This Problem Causes So Much Confusion

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that thinks a hippopotamus is a really cool opotamus.

This past month I’ve spoken to three different people who went off the rails because of the problem I address in this article.

One man who had just gotten started on the deeper journey somehow got sucked into Hebrew-roots Jewish legalism.

As long as I live, I’ll never understand that—even though it happened in Paul’s day with some of the ekklesias he raised up (see Galatians and 2 Corinthians).

Another has gotten side-tracked by listening to some of the pop podcasts in the Christian world as well as listening to someone who denounces many good and helpful spiritual practices, and he’s been convinced by it.

Another is thoroughly confused about ecclesiology because she has been listening to so many different voices on the subject.

I spoke the following message in episode #160 of the Christ is All podcast.

But the message hasn’t gotten through to most.

So it needs to be repeated and reinforced.

Desperately.

Therefore, to aid the “drip drip effect,” the episode has been transcribed so you and others may read it.

I’m thankful for those of you who dared take the challenge I issue in the talk.

It’s altered their lives remarkably and removed a great deal of confusion.

I’m hoping that many of you who read these Thursday UNFILTERED articles will also accept the challenge.

Here it is.

—

Hi Friends, welcome to another edition of the Christ is All podcast.

This episode will probably be the most difficult for me to communicate clearly.

I have wanted to speak on this particular subject for a while now. I feel the need to address it.

It’s been provoked by many conversations I’ve had with a number of different people who I know. It’s also been provoked by many comments I see by various individuals, most of whom I do not know, but they are in my orbit.

I’m going to struggle to be as clear as possible. And my concern is that what I will say may be misunderstood. So I will try to put as many qualifiers in it as I can.

First of all, I really don’t know who I’m talking to. This podcast is listened to by many, many people from all over the world.

Not so much on YouTube. But on the other podcast platforms.

If you are someone who has been a recipient of my ministry for any length of time, you know that what makes me tick.

The foundation of my ministry as well as the central theme of all that I have written and spoken over the years is God’s eternal purpose and the fullness of Christ.

And if you’re someone who is new to my work, and you do not know what I mean by the eternal purpose, I offer you three resources.

One: the book From Eternity to Here, which is an unfolding of God’s timeless purpose from Genesis to Revelation.

Two: the book Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom (along with The Insurgence Podcast.)

And three: There is a page on my website called “The Eternal Purpose.” Just go to frankviola.org/theeternalpurpose.

Now I want to talk to you about the pitfalls or the perils of listening to so many voices.

And I think the best way to illustrate what I mean is to give you an image of three different painters.

Three Artists and Their Canvases

Three artists who paint on three different canvases.

And so, I’ll walk you through each one.

Now the canvas in every scenario represents God’s ultimate passion, that which is foremost in the heart of our Lord—His central thought.

And so each of the three painters is going to paint an image that will represent what they believe to be God’s ultimate passion.

Now if you were to survey 1,000 Christians and ask them: What is God’s ultimate passion?

You’ll get 2,000 different answers.

The First Painter and His Canvas

Let’s look at the first canvas.

On the first canvas, the painter is painting an image of a tomato, and he only has one color on his palette.

And that color is red.

So he paints a red tomato.

There are no other colors that he has at his disposal. It’s simply a red tomato.

Now the color red represents those who only listen to one person or one group of people who are part of a denomination or a movement or a coalition.

And all of those people are all essentially saying the same thing. They all paint with one color. And that color is red.

Let me give you one scenario.

I’m thinking of a large movement that’s led by a group of men. They all speak in the same conferences and those conferences draw thousands of people.

They’ve managed to leverage social media in very effective ways. And for this particular movement, the red tomato represents God’s sovereign glory.

That’s what they believe to be the Lord’s ultimate passion.

The people who are part of movements like that only read and listen to those who paint with red.

Now there are many different movements who paint different images. But what they all have in common is that they only use one color.

Some movements paint a yellow lemon on their canvas. Those people believe God’s ultimate passion is faith.

Others paint a purple plum. Those people believe God’s ultimate passion is signs, miracles, and wonders.

The point is that this first painter only paints one image, and he uses only one color.

And the followers of movements like these only see one color. Whether it’s a red tomato, or a purple plum, or a yellow lemon.

They only see and consume one color of paint, to keep with the metaphor.

They don’t read or listen to anyone else outside of their small coalition or movement or denomination.

