Probably the most talked about book in Christian circles in the last ten years is Wm Paul Young’s THE SHACK. Eugene Peterson says of the book, “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s PILGRIM’S PROGRESS did for his. It’s that good.”
We were privileged to have Wm Paul Young with us at Trinity Baptist Church last week. It is a weekend few of us will forget. He ministered to us on many levels. I have had one church member after another tell me how thankful they are that God used Paul to speak to them in a very unique and personal way. For this I am grateful.
Wm Paul Young presents the Trinity in the most unexpected way. That’s what makes the book so interesting. He forces us out of our little theological playhouses and gives us permission to use our imagination in ways that seem heretical to some, but comforting to many others. For the sake of anyone who has not read THE SHACK, that’s all I’ll say.
Let me ask you a question: HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE TRINITY? For me, the Trinity is a-logical or beyond logic. John Wesley said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the triune God.” It’s like the little boy who was on the Art Linkletter Show years ago and was asked, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” He answered, “The chicken had to come first because God can’t lay eggs.” That’s as good a answer as I’ve ever heard.
There are many things within the Christian faith that none of us can adequately understand. The Trinity is certainly one of those things. It is not a “reasonable” doctrine. No rational person would come to the conclusion that 3=1. Daniel Webster was once challenged by an agnostic in regards to the doctrine of the Trinity. “Mr. Webster,” the man said, “How can a man of your mental caliber believe that three equals one?” Webster humbly responded, “Sir, please understand, I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of heaven now.”
Could it be that our understanding of God’s nature is a “spiritual understanding?” Is it something God plants within us with the “new nature” given to us in Christ? When I think of the Trinity, I think of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, dancing forever in a circle of love. And, the greatest invitation is for us to join the dance. Have you? Will you?
I agree wholeheartedly with Brian McLaren who says, “If there’s only one God but not three persons within the one God, then we would expect that the ultimate reality behind the universe could be silence. It could be power. It could be peace. It could be domination. It could be any of those things. But there’s one thing it could not be. The ultimate reality could not be love. Because for love to exist, there has to be a sharing, and there has to be communication, and there has to be self-giving. But, if there’s only one, there’s nothing to give the self to.”
If the doctrine of the Trinity teaches anything, it teaches that at the heart of reality is a community of love. You were created by a community of love and, it’s a community of love that you are invited to join and experience FOREVER. That, my friends, is the greatest invitation you’ll ever receive. Do more than stand in awe at this mystery. Embrace it and share with “your” world this community of love in both word and deed.
Richard Hipps