Dancing with God
I've been taking swing dance lessons the last few years, and one thing I've learned is about the mechanics of lead-follow dances. In a dance, the lead "suggests," they guide, they build up momentum to make it natural, easy, for you to go in a certain way. But you don't have to follow their suggestions. In fact, sometimes (oftentimes even) there's miscommunications. As a spectator, you might not even be able to tell when there was a miscommunication and the follower did something unexpected. If the lead is good, even the follower might not know, because a good lead matches their follow, and meets them where they are.
There's an ongoing debate in theological thinking between predestination--the idea that God has set out your path for you already--and free will. The predestination camp is bolstered by Bible verses like the following:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:44)
Or,
The idea here is that we are not even capable of turning to God unless God first calls us. In other words, we need grace to even be able to be in a place where we can ask for grace.
But the Bible also clearly speaks about us having a choice in the matter:
"Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." (John 7:17)
And,
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." (Revelations 3:20)
Some people think that if God knows the outcome, then that means that we can't have free will. I don't think that's the case at all. I think God knows what we will end up choosing because He is outside of time, not constrained by it. I think He created time, and He can step into and out of the timeline like you can flip to any page in a book. When you reread a book you've already read, you know what's going to happen, but you can't change it. I think it's kind of like that.
Except it's not exactly like that--because God is all-powerful. He's not just reading a book from the outside, He can change things. He is both transcendent and imminent.
When confronted with Biblical paradoxes like this, I tend to believe that the 'right' answer is actually both answers. Sure, it's a paradox, but real life is complicated.
This is where the dancing metaphor comes in. I think our walk with God is like a dance where we both move closer together simultaneously. In swing, when two dance partners are facing each other, connected only by their outstretched hands, the lead can bring them together by stepping back, and stretching their arms like an elastic. This gives them the momentum they need to come back together--the same way an elastic snaps back after you stretch it. In the same way, God leads us by giving us the momentum we need to come back to Him. But you still need to take the step. You still need to actually move your feet.
In this dance of faith, God leads--but we still have the choice to follow. At any point we could drop His hand and walk off the dance floor, or we could take his invitation to spin and just walk straight instead.
I read an article once about why the author loves and hates to dance with different partners, and she wrote this:
"He’s gotten more playful with our dances, and I get a rush of pleasure every time I am surprised where my own foot lands. I have to trust so much to get there. But I get to play with whichever rhythm out of the song that I fancy, [mess] with the timing of nearly any spin. A beat pinballs around my joints, I create standing waveforms that interact with his, and for a phrase there’s a rhythm that exists only in that interference. When I make long, clean lines he lets me hold it for a moment. Some of them, he frames up for me. I allow him to affect every aspect of my movement and he allows my movement to affect his choices. He knows that I am with him, but he allows himself to know that he does not know exactly the form that my response will take, so we can genuinely surprise one another. When I manage to really trust him and dance, it’s glorious. (When I worry whether or not I’m good enough, it’s hard to get there.)"
My walk with God is a lot like dancing with a good lead. I definitely bring my own creativity and personality to it, and when I mess up, He knits even that together into something beautiful.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
There's an ongoing debate in theological thinking between predestination--the idea that God has set out your path for you already--and free will. The predestination camp is bolstered by Bible verses like the following:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:44)
Or,
"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'
It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy." (Romans 9:14-16)
The idea here is that we are not even capable of turning to God unless God first calls us. In other words, we need grace to even be able to be in a place where we can ask for grace.
But the Bible also clearly speaks about us having a choice in the matter:
"Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." (John 7:17)
And,
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." (Revelations 3:20)
Some people think that if God knows the outcome, then that means that we can't have free will. I don't think that's the case at all. I think God knows what we will end up choosing because He is outside of time, not constrained by it. I think He created time, and He can step into and out of the timeline like you can flip to any page in a book. When you reread a book you've already read, you know what's going to happen, but you can't change it. I think it's kind of like that.
Except it's not exactly like that--because God is all-powerful. He's not just reading a book from the outside, He can change things. He is both transcendent and imminent.
When confronted with Biblical paradoxes like this, I tend to believe that the 'right' answer is actually both answers. Sure, it's a paradox, but real life is complicated.
This is where the dancing metaphor comes in. I think our walk with God is like a dance where we both move closer together simultaneously. In swing, when two dance partners are facing each other, connected only by their outstretched hands, the lead can bring them together by stepping back, and stretching their arms like an elastic. This gives them the momentum they need to come back together--the same way an elastic snaps back after you stretch it. In the same way, God leads us by giving us the momentum we need to come back to Him. But you still need to take the step. You still need to actually move your feet.
In this dance of faith, God leads--but we still have the choice to follow. At any point we could drop His hand and walk off the dance floor, or we could take his invitation to spin and just walk straight instead.
I read an article once about why the author loves and hates to dance with different partners, and she wrote this:
"He’s gotten more playful with our dances, and I get a rush of pleasure every time I am surprised where my own foot lands. I have to trust so much to get there. But I get to play with whichever rhythm out of the song that I fancy, [mess] with the timing of nearly any spin. A beat pinballs around my joints, I create standing waveforms that interact with his, and for a phrase there’s a rhythm that exists only in that interference. When I make long, clean lines he lets me hold it for a moment. Some of them, he frames up for me. I allow him to affect every aspect of my movement and he allows my movement to affect his choices. He knows that I am with him, but he allows himself to know that he does not know exactly the form that my response will take, so we can genuinely surprise one another. When I manage to really trust him and dance, it’s glorious. (When I worry whether or not I’m good enough, it’s hard to get there.)"
My walk with God is a lot like dancing with a good lead. I definitely bring my own creativity and personality to it, and when I mess up, He knits even that together into something beautiful.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
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