Wild extremes live on the bandwidth that comprises Christian faith. At one end of the scale are those who believe scarcely a thing at all, but even this is not as frightening to me as those on the end of the spectrum who have God all figured out. With algebraic precision, they are able to reduce God to his component parts. Their certainty factors out mystery and puts unyielding parentheses around an orthodoxy with no room for questions–and no surprises.
In Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of “And” in an Either-Or World
, Jen Pollock Michel asserts that biblical faith “abides complexity rather than resists it.” (4) She wonders aloud about doubt and certainty, humility and hope, and then settles into the examination of four themes in Scripture in which paradox abounds:
1. Incarnation: God and Man
Nowhere is God’s delight in both/and over either/or more apparent than in the truth that the incarnate Christ was fully God AND fully man. This is a mystery that defies logic, and it invites believers to delight in our own duality. We are intensely physical beings with appetites and space/time limitations that anchor us in the quotidian and the earthy. And yet, our spirits commune with The Spirit, our souls will live forever, and we have been created in the image of an unseen God who is wholly spirit.
The incarnation brings unity to the spiritual and the material, the secular and the sacred, and we find, to our great surprise that “in Jesus Christ, we are more unimpressive than we ever dared admit, more glorious than we ever dared dream.” (57)
2. Kingdom: Plain Truth and Mystery
Jesus wasted no time in announcing that he represented another kingdom, far removed from the Roman Empire or the religious hierarchy of Judaism. Reading his story with the Kingdom of God in mind uncovers “the scope of God’s ambitions. He wills to reign. And he will reign over more than human hearts.” (71)
However, it is clear that the righting of our upside down world which began with Christ’s resurrection is not readily apparent and often seems completely missing in a world so larded through with suffering and injustice. In the meantime, those with little find their places alongside those blessed with much, and we all trust for grace to do life with those who don’t look like us, who vote in ways we find scandalous–and who are positively indispensable in our process of learning to set our hope fully in Jesus alone.
3. Grace: Rest and Response
If God had bones, grace would be in his deepest marrow. This is good news, for how else would any of us find our way into relationship with the Most Holy?
The paradox of grace lies in God’s requirement for obedience and his rejection of legalism; the gift of hard words delivered with love; and the invitation to rest while carrying his yoke. The reality of grace means spiritual disciplines that look like work and feel like deprivation are the very thing that clear the channels for grace to flow freely into our lives.
4. Lament: Howling Prayer and Confessing Faith
North American Christians with our lives of relative ease rely heavily upon inspired words for our language of lament. There we find faithful Jeremiah pausing dead center in Lamentations to gulp air, declare God’s faithfulness, and then resume his tearful mourning over lost Jerusalem. Habakkuk and Job sing testy songs of impatience with God’s slow mercy, and psalms of lament read like “nasty letters to the editor.” (155)
Ironically, it is only those whom we trust and value who will receive the brunt of our anguish, disappointment, or rage. We affirm belief in a God who is there by railing at him when he feels absent. Our forays into lament keep sorrow from unraveling into despair.
God’s promise of And in this Either/Or World means that “just because it can’t be explained doesn’t make it false.” (24) The dissonance we feel when we bump into God’s inscrutable ways is an invitation to worship and to find, buried within the struggle to understand, the gift of wonder.
Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
Always in awe of the paradoxical ways of God,
I’ve been following Jen Pollock Michel’s work for quite some time, so I was thrilled to review her 2017 release: Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home. It was so insightful I devoted two posts to my review, the first dealing with thoughts around a “theology of home,” and the second focused more on the steady thrum of activity that holds a home together.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an
affiliate
advertising program
designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of “And” in an Either-Or World
or Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home
simply click on the title within the text, and you’ll be taken directly to Amazon. If you decide to buy, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Subscribe to Living Our Days to get regular content delivered to your inbox. Just enter your e-mail address in the field at the top of this page.
I link-up with a number of blogging communities on a regular basis. They are listed in the left sidebar by day of the week. I hope that you will take a moment to enjoy reading the work of some of these fine writers and thinkers.
Great review! Love your opinion, and your writing style as well.
I would love to keep updated with your posts. Thus, I have followed your blog. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re very kind, Jenesh!
Thanks for Monday Morning encouragement!
LikeLike
Great writing and insight. Love your Blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! So glad you stopped by!
LikeLike
This is such a great reminder that we can never fully understand all of who God is nor see all that He is doing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Truth!
LikeLike
Michele,
It seems the older I get, the more I gravitate away from the either/or, black or white mentality and I am becoming more comfortable with the both/and way of thinking. There is so much mystery to God and to think I can have all the answers and nail it all down, is either pride or insanity… I’m learning lessons on how to enjoy the totally unexpected. Great post!
Blessings,
Bev xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sounding the alarm, Bev. I agree with you that we need to be cautious of sliding into a black and white mentality as we advance through middle age.
LikeLike
I love your book reviews! And the concept of the Glorious AND is so amazing. I am slowly growing in understanding this, and will always be grateful for it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me, too! I have spent way too much of my life on the cusp of “or” thinking in so many ways. The idea that we can be BOTH biblical AND curious is a true gift.
LikeLike
Thanks for the review. Sounds like an excellent book.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very thought provoking and beautifully written.
