Overthinking

The Danger of Narrowing God's Love with Logic

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Live simply and without thinking too much, like a child with his father. Faith without too much thinking works wonders. The logical mind hinders the Grace of God and miracles. Practice patience without judging with the logical mind. —Elder Paisios of Mount Athos

The dualistic mind is essentially binary, either/or thinking. It knows by comparison, opposition, and differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, pretty/ugly, smart/stupid, not realizing there may be a hundred degrees between the two ends of each spectrum. —Richard Rohr

Listen and attend with the ear of your heart. — Benedict of Nursia

We Americans Christians have a real problem with over thinking. Our burning desire is to have a definitive answer for everything, even things that are unanswerable. Richard Rohr points out that there are a hundred degrees of truth between right and wrong. Methodist founder John Wesley felt that in most cases there was more than one right answer. Today we face a real danger of narrowing the love of God by over thinking the words and work of God. It is a sad day when religion is more interested in certainty than mystery. Without mystery there is no God, because He is the ultimate mystery.

Our first consideration should be the concept that logic hinders the work of God. Would Jesus have ever healed the first person, preached the Sermon on the Mount, or raised Lazarus from the dead if He wanted people to believe in His mission based on logic? The things He did, the words He uttered, defied Jewish, Greek, and Roman logic. By what He did, he proclaimed Himself as not of this world. Jesus didn’t come into the world to teach us to be logical, but to urge us to be mystical. The church is not about logic but about grace and mystery.

Now we need to think about the truth that we hold so dear. Jesus said to Pilate. “What is Truth?” I believe that truth is where you intersect with God and become one with Him. One man’s truth can be another man’s enemy. Our God calls us to love Him and His creation. He gives each of us the proper amount of grace to accomplish this elusive task. God never intended faith to be a “one size fits all” concept. Faith is an ongoing journey of personal experiences with God. Our interaction with his indwelling spirit forms us every day. There is no single handbook that tells us how to practice our faith. The reason we are told in scripture to not forsake the assembling ourselves together is so we might share the diversity of our journeys. In these assemblies we find out what the work of God looks like today, not 2,000 years ago. Rest assured there will be many similarities, but there will also be some things that are laser-focused on current time and place. Never forget the degrees of truth on the spectrum.

Oh, how different would the world be if we listened with the ears of our heart? Heart listening would surely end racism, war, crime and all other manner of sin. Long ago it was conceded that we will never attain perfection on this side of heaven, but we must try. Winston Churchill’s famous and short speech was given at his alma mater, Harrow. Here’s the complete text, “”Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” I urge you to never give up the idea of listening at all times with the ears of your heart. Heart listening will march us steadily on to Christian perfection and an ultimately more peaceful world.

The simplicity of living without overthinking every little detail of our spiritual walk will lead us to that peace that surpasses all understanding that is referenced in the Bible.

PRAYER

Lord help me to truly listen to you without allowing my thinking to block you out. I submit myself to your way and cast aside the way of the world. free me from the chain of my logic and open up for me your infinite river of grace.

AMEN

A New Orleans native, the Rev. Irvin J. Boudreaux serves as pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in New Orleans. He is a student of monastic spirituality, a certified spiritual director, and an oblate of St. Joseph Abbey. This post is republished with the author's permission from his blog, A Pastor's Thoughts.