Gold Mines & Kiosks

On making wise the simple

Years ago, Eden had a vision (an actual vision, I believe) in which I had entered a gold mine deep beneath earth’s surface, and at the bottom were all these expert miners whose life it was to dig deep and discover rich veins of gold. The gold represented a motherlode of wisdom and revelation, available only to those with specialized expertise and the privilege of time, resources, and energy to give their lives to that work. I don’t recall who those miners were at the time of Eden’s vision, but today, I might associate it with academic researchers and scholars at the forefront of their chosen discipline. The treasures they continue to unearth right now are wondrous, regardless of their many and manifold fields of study. My interests are cross-disciplinary, so I can be captivated on any number of topics when the miners are excited about sharing their craft.

In Eden’s vision, I would descend through the mineshaft to where these folks were extracting the gold, do my best to converse with them, and try to learn indirectly what they’ve discovered directly. I longed to live like a mole and settle down in the heart of the earth with them, a participant experiencing the thrill of their breakthroughs and ‘aha! moments.’ “This is the place for me,” I thought, for the FOMO (“fear of missing out”) was far stronger than my battle with imposter syndrome.

But in the vision, God said, “No. What I’ve called you to is to enter the mine, connect with the miners, receive whatever gold you can carry, then bring what you can to the surface. I want you to set up a kiosk there to dispense gold to anyone who wants it but has neither the time nor capacity to be excavators themselves. Share nuggets with anyone who values receiving the miners deep work.”

I happily embraced that vision and aspire to be a minister of Psalm 19:7 ... "The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple."

What does this mean to me? First, I love to make the gospel accessible to ‘the simple’ ... this is not referring to ‘simpletons.’ I abhor anything that smacks of infantilizing. When I hear ‘simple,’ the first thing that comes to me is Paul’s warning, “Do not to let your minds hijack the purity and simplicity of your devotion to Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Paul says elsewhere, “We all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1).

This ‘simplicity’ also reminds me of Jesus’ words, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). You won’t. Even. Enter. A sobering thought. I transpose this admonishment to myself as a teacher: until I can explain it to a child in a way they can see the heart of the matter, I have not yet understood it myself. I may just be hiding behind lofty ideas and long words.

Further, the Hebrew parallelism in Psalm 19 clarifies: to make wise the simple is NOT about supplying factoids that make our readers or students or congregants feel clever. Woe to the pastor who makes an industry of that diversion. No, the point is to ‘refresh the soul.’ The Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 is all about ‘restoring the soul.’ That’s a pretty good ministry aspiration… to traverse green pastures, quiets waters, and restore the weary soul.

For me (particularly—it is a specific vocation), articulating good news involves more than accumulating research (the pleasure of mining). I need to contemplate my way prayerfully through a distillation process that requires a staged ascent back to the surface… and there’s nothing ‘surfacy’ about it. Some (not all) of us are called to the discipline of synthesizing what we learn, reducing important findings to their essence without losing any of what is true (i.e., reducing is not reductionistic).

I am enjoying trying get there, even in fits and starts. Call it an aspiration. While I have published academic works and university textbooks on theology, biblical studies, philosophy, and political science (and sold dozens of them), their tone, focus, and depth are not always accessible. Sorry. But fear not! Those books are merely ladder rungs on my way up to the sunlight.

But very occasionally, I’m able to work my way from the ‘heady’ to the ‘hearty’ or from complex to simple. From the Cave to Cross (my PhD dissertation) took four years to build, then another three years to reduce to A More Christlike God (suitable for thoughtful people with help from the glossary), and finally, surfaced as my second children’s book, Jesus Showed Us another year later.

Not that I’m good at this. But rather, my point is that conveying good news with sufficient simplicity to restore souls need not be patronizing or condescending. Instead, those who would be teachers at any level strata, from post-doc faculty to daycare teachers, do well to test their own comprehension on any topic by running their best ideas by normal people— e.g., children—until the child can convey it to another child. Or if not children, to lay people whose interests, expertise, and energy lies elsewhere.

John Behr’s Becoming Human is like that—totally user friendly and beautiful rich—despite his being the top Patristics scholar on the planet. And Pete Enns manages it in all of his non-academic content, which may cause readers to underestimate the depths of his Hebrew Scriptures scholarly output.

But you know who’s REALLY amazing at explaining the kingdom of God—in a way that children, struggling tradespeople, folks suffering major health challenges or financial disadvantage, even worn-out sex workers, could listen for hours and still want more? Yes, Jesus of course. Maybe that’s what I need to learn and from who I need to learn it. I bet he could teach us how to talk about what matters using symbols and stories that resonate in the fresh air above the goldmine.

Okay, here’s some homework:

• The kingdom of God is … [pick one truth about the kingdom of God]

• The kingdom of God is like … [pick a real-world analogy]

• How is the kingdom of God like that? [connect the dots for yourself]

• Don’t connect the dots for your listener. [letting them leads to self-discovery]

I may try that myself. It’s been too long.

Or, second assignment":

• The kingdom of God is … [pick one truth about the kingdom of God]

• The kingdom of God is like … [pick a life event that illustrates it]

• How is the kingdom of God like that? [let the person who lived it tell you]

• Let listener’s tell you how that story connects the dots.

Okay, I think I better go try this. I wonder if ‘kingdom’ itself is too time- and culture-bound a symbol. What other words could be use aside from ‘kingdom.’

Hmm, the ________ of God is like a goldmine… Well, I’m workin’ on it.

I’d love to hear what readers ‘come up with’ [from the depths].