach the bible.
Go to www.bible805.com for now, let me end with this benediction and prayer.
May you walk each day surrounded by the gracious love of the Father, guided by the gentle wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and conscious of the astoundingly real presence of Jesus, who will walk with you until you're no more a hobo soul and no more a transient wandering heart, but at home in the kingdom prepared for you with your God forever. Amen.
