I can’t think of too many people in my life that I experienced love from more than Grandpa Simmons. But strangely I seldom if ever remember grandpa verbally telling me that he loved me. Instead, the common pattern nearly every time I walked in his home was a simple and strong encouragement to pass by the deep freeze and get myself an ice cream bar or any time I'd find him in the field on the tractor he would stop and make sure I had my time behind the wheel. These were a few among many ways a pre-adolescent Indiana kid received love.
And somehow I was able to clearly sense that love without him getting to the point of verbalizing those three words.
This art of nuance and subtlety -moving beyond the limitations of words- seems to evade us in the first half of life when we’re still considered young and success driven. We prefer to move faster and "get to the point."
When it comes to Christian ministry I’ve learned over time that I strongly prefer a similar stream of spirituality that communicates primarily through dropping hints.
Through this lens you begin to recognize the strange reality that the Jesus of the gospel seldom gives answers to questions. Instead, he’d drop a hint by using words such as “like” as in, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed.”
I realize this idea runs in stark contrast to the stream of Christians who feel it important to print bumper stickers and t-shirts or whatever means necessary to cut to the chase. In my western capitalistic place it’s a scary and powerless feeling when you are challenged to move beyond just words and standard factual phrases.
But when it comes to a God who loves me beyond explanation, dry factual words often serve only to sabotage the power of the message. In his book, How Not to Speak of God, author Peter Rollins, says, “The desire to say nothing, to create space, opens up the most beautiful type of language available—the language of parables, prose, and poetry.”
The prefix "para" in words like paradox and parable which happens to be two of Jesus' preferred methods of teaching indicates a "moving beyond." So, a paradox is intended to move one beyond belief and a parable is intended to move one beyond the impact of a mere metaphor.
So when Jesus launches into a parable he is essentially saying "I’m going to offer you a big hint that I hope moves you beyond the conscious level beyond your typical black and white rational thinking toward something deeper and more transformative."
So, what’s it look like to live a life that is beyond the limitation of facts and words and more poetic or parable? To live a radical parable life this is the question we have to creatively consider.
Earlier this spring when I agreed to give my friend, Steve, a haircut, I caught a glimpse of what it looks like to live a parable. Steve, lives a life of desperate survival in the shadows of our city among drug dealers and junkies and he tries to find a place to lay his head at night where he’ll avoid being harassed or killed.
Providing Steve that haircut communicated something far more powerful than I realized. It was in many ways similar to when grandpa let me drive the tractor when I was 7. Having a good clean haircut, like a tractor ride to a 7 year old Indiana boy, is empowering. The meaningful touch and conversation communicates something deeper more lasting and meaningful than coming right out and getting to the black and white "I love you." And sometimes when this parable life is lived out over the varied terrain of the spiritual journey the cloudiness of the gospel occassionally comes into focus with far greater clarity and livability than if it were communicated via 4 or 5 simple steps.
This desire to get beyond language forces us to stretch not only our creative speech but our very lives to the limits. A life of contemplation and attentive curiosity in which words are used more thoughtfully can serve to move us toward creative Kingdom presence that makes a difference to our culture.
What are some of the hints you're dropping these days?
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