Quick Update: Episode 11 of the Insurgence podcast is live. In it, I discuss the mark of a false teacher, the mark of a true disciple, the humor of Jesus, and the carnage that comes from the hands of “Christians” every day. (You’ll need a sense of humor to get through the episode.)
Surround sound trumps (no pun intended) stereo.
Stereo systems contain two speakers.
Surround sound systems contain five to eight speakers that surround the listener.
So the audio comes at them from different directions, blasting out highs, lows, and a spectrum of sounds in between.
Throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus coming to people in surround sound.
He’s authoritative while gentle. Strong while meek. Somber while joyful.
This stands to reason since Christ is both Alpha and Omega, Lion and Lamb, Priest and King, Master and Servant, simultaneously.
Consequently, if you only hear, see, experience Christ in one way, you’re not encountering the Christ of the Gospels. Nor the Christ of Colossians, Ephesians, or Romans.
He is the Absolute Paradox.
This is why no theological system can contain or explain Him.
This is why His disciples were constantly puzzled by His words and actions.
This is why the religious leaders couldn’t figure Him out.
He is Life and “life always finds a way” out of the boxes we mere mortals construct to comprehend Him.*
Here’s the delta: If Jesus isn’t surprising – or disappointing – you, there’s a good chance that your Christ is too small, and you’re not really growing in Him.
For He is both sorrow and joy, death and resurrection, suffering and triumph, somberness and laughter.
Christ doesn’t come to us in mono or even stereo. He reveals Himself in surround sound.
He doesn’t present Himself in black and white, but highly-saturated Technicolor.
This is why those who bear the testimony of Christ’s fullness will often puzzle, confuse, disappoint, startle, and even offend people eventually – especially those who have too small a view of Jesus.
Christ is simply too big, too paradoxical, and too vast to be contained in any limited theological box or doctrinal expectation.
Jesus is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”*
I expand on what I’m talking about in the conference message Epic Jesus: The Christ You Never Knew which you can freely stream or download.
* “Life finds a way” is a line from the film Jurassic Park.
* The “riddle, mystery, enigma” line comes from Churchill when he was describing a particular country.
