God doesn’t need any help in the truth department. He doesn’t need new additions to that category. We as His people should be seeking beautiful ways to convey those truths that He has revealed. We as His children should not try to contort God’s word, but we should deeply meditate on the deep well of His intended meaning. 

I’ve known for a long time, but it gets reaffirmed every now and then: I’m not a mystic. The mystic is the person who tends to seek some kind of unique understanding or experience of the Divine. Often the language of the mystic is poetic and symbolic. Often, the mystic is someone who has command of the language and can speak in a way that you want to be true. They speak lofty things of the heart and emotions. They talk of God in a way that seems like they have somehow tapped into a secret knowledge of the Divine. Beautiful as it is, I just don’t buy it.

The problem with mysticism, is that often, not always, the poetic and symbolic language is either completely speculative or completely untrue. There are things in God’s word that we just don’t know. There are things that God has not revealed to us (Deut 29:29). Yet the mystic speaks just as certainly about the secret wisdom of the heart of God as they do about the certainties of John 3:16. But that’s a problem. If God has not revealed it, then we should not believe it. I’m under no obligation to believe the flowery musings of the mystic, just like I’m not obligated to believe the silver-tongued self help guru.

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