From the introduction in an early manuscript of Wolfgang Simson's upcoming The Starfish Manifesto. (Heh, most are waiting to blog this book until the final copy is released, but, sheesh, I couldn't help myself on this one. Hat tip to Lynn at Beyond the Four Walls):Most of us have been educated far beyond our obedience. What has been extremely important for many was simply a possession of the ultimate truth, or, a much more passive and religious attitude, to make sure that we are "in the right church." And I am the first one to admit my guilt in this regard. There was a time when I felt very strongly convinced about things, about concepts, about truth. Now as I am getting older, I am not so sure anymore. I have come to the realization that it is not we who possess truth, truth wants to own us. Truth is a person--Jesus himself. This makes us an appendix to him, not him an appendix of us. And in exactly this human weakness, I found profound liberation and freedom. As we give up trying to understand and figure it out, we learn something much more valuable: to trust and walk by faith, not by calculation. Rather than walking on the seemingly safe but extremely thin ice of frozen understanding (tradition), frozen faith (legalism) and frozen relationships (organizations), it again feels like walking on water, because Jesus is calling us out of our safe little boats.
(Image: mine)