The “swerving” that is Christ.

What some New Testament versions translate as mystery, others translate as secret. And a little research shows that the Greek for this word does include both. …And that leads me to G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. He concluded that the “trouble” with the world is not found in its reasonableness or in its unreasonableness.  He wrote: “The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. … It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is … It is this silent swerving from accuracy by an inch that is the uncanny element in everything” (60-61). And it is in this “silent swerving” that Christ operates. …

And so I agree with Paul when he cautions us about claiming “to be wiser than we are.” There is so much more to Christianity than we can know or presume to follow. That’s why believers get off track. They become experts too soon. …The Bible contains at least “an inch” of Chesterton’s “uncanny element.” …And so the challenge isn’t for us to make Christianity logical. What powers Christianity is not just intellectual or doctrinal. It is challenging us to lend our hearts to the illogic of it. Abandoning worldly or humanist conceits, we open ourselves to the “swerving” that is Christ. Our believing is powered by the spirit of Jesus, the presence of the living Saviour, at our sides and in our hearts. (Living Strong, chapter 6)