There’s
nothing new under the sun. These words were uttered by the
person whom the Bible esteems as the wisest man who ever lived (that is, before
Jesus of Nazareth came along). En. Ecclesiastes 1:9; 1 Kings 3:12; 4:30; Luke
11:31.
I’m not sure about you, but I descend into
silent grunts whenever I hear someone make the outlandish statement that what
they have to say is brand new, completely original, and hasn’t been said
before.
I’ve yet to find this statement to be
true. And I’ve yet to meet a human being who could make such a statement
without lying through his or her teeth (whether with calculated deliberation or
in conceited ignorance). Such over-the-top rhetoric is not only profoundly
arrogant, but it has few points of contact with reality.
Being a student of church history, I have
never personally met a true spiritual or theological trailblazer. Most of the
people I know who are turning the sod on various aspects of the Christian faith
are exploring pathways that have been populated by others in the past. None of
it is brand new or completely original. As Dr. Laurence Peter once put it, “Originality
is the fine art of remembering what you hear, but forgetting where you heard
it.” Anyone who doesn’t admit to that is bluffing.
Consequently, what you will read in this
book has undoubtedly been said by someone else in some other place at some
other time or in some other era. I have often made the following statement when
invited to speak somewhere: “If you’re looking for new revelation, you’ve got
the wrong guy.”
I have no new revelation. In fact, I have
never met a person who had new revelation. Nor do I possess any “heavy revy” to
dish out (that’s cute shorthand for “deep and heavy revelation from God.”)
I am a person who firmly believes what
Solomon said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” In fact, all of what we have
in the New Testament is found in the Old Testament—in types, images,
allegories, and shadows. There is one exception, however. “The mystery” that
Paul of Tarsus so passionately spoke about in his letters. That was a genuine
case of “new revelation.” Unquestionably so.
To put a finer point on it, there’s only
one revelation, and there’s only one Revelator. The revelation is Jesus Christ.
The Revelator is the Holy Spirit. And we stand on the shoulders of those who
have gone before us. It is only by God’s marvelous grace that we can (perhaps)
see further than they did.
While I’m banging this particular drum,
let me add that I don’t believe that there are any elite Christians. And I
certainly don’t believe that there are any elite Christian workers or
ministers. I believe that the simplest saint who has met the Lord Jesus Christ
is as holy, as valued, and as cherished in the sight of God as the apostle
Paul, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Watchman Nee, C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham or any
other name that you wish to insert into that sentence.
