a both-and kind of world

You know, I think I’ve always been a both-and kind of guy. I’m not saying that I’m right or that I always follow by best inclinations, but I generally like an integrationist approach to life. But it probably wasn’t until about 12 years or so ago that I began to recognize this tendency.

My point is that I see a lot of things as being in tension. For instance take at a look at the following ideas:

□ dogmatic + humble

□ radical and carefree + semi-cautious

□ printed word + spoken word

□ open-minded + resistant

□ uncertain + confident

□ logic + intuition

□ apologetics as presuppositional + apologetics as evidential

□ (some version of) divine sovereignty + (some version of) free-will

□ God as transcendent + God as immanent

□ sharing the truth by stating facts + sharing the truth by arguing for and demonstrating the beauty those facts

□ historical + a-historical

□ journeying + possessing a sense of being “at home” (perhaps related to what theologians term the now and the not-yet)

□ biblical theology + systematic theology

□ mystery + perspicuity

□ the bible as divine + the bible as human

□ human beings as noble + human beings as depraved

□ (primarily today) postmodern + (the best remnants of) modern + (the sometimes forgotten) pre-modern + (the yet to come) post-postmodern

□ stories + propositions

□ church leaders as, just that, leaders + church leaders as one of the many (and never better)
□ a reality that is independent of our observations and human language + a reality that is only understood and explainable in less than perfect ways (critical realism?)

□ add your own here: _________________________

Please understand; I’m not proposing some sort of complicated system of thought in which a multitude of realties must be simultaneously absorbed. All I’m saying is that an amazing God has created an amazing world in which this both-and idea is common. I think this should humble us, on the one hand, and energize us on the other. We live within a sphere where there are multiple possibilities and numerous avenues of grace. (Just to ease your mind, I am not saying that everything is allowable and that all things should be embraced as a part of this balance. This is not, in other words, a Christianized version of the dark and light sides of “the force,” as if both good and evil are simply two sides of an acceptable reality; sorry Yoda. :-) All I’m saying is that God has revealed many things which demonstrate the richness of his ways and creation.)

I recognize, of course, that some of these things might not be occurring simultaneously; maybe logic works in one case and intuition in another. Hmm. That said, I still sense an intertwining of truths, a mixture of a whole lot of things.

To conclude, my take on this subject (for what it’s worth!) is that many things were, how shall I say it, designed to “rub up against” one another, each penetrating the other. Therefore, I’m not really talking about an attitude in which “a little of this” is combined with “a little of that” (though moderation has its place), but rather I’m saying that we live in an interlocking universe where many things are mixed together. My hope, of course, is that God is stirring the pot.