I hope that’s clear.

The Second Painter and His Canvas

Now let’s shift over to the second painter and the second canvas.

This second canvas, if you can imagine it, is made up of all different colors. 47 to be exact.

You’ve got blue and different shades of blue. You’ve got green and different shades of green. You’ve got yellow and orange and black. You’ve got brown, etc. And different shades of each.

47 different colors and they’re all painted on that one canvas in a random, nebulous, haphazard, incoherent, incongruent way.

I will explain why they are incongruent in a minute.

Now if you were to look at that second canvas, you can’t make out any specific image on it. It’s just a bunch of colors, almost as if they were splashed on that canvas chaotically.

Now this canvas, brothers and sisters, represents the Christian who listens to dozens of different teachers and reads dozens of different authors from different movements, different denominational backgrounds, from different Christian networks, etc.

And of course, Christians like this usually gravitate toward the newest thing that’s out there.

The hottest thing on the Christian market.

And if they were to look at all these different colors represented by these different teachers, they would find that there’s some overlap, but there’s also many contradictions.

The blue clashes with the orange. The brown clashes with the green, and on and on. And most important, there is no image.

I would say that even Frank Viola’s color is one of the colors on that canvas. But there are so many other authors and speakers as well. And as I said, some overlap and some clash.

When I talk to people who are represented by the second painter and the second canvas, there’s no central theme that drives them or makes them tick.

Theologically and spiritually they are all over the place.

And the result is that there are seeking, but they are not quite sure what they are seeking exactly.

They may try to express it in words. But even that gets confusing.

Sisters and brothers, the second canvas screams confusion. It represents Christians who are ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of God’s ultimate passion.

Now let’s move over to the third canvas and the third painter.

The Third Painter and His Canvas

This is a painter who only has two dominating colors on his palette, and those colors are gray and green.

And this painter is painting a very clear palm tree. The top of the palm tree is green, which includes the leaves and the branches. The trunk of the palm tree is gray.

Now remember, each canvas represents what a Christian believes God’s ultimate passion to be.

For the third painter, the green on the palm tree represents the eternal purpose of God.

And the trunk represents the fullness of Jesus Christ.

And in my apprehension and in my comprehension and in my understanding, you cannot separate the eternal purpose from the fullness of Christ.

They belong together. They are both part of God’s ultimate passion.

Now here’s the interesting thing. Not only does this third portrait make use of more than one color. This third portrait also dips into some other colors from time to time.

It will utilize a little orange, a little blue, a little yellow, a little brown, a little purple, etc.

But it will only use those colors minimally, slightly, and very deliberately for one purpose. To enhance the palm tree.

I hope you’re following that.

These other colors are used minimally, deliberately, and slightly for one purpose.

To enhance the greens and the grays of the palm tree. To make it more elegant, more beautiful, more appealing.

A Personal Word

Let’s go back and review the three different canvases.

We’ve got the first canvas, a red tomato. It only uses one color. This represents those Christians who only listen to and read one person or an echo of that one person.

The second canvas is made up of a chaotic batch of 47 different colors randomly splattered onto the canvas. You cannot make sense of it. There is no discernable image.

The third canvas uses two colors that dominate the portrait. The portrait is clearly a palm tree. But it also has some other colors used minimally, slightly, and for detail, to enhance the palm tree.

Allow me to get personal here.

I am someone who does not fall into the first canvas. I do not relegate what I consume spiritually to one voice or one voice that’s echoed by a small number of other voices.

I do not paint with one color.

Secondly, while I may listen to and read a wide range of authors and listen to a wide range of teachers spanning the entire history of Christianity from the early church fathers all the way up until the present day, I don’t splash their colors on my canvas, creating an incoherent portrait made up of 47 different hues.

Instead, I have a clear image in my mind whenever I paint. It’s a palm tree made up of only two colors—green and gray.

In 1992, I had a Copernican revolution. That’s when I discovered God’s eternal purpose. I also discovered the fullness of Jesus Christ.

That is, Christ is All.

Christ is the sum of all spiritual things. He is the centrality, the supremacy, and the absolute preeminence of all things.

Jesus Christ is who all Scripture points to. He is the passion of God’s heart. And He’s more than Savior, He’s more than Lord, He’s more than Deliverer, He’s more than Healer.

Jesus Christ is All, everything else is commentary.

