Embracing the true mysteries of Christianity is the only way to fulfill Jesus’ prayer that we would be one as he is one with the father, for that union is itself one of paradox.

Ecumenism does not call us to water down doctrinal truth but rather to co-participate in mysteries that are truer than any doctrine that attempts to encapsulate them.

In this way ecumenism can correct the ways that western enlightenment-influenced theology overcorrected when it focused the essence of Christianity into right statements and precise doctrinal systems.

An honest consideration of the Word reveals that it is not the scriptures, but He about whom they testify. Language itself is a sign pointing to Him, and the more true our doctrine, the more we will understand that it does not exist of or for itself, but rather we will look along its arrow at the Living Truth.

We will know that there is more to truth than doctrine, and in this light we will be free to engage with others inside the fold with more generosity, and indeed we will also be able to relate to God more rightly, with a sense of his grandeur. Does it not glorify a father when he has a special relationship with each of many children, so that each knows some different things about him, but all know him truly and intimately?

Consider a child who believes he is the sole possessor of true knowledge about his father and cannot accept that his sibling knows something that he does not. This child knows less about his father that he pretends, for he has equated his father with his knowledge of his father, thereby reducing him to a concept under his control. He will be like Cain. By his disdain for his brother he reveals that he does not know their father and does not truly respect him as a greater, deeper, and realer person.

Far better is the child who remains in childlike awe and dependence upon the father, walking in a way of simple obedience, by all means judging between truth and seditious error and decrying an intruder into the house, but yet humble towards the brothers in all the other rooms in the house, those younger and older, having at the same time a confidence about his own personal knowledge of the father, and a right estimation of his importance, perspective, and intellect in the great household.

The answer rising up in some hearts at that statement is, “Yes, but we cannot compromise on the essentials of the faith! Things like soli scriptura are not simply parts of truth, they are bottom-line non-negotiables, and to put them on the table for discussion is to flirt with apostasy.”

There are certainly essentials. However, do we believe that “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”? As All Sons and Daughters say in their lyric, “To know you is to love you, and to know so little else.” Are we willing to approach our faith with the humility that comes from a reverent embrace of mystery? Are we willing to admit that our doctrine does not comprise all truth, knowing that this does not invalidate our doctrine, but rather exalts truth beyond the realm of human logic. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!