Progressive Belief

If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (John 3:12)

Here is another verse that seems to elude me somewhat. I have never been satisfied with feeling that I know what Jesus is talking about here. In looking at His previous comments I do not see clearly what He is referring to as “earthly things”.

But one thing that I do see in this verse is evidence of a principle that might be called progressive faith or something along that line. If I understand this right, it looks like Jesus is saying that some level of belief must be engaged in or embraced as a prerequisite for being able to embrace another kind of faith. In this instance, basic earthly truths need to be in place in the mind and heart before heavenly truths will ever have a place to take root and grow.

I desire to understand this much better. Maybe it is earthly belief that I need here, whatever that is. I repeatedly feel challenged to enter into a deeper level of belief in God than I currently maintain. But very often I feel like I am peering into a fog bank where at best I can only make out dim shapes of what might be ahead. Occasionally there seems to be clear rays of light that illuminate a few things in the fog and darkness, but other times it seems more mysterious or even confusing.

I suppose part of this is simply the nature of faith itself. God wants to cultivate a spirit of trust in Him to move forward into the unknown without first being sure of what it is that I am learning. This is always the tension between the mind and the heart. The mind wants to know things before moving forward. This is a natural reaction of self-protection, of wanting to be in control. But God intends to train the heart which many times to me feels counter-intuitive to the common sense of the mind.

This passage reminds me of Romans 8 where those who are the children of God are described as being led by the Spirit of God. Here I see that the Spirit is like wind that produces evidence of its presence sometimes but gives no clue as to where it is coming from or going. That is very troublesome for the intellectual mind part of me that wants to live in a factual, formula rooted reality. Religion as I have known it insists on knowing where truth has come from and being able to string together proof texts and logic to display that. It also wants to know the purpose of truth and just where it is taking us. This is a very big stumbling block for many people who insist on a religion that must be provable and need concrete texts and arguments to support everything they do or believe in. I know, I was raised largely in such an environment.

But this business of allowing the heart to take the lead and keep my logic in a supporting role instead of in control is cause for consternation many times. It feels dangerous and I hear inner warnings that I could easily be misled into heresies if I don't keep my intellect firmly at the controls. I do realize that intellect and factual truth cannot be ignored while giving free reign to my emotions. But that is not really the problem despite all the accusations and concerns of those whose religion is mostly legal based. Jesus here is clearly challenging all of us to go far beyond our comfort zone, to release the stranglehold of our paradigms and to radically lurch forward into the fog while not knowing clearly where we will end up. This is the inner sensation that I have when reading this passage sometimes.

Where in all of this is the earthly things that Jesus is talking about? And does He even mention heavenly things at all in this passage or is that precluded by the presence of too much unbelief in the first phase? It almost seems that the things He talks about after this verse are more clear than what comes before it. Again, I don't feel that I understand all of this very well.

I have to trust God to reveal Himself to me in these verses as I always need to. I came here to find a deeper belief and perception of God, to come to know His heart a little better, to give Him opportunities to speak through these words and His Spirit to both my mind and my heart in ways I have never heard or experienced before. But ultimately I have to trust Him to reveal Himself to me. It is impossible to find out God by searching for Him. God is not subject to discovery simply by intellectual aggressiveness in spite of the assumption of millions of people. God can only be truly known by allowing Him to reveal Himself to us as He choses to do so.

So I await His self-revelation to me at a deeper level than ever known before by my own heart. I wait for His Spirit to reveal to me what Jesus meant when He referred to earthly truths preceding an ability to perceive heavenly truths. I want to live in connection with Him and to cultivate an atmosphere that will be conducive to allowing Him more freedom to disclose Himself to me effectively. I want to be able to move past my current confusion, fog and darkness into clearer light, humility and true love.