The balloon
itself can represent our world or the reality which we can see. Air can be “Truth”
which we do not see directly; we see the effects. One can squeeze-out the air
in a certain part of the balloon, but it still exists; it pops-up somewhere
else in the balloon, although perhaps in another form. We can try to suppress Truth in our individual
life or in society, but it still exists and will eventually show up somewhere
else.
This metaphor
can be applied to Protestants/Evangelicals throughout history that have attempted
to "squeeze out" Christian Tradition. The kind of Tradition that
ultimately comes from God (not the traditions of men); the kind Catholics might
spell with a capital “T”
Ø
Squeeze out the Pope, get “The Bible
Answer Man”
Ø
Squeeze out the Magisterium of
Catholic Bishops, get the Baptist General Director of Missions
We
have a need for human authority; this is why Jesus set up a visible on earth
Church with people in charge. Bible
churches do not use the Bible as their sole authority; they are also using whatever
biblical interpretation their church leaders interpret. The Bible doesn’t actually
“teach”, just as a math book does not teach; people do the teaching. If I
handed some students an algebra book, told them to join an algebra study group
and pray hard for understanding with no algebra teacher, how well would they do
on the final exam? How well would they truly understand?
I
once heard a minister say that the only proper interpreter of scripture is
scripture itself. This reminded me of when I was a kid asking how to spell a
word and being told to look it up in the dictionary. I would say to myself in
frustration…”But I can’t spell the word, so how can I look it up”. It also
reminded me of Acts 8:30-31 “Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the
prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides
me?”
Of
course, some Christians will say that the Holy Spirit does the guiding, teaching
and interpreting for them individually. This would be somewhat reasonable if
there were only two Christian denominations in the world, the misguided (or evil)
Catholic Church and one true and holy “Bible Church”. The reality of course, is
that there are thousands of Christian denominations that claim “Truth” from the
Bible and yet teach different things. So it all begs the question, “Which Bible
Answer Man or General Directors should we listen to?”
Ø
Squeeze out the Eucharist, get the
altar call.
There
is something about going to an altar to receive Jesus publicly that just won’t
go away!
Ø
Squeeze out the Rosary, get the Prayer
of Jabez
The
Prayer of Jabez comes from 1 Chronicles 4:10 “Now Jabez called on the God of
Israel, saying, Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and
that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it
may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested.”
The
prayer is composed of four parts. First, Jabez asks God to bless him. Second,
he asks God to enlarge his territory or increase his responsibility. Third, he
prays that God will be with him and stay close. Lastly, Jabez asks that God
keep him from harm so that he will be free from pain. Like the Rosary, Christians
are encouraged to say the Prayer of Jabez on a daily basis so it can become a
treasured and lifelong habit.
SIDE
NOTE: I do wonder if a Christian who prays this daily could ever accept the spiritual
value of suffering that all of us can share with Christ.
Both
the Rosary and the Prayer of Jabez are criticized for vain repetition (see Matthew
6:7). Stop and think of repetition for a moment (OK, that’s enough). Did you
think of day and night repeating over and over, seasons coming and going, breathing
air in and out or your heart beating again and again? What is vain is vain, but repetition
with meaning brings life.
All of this is not just about Protestants & Evangelicals reinventing the wheel, it is about the Truth finding its way to the surface!
Inspiration for this post comes from a talk I heard by a fine fellow named Ian Murphy during my recent stay At Catholic Familyland. He has a fascinating conversion story going from Agnostic to Baptist to Catholic.
Fascinating Conversion Story Part I:
