Zip Line Theology and Spiritual Spelunking

Now this is one I’ve been wrestling with for longer than I’d care to admit. It wasn’t until I sat down at the table with a group of like-minded people that I finally began to understand the idea, which had been on my mind for so long. Out of these “round table” discussions, I have found terms that speak to the truth of what I am trying to do. Terms like “zipline” and “dangerous questions” and “spelunking”. Here it is, in a nutshell. I desire an environment where people feel free to question everything; and though we speak primarily of the spiritual, we soon discover how wide-spread the effect of spirituality is. So in this environment we ask “dangerous questions”. By dangerous, I mean the ones we are afraid to ask, not because we’re afraid of the answers, but rather because we are afraid of pet answers; sugar coated answers; in a word, the one’s we already have. Where, if the answer might shake your faith, it’s not worth questioning. I, for one, have rejected this sort of thinking. So, here we are asking the dangerous questions. But how will we know what is true, and what are merely answers to questions? An analogy. Say you were raised in a box called truth, and everything outside of that box was evil. But one day you realized that the box wasn’t truth, but just the truth of those who had come before you. Suddenly, you find yourself in a much bigger space, but your desire remains the same; you want truth. Now you begin to explore this new place, searching for truth; the “walls” of a much bigger box. How do you know where the walls are? How do you know when you’ve gone too far? This is where the “zipline” comes in. It’s my assertion that the only way to really discover the box of truth that will define you is by going too far. For only in crossing the line can you really know where it is. (3,2,1, Argue). That is why you must surround yourself with people you trust to pull you back when you’ve gone too far. It’s the idea of cave spelunking. You never repel into a cave without having someone at the top to pull you back. At least you wouldn’t if you’d never been in the cave before. And that is where you are when you ask the dangerous questions; you are in the cave, you are in the darkness; you are outside the box of truth you were raised in, and that’s a very dangerous place to be.
Now many are not called to this place. Many find God on different terms than these. And they should not be marginalized because they don’t need the cave. There is value in their perspective; in many cases there is truth as well. There seems to be an on-going conflict between those who need the dangerous questions and those who don’t. Both tend to believe the other is wrong. I believe that the only time either is wrong is when one thinks they have the answer; that they have the truth. It seems that the “top dwellers” think that the “cave dwellers” see themselves as smarter, or deeper. That since the “top dweller” answer wasn’t good enough , the “cave dweller” is better. But what the “top dweller” might not realize is that the truth, that defines their life, might not have come to the “cave dweller” yet. And by denying him entrance to the cave, he might never find that truth. That’s the best defense I, as a cave dweller, can present. Yes, to spelunk alone is folly. But to have those who will “zipline” you out when you’ve gone too far; those you trust with such decisions; this is not as reckless as you might think. And for some, the dangerous path in the only way. Not a better way, not a “truer” way. But the only way to see God, as Truth. And, as always, we each have things to learn from each other. For that is the reason that our paths are not the same.