And now you know where the title of this podcast comes from.

And from that day forward (in 1992), I started painting with two colors only. But I didn’t stop there.

Let me see if I can explain this.

As I have listened to and read from a diverse number of teachers throughout church history up until to the present day, I will only look for and take from their color palette that which enhances the palm tree.

I’ll give you a personal example.

I have a book in my library. I know the author, he’s a friend of mine. He was kind enough to endorse one of my books, in fact.

His book is very popular. It has sold thousands of copies. Now it is a well written book. And for many readers, they will take the entire book and incorporate all the points and paint them on their canvas.

But for me, I only look for and adopt those statements in the book that are useful in enhancing the palm tree. And with this particular book, it came to about 4 or 5 pages.

Now that doesn’t mean that the book isn’t useful. It doesn’t mean it won’t help many people. It has. In fact, many would say it’s better than anything I’ve ever written and they may be right.

But I’m speaking about my experience here.

You see, I have a magnetic compass that always points north. It always points to God’s eternal purpose and the fullness of Jesus Christ.

And anything that I listen to and anything that I read, I am looking to enhance my understanding of that polar star—what I believe to be God’s ultimate passion.

So when I read books, sometimes I will only find a page or two that gives a little insight into God’s purpose or the fullness of Christ that I didn’t have before. And now I use that small drop of paint to enhance the palm tree on my canvas.

The rest of it, I simply don’t use. It may help other believers. Especially if they are represented by the second canvas.

But for me, if it doesn’t shed new light on God’s eternal purpose, or the fullness of Christ, I’m simply not interested in it.

Now keep in mind I’m speaking about theological or spiritual books. Books on health, business, sports, music, etc. fall outside of the scope of this episode.

A Wrong Conclusion

This brings up a peril that I see often.

Because I am emphatic about citing my sources in my books, I’ll have readers go through every single book that I have cited in one of my own volumes, and they will begin to read those books thinking that I endorse everything that’s in them, not realizing that I may have gotten one or two pages that I found useful because those pages enhance the palm tree on my canvas, but everything else in it I didn’t find particularly useful.

And what ends up happening is because they’re reading so much and listening to podcasts from these authors, they get confused. They may or may not realize that they are confused. But they are.

Why? Because they do not have a magnetic compass.

From the perspective of those who believe that God’s ultimate passion is His eternal purpose and the fullness of Christ (as I do), they have never had that mind-blowing, life-altering revelation of God’s purpose and Christ’s fullness.

So they end up with the second canvas, with a vast array of colors, randomly splashed onto the canvas. It makes no sense. There is no portrait, there’s no discernable image. It’s just a bunch of colors.

And, sisters and brothers, this is the peril of listening to so many voices.

It’s not the listening of the voices that’s the problem. It’s having no filter through which to discern what’s useful and what’s not.

Now, of course, if you’re on another tangent and your heart does not beat for the eternal purpose of God and you don’t know what I’m talking about when I say the fullness of Christ, which I realize has to be defined and explained, then that’s fine.

Every Christian will paint their own canvas which represents what they believe to be God’s ultimate passion.

For some, it’s evangelism. For others, it’s making individual disciples. For others, it’s God’s sovereign glory. For others, it’s signs and wonders. For others, it’s faith. For others, it’s health. For others, it’s end-time theology, and on and on.

For me, those themes are the colors that I use minimally, slightly, and deliberately as fine details to enhance the palm tree, which is dominated by green and gray.

Now don’t misunderstand. I’m not telling you what to do here. Neither am I saying that my work or my viewpoint is better than anyone else’s.

I can only testify to what I have seen and heard.

And I’ve been floored, riveted, arrested, electrified by the eternal purpose of God and the fullness of Christ, and I’ve never recovered from it.

And my entire life of reading and listening to other voices is simply to enhance the palm tree, that which I believe to be God’s ultimate passion.

I’m simply saying to you that if you are someone who has seen—you’ve got a glimpse of the eternal purpose of God and you have been exposed to a profound unfolding of the Lord Jesus Christ in His fullness, then, sisters and brothers, the message of the third canvas has a lesson for you.

There is a pitfall in listening to so many voices.

To my mind and in my view, it’s dangerous to do so if you do not possess that gyroscope, that magnetic compass, that always points north so that you can discard what doesn’t point in that direction and only inhale and consume what does.

