Still the Same Thing

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” So said Juliet pining over Romeo. You don’t have to know Shakespeare to know that line.

A thing is what a thing is regardless the name.

That’s not disconnected from this. Dallas Willard wrote in Renovation of the Heart, “Arrogance of doctrine or arrogance of tradition is still arrogance. It is one of the things that God hates.”

Maybe the Shakespeare quote needs to be modified to fit. “A rose, no matter the color, smells the same.” Arrogance, no matter the subject, still smells the same. What we love, are certain of, value, can quickly become a point of pride that is lived out in arrogance.

This is not to poke at any one person, any one congregation, any one denomination. Rather it is to invite all Christ followers to beware. It is to invite all Christ followers to humility, gentleness, kindness. Maybe it is even an invitation to “carefulness,” to be more careful when talking with others about things we love or value.

A friend of mine shared an analogy he had heard. It has to do with Biblical doctrine, but well applies to tradition as well. What do you think of this?

Biblical doctrine is NOT like wall-to-wall carpeting; it is more like a 12-foot rug in a 10-foot room. It doesn’t all fit neat and clean. It never quite squares up. If it fits well on this end, you will find it fitting ill somewhere else. This is another way of saying, like we do, that Biblical doctrine is filled with tension and paradoxes. And maybe it is also another way of saying “Now we see through a glass darkly.” (I Corinthians 13:12)

This analogy can serve as a tool to resist arrogance when we are doing doctrine together. It can be a tool to resist arrogance regarding tradition as well.

“I am certain about what I am certain about, but I am not certain about all things.” My certainty squares off on this side of the room, but the rug is bunching up in the other. 

“All my traditions have been passed on to me, but not all tradition has been passed on to all.” My traditions fit neatly into place here, but there is a lot of overlap on the other side.

If we are not careful when engaging one another regarding doctrine or traditions, when we are not approaching the conversation with humility and care for the relationship, we might just end up pulling the rug out from underneath the other. If we are not careful, we will end up bruising one another instead of building them up.

There will always be some messiness in this world when doctrine, tradition, and people are brought together.  This is not to downplay the importance of true doctrine or the value of tradition. It is to invite us to beware arrogance for the sake of people for whom Christ died.

Arrogance about a good thing is never a good thing. There is nothing fragrant about it.