Inconceivable!
Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. (1 Corinthians 1:7-9 MSG)
You know Inigo and Vizzini, right?
Please, tell me that you do. You have to know these guys from The Princess Bride. If you know them, then what I’m going to say should make pretty good sense. But in case you don’t, let me fill you in. Not on the whole story — you really should rent the DVD for that, and do it soon — but just a little bit about these two fellas.
Vizzini’s favorite word, it seems, is inconceivable. He says it all the time. Anything that doesn’t happen to fit into his construct of reality is simply inconceivable. The problem is that as often as he says something is inconceivable, it turns out that it is not only quite conceivable, but it is also quite possible. Even probable.
In fact, odds are the inconceivable has already occurred.
It was inconceivable that anyone from Florin could have caught up with their ship, it was inconceivable that the Dread Pirate Roberts wouldn’t fall off the Cliffs of Insanity, and it was inconceivable that he could be beaten in a battle of wits (he was a Sicilian, after all, and you never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!).
Yet, all those very inconceivable things . . . happened.
And so, after hearing his companion repeatedly insist that completely conceivable events are inconceivable, and as the hero does successfully scale the Cliffs of Insanity, Inigo finally confronts Vizzini.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Vizzini acts like the word means one thing. But reality keeps making it look like it means something completely different.
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I think many times, it would be very reasonable for the Inigo’s in my life to say to me, You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
When you line up the things I say I believe against how I live my life, does it look like the words mean what I say they mean?
Does it look like I believe they are true?
Words like . . . grace.
Words like . . . faith.
Words like . . . redemption.
If I really believe these words mean what God says they mean, if I really believe what Jesus says is true, why is my life characterized by so much doubt and striving?
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If I really believe that God extends His grace to me — that I can do nothing to earn His favor because He gives it to me for free — why do I work so hard to convince Him to like me?
If I really believe that God will do what He says He will — if I really have faith in Him — why do I second guess and make contingency plans just in case He doesn’t come through? (And why am I surprised so often when He does?)
If I really believe that Jesus paid the price to redeem me — that His blood was substituted for mine and that He paid the price to buy me back — why do I still act like I’m a slave to sin and that He doesn’t own me?
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It seems inconceivable in the face of all He’s said and all He’s done that I would have trouble with this.
But I do.
What about you?
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Comments posted to the original publication of this article:
2/9/2009 8:29 AM schamu wrote:
Core beliefs–again. We are so trained by life and experiences. When someone says they will give us grace and forgiveness when we have sinned, but then brings it up every so often, we take that in. Grace isn’t as good as it seems. When we put our faith in someone and they let us down, it is faith that is the problem, not the human attached to it. When we talk about redemption of lives in this world (pick a famous person that has been ‘redeemed’ or lost weight or been through rehab), we typically see that they relapse, or gain the weight back again. True redemption is too good to be true! All this for me is that I typically put human faces on characteristics of God and make God look very human, instead of humans looking very, um, human. Boils down to my training in life and my lack of knowledge of God and who he is. If I think about every time I have been let down by people, it would be infinite. There is a track record there. And, I am a good student when it comes to negative training. But God (one of my favorite phrases in scripture), comes onto the scene and says similar things like grace, faith and redemption, but he is the only one able to actually follow through. And, he does! But, I disregard that datapoint because it doesn’t fit the paradigm that I am operating within. Instead of calling my paradigm faulty, I would rather disregard the new datapoint. And my core beliefs never change. It would only be when I trust the new data that I am ‘maybe’ willing to rework my paradigm. But, typically paradigms are anchors that people order their research/lives around. People are very protective of their paradigms. Just look at the current evolution debate for example. If my paradigm changes, I need to change and the things I used to count on may change. THEN WHAT? (Rock my world)! Well, then maybe, just maybe, I may experience grace, and be able to give it unconditionally. Maybe I will put faith in God, and watch it grow into a deep seeded dependence from which I flourish. And maybe, just maybe, I will truly be redeemed, and begin to look more and more each day like. . .God.
2009/05/24 at 1:16 PM