A Complete Wheel

I’ll use another illustration, and this one was given to me by a friend.

When I decided to create this episode, I called a friend of mine. (If you’re living in another part of the world, I “rang him up.” I “phoned him.”)

And this is a man who gets the eternal purpose of God and the fullness of Christ.

So I knew he would understand what I was talking about.

Therefore, weeks before I made this episode that you are listening to now, I shared all of this with him to get his feedback.

And he completely resonated, confirming what I was trying to articulate.

And he had his own metaphor. It was that of a wheel with a hub and spokes attached to the wheel and the hub.

In his analogy, the hub is the fullness of Christ and the wheel is the eternal purpose.

And what we have today on the planet is a situation where countless Christians are listening to so many teachers, reading so many books, listening to so many podcasts by so many different authors.

And with the advent of the Internet, this is more pronounced than ever.

In a way, that’s great. I applaud it. For me, I see it as more color to enhance the palm tree.

But many Christians do not see it that way. And they’ve never even thought about it like that.

But the point is, all of those spokes would be represented by the various different colors in the second canvas.

For people who are represented by the third canvas, those colors (or spokes) enhance the palm tree (or the wheel).

For those represented by the first canvas, they will only take, consume, and use one color and discard the rest. They only have one hue and one spoke.

For those represented by the second canvas, they will accept and use every single color and a plethora of spokes.

But here’s the problem. If you see the hub and you don’t understand what the wheel is, then you’re left with a bunch of spokes.

And spokes cannot take you anywhere.

Because I’m so emphatic about the eternal purpose and the fullness of Christ – it’s why this podcast exists, it’s why the Insurgence podcast exists, it’s why my blog and books exist—I can confidently say without shame that you must have the hub and the wheel if you wish to be in the center of God’s beating heart and join the journey that He wishes to take you on.

Now I hope I’ve not thoroughly confused you.

A Challenge Most Dare Not Face

There is the eternal purpose. There is the fullness of Jesus Christ.

If you’re one of the people who fits the first painter and his portrait, you’ve only been listening to one voice and echoes of that one voice and your canvas is made up of only one color, I would challenge you to move outside your small camp that you’ve isolated yourself into and branch out and listen to other voices, particularly those who speak on the centrally and supremacy of Christ and who preach and teach on God’s eternal purpose in Him.

And for the masses who are represented by the second canvas, you listen to so many voices, you read so many authors, and in effect, what you have is a bunch of spokes, no hub and no wheel.

There is no comprehensible image on your canvas.

There’s no polar star in your orbit. There’s no magnetic compass in your hand. Your canvas is an incoherent, incongruent mess of color.

You’re not filtering what you’re hearing, not just from the Bible (that’s a given).

I’m talking about the central message of the Bible which is God’s timeless purpose in Christ—then your canvas is going to be incomprehensible and all you will have in your hand is a bunch of spokes.

I would challenge you to stop reading so many people for a time.

Stop listening to so many teachers for a time.

How about take a full year off of your reading regimen. A full year off of listening to podcasts and watching YouTube video sermons and messages, and only pick one or two that you believe represent the wheel and the hub.

One or two who you believe represent those green leaves and branches and that gray trunk of that one single palm tree and get it in your system.

In other words, immerse yourself with the message of the fullness of Christ and God’s eternal purpose in Him.

And then after that year is up, begin to read and listen to other teachers.

But now you should have an unmovable gyroscope, a magnetic compass by which to filter everything else you’re listening to and everything else you’re reading.

And you will probably land in the same place where only those things that highlight God’s ultimate passion will be the things you inhale and receive and that you can make a part of your portrait.

When I was sharing this with my friend, he said to me, “I am the same way, and for that reason, most books are useless to me. But every once in a while, I’ll find one thing or two things or maybe three things that serve to enhance God’s eternal purpose.”

One caution. If you are looking for others beyond myself who preach and teach on God’s eternal purpose, know that they are exotically rare both in the past and today.

If you find one, make sure you don’t pick someone who is sectarian and elitist. Because you will be effected by it.

If you know my work, I’m highly allergic to sectarianism and elitism, and I’ve written and spoken a great deal against both.

Regrettably, there have been a few who majored in the eternal purpose who built movements that are highly exclusive, highly sectarianism and elitist.

That’s the only caution I’ll add to this closing.

I hope you will allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you and apply this message to your own life.

God bless.

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