LikeLike
Thanks for this review! The lamenting prayer and faith sounds like a topic we don’t talk about often.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here in North America, we have so little practice with true suffering that we need tutoring in the language of lament–which God so graciously has provided in the psalms and the minor prophets!
LikeLike
We’ll never have everything figured out this side of heaven (and probably on the other side, too, since God will still be God and we will still not be. But at least we’ll know Him better then.) Yet I am alarmed by many these days who put question marks where God puts periods in the postmodern trend of preferring questions to certainty. I’m not familiar with Jen, but from this post it sounds like she has a great balance. There are so many mysteries to God and His ways, and they invite our wonder and worship despite our brain fatigue in pondering them.
On another note, something I read last week set my thoughts on awe and wonder in a different vein that I hope will work themselves out into a blog post soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, all of Jen’s question marks are the ones God has put as punctuation to our thinking about Him and his ways. Wise balance doesn’t try to force closure on a matter God has left wide open.
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on awe and wonder. It’s always fun to have a concept on the back burner!
LikeLike
That section on “Grace: Rest and Response” especially caught my attention. In SO many ways our God is a dichotomy of truths. But I love that he is beyond my understanding. The wondering prompts me to worship; He alone is worthy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jen makes it very clear that worship is our right response to paradox–a humble acknowledgement of God’s incomprehensibility is a good beginning!
LikeLike
“We affirm belief in a God who is there by railing at him when he feels absent. Our forays into lament keep sorrow from unraveling into despair.” I love these words. We read in the Psalms that David made his complaints known to the Lord. We are often told that complaining is not good. But the main thing is who we complain to. Do we complain to each other? Others who usually cannot help one bit to alleviate our problems? Or do we, like David, tell our complaints to the Lord? If we hold these things in, our sorrow can turn into despair. We are so blessed to have a God who allows us to “rail at Him” while He understands and pours out His grace and mercy into our lives. Thanks for the book review. It’s another I had not heard of before. God b less you, Michele.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad that this part of the review spoke to you. And you are absolutely right about our need to take our complaints to God. After all, he’s the only one who can actually impact our circumstances.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Any book that states that faith “abides complexity rather than resists it.” and demands obedience while it rejects legalism sounds like a book I want to read. This just went to the top of my TBR list. Thank you, Michele. If we ever feel as though we have God figured out, it’s time to look at our faith. The mystery is part of Him.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes! And this book does sound like something that would appeal to your curious brain and your secret identity as a former science teacher. Absolutely can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is great! I have also enjoyed reading what your commenters have said. You provided much food for thought today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t you just LOVE the comment section of blogs? So much wisdom is hidden there. It makes me sad that so many of the larger sites are closed to comments.
LikeLike
Thanks for the great book review, Michele! I haven’t read this one and sounds like I need to add it to my list. Thanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jen has also written Keeping Place which I thoroughly enjoyed.
LikeLike
Always deep insights to read here. I go slow to have full inport. Thank You!
#Senisal
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, it’s so good for all of us to slow down and savor the words we read. Thanks for bringing your gift for it here.
LikeLike
If God had bones, grace would be in his deepest marrow…what a beautiful picture, Michele. Thank you for the helpful review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your encouragement, Bethany!
LikeLike
So easy to fall into the trap of limiting God and putting our faith into neat boxes. But if we could fully embrace the AND what could we see and do?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, good point, Molly. There’s no shortage of revealed truth for us to delight in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The workings of god are certainly complex.
#abitofeverything
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed they are.
LikeLike
God’s Word certainly is full of paradoxes. I think it’s what keeps us dependent on Him and never quite able to fully understand Him. One of my favorites on which to meditate is the fact that we live between what Paul Tripp calls “the already and the not yet”!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I love that phrase, but was not aware that it originated with Paul Tripp. When we make peace with paradox, I think we are able to enjoy the areas of real clarity even more, because we are not being distracted by trying to clear up that which God has not revealed.
LikeLike
Very thought provoking and a reminder that we can never know the mysteries of the world as life is not clear cut. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging
LikeLiked by 2 people
And nonetheless, we are invited to ponder them and to be amazed!
LikeLike
“Ironically, it is only those whom we trust and value who will receive the brunt of our anguish, disappointment, or rage.” I am so very grateful for a wise woman whom years ago encouraged me to pour out my complaints to God. He has never broken my trust but kept every lament close to His heart. He is the safest place to leave it all. Wonderful review as always. I have not read any book by this author but lately have felt the pull to begin doing so, thanks to you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Keeping Place by the same author is also a tremendous book of great insights about God as Homemaker and our own hearts’ longing for home.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your review with the #DreamTeam – I think the most interesting topics are ones where there can never be a precise answer.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, it certainly does not help us to understand God if we are continually remaking him in our own image and limiting him to our finite categories.
Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared.
LikeLiked by 2 people
[…] Surprised by Paradox by Jen Pollock Michel–Jen Pollock Michel asserts that biblical faith “abides complexity rather than resists it.” (4) She wonders aloud about doubt and certainty, humility and hope, and then settles into the examination of four themes in Scripture in which paradox abounds: Incarnation, Kingdom, Grace, and Lament. […]
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] The Gift of Wonder and God’s Glorious “And” […]
LikeLike