Whatever belonging to the realm of thought and feeling is expressed in words is, of necessity, expressed imperfectly. For thought and feeling are infinite, and human speech, although far-reaching in scope and marvelous in delicacy, can express them only approximately and suggestively.
MacDonald begins the hardest passage in all of Scripture — the unforgivable sin — by humbling the very tool he must use to discuss it. Words are approximate. The truth they point to is infinite. Every sentence is a finger pointing at the moon — necessary, useful, but never the moon itself. This is the honest starting point for the deepest water.
Our Lord had no intention of constructing a system of truth in intellectual forms. The truth of the moment, in its relation to him — the Truth — was what he spoke.
He spoke out of a region of realities which he knew could only be suggested, not represented, in the forms of intellect and speech.
With vivid flashes of life and truth, his words invade our darkness, rousing us with sharp stings of light to choose our awakening — not in the lightning of words only, but in indwelling presence and power.
This is why Tozer said prying into mysteries may create theologians but will never create saints. Christ did not come to construct a system. He came to invade the darkness. His words are vivid flashes — not blueprints. They rouse the soul not to understand perfectly but to awaken. The truth He spoke came from a region deeper than intellect — and it reaches a region deeper than intellect. Not words only. Indwelling presence and power.
To those who are not simple, simple words are the most inexplicable of riddles.
If we are bound to search after what our Lord means — and he speaks so that we may understand — we are at least equally bound to refuse any interpretation which seems to us unlike him, unworthy of him.
He himself says, "Why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?" (Luke 12:57).
MacDonald gives the key that unlocks every difficult passage: refuse any interpretation that seems unlike Christ. If a reading of God's Word makes God look less loving, less good, less worthy of worship than what you have already learned of Him — reject the reading, not the Lord. This is the same discernment Le exercised when she closed William Law. The words were not wrong — but the spirit did not match the Christ she knows. MacDonald says: that refusal is not rebellion. It is faithfulness. Christ Himself commands it: why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?
✦ The Sheep Knows the Shepherd's Voice
MacDonald is not giving permission to ignore Scripture. He is giving permission — indeed, requiring — that the soul refuse to accept a portrait of God that contradicts the character of God she has already met. The sheep does not know better than the Shepherd. But the sheep knows the Shepherd's voice — John 10:27 — and will not follow a stranger's.
Le named it: it is never that I know better. But God knows my heart, and I need to hear His voice. The distinction is everything. The soul is not setting herself above Scripture. She is setting the living Christ above every interpretation of Scripture — because He is the Truth that the words point to. 🙏
It is never that I know better — but God knows my heart, and I need to hear His voice. 🙏
"We are at least equally bound to refuse any interpretation which seems to us unlike him, unworthy of him."
George MacDonald · Unspoken Sermons · The character of Christ governs every reading"Is it for us to judge the character of our Lord?"
I answer: this very thing he requires of us. He requires that we should do him no injustice.
He would come and dwell with us, if we would but open our rooms to receive him. How shall we receive him if, avoiding judgment, we hang this or that crude portrait of tradition upon our walls and take it for the true likeness of our Lord?
Is it not possible that, judging by such a likeness while we flatter ourselves that we are refusing to judge, we may close our doors against the Master himself as an impostor — not finding him like the picture that hangs in our prayer room?
He requires that we should do Him no injustice — the fear of God. 🙏
This may be the most important passage MacDonald ever wrote. The religious person says: who are we to judge the character of God? And MacDonald answers: He requires it. Not judgment over God — but judgment of the portraits we have hung of Him. The crude portrait of tradition — the angry God, the vindictive God, the God who burns His children for spite — hung on the wall and called the true likeness. And the real Christ comes to the door, gentle, loving, the Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine — and is turned away as an impostor because He does not match the picture.
And Le names what this fear truly is: the fear of God is the fear of doing Him injustice. Not the fear of punishment. The fear of misrepresenting Him. The fear of hanging a portrait on the wall that slanders His character. The fear of telling the world that God is cruel — when He is the consuming fire of love.
And if we do not judge — humbly and lovingly — who is to judge for us?
Better to refuse even the truth for a time than, by accepting into our intellectual creed what our hearts cannot receive, to introduce hesitation into our prayers, a jarring note into our praises, and misery into our love.
If it is the truth, we shall one day see it as something other than it appears now, and love it because we see it lovely — for all truth is lovely.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8)
How well do I know that. 🙏
MacDonald gives the most counter-intuitive counsel in Christian teaching: better to refuse even the truth for a time than to let a distorted version of it poison the prayer life. A truth received in the wrong form does damage. It introduces hesitation into prayer — can I really trust this God? A jarring note into praise — how can I worship a God who would do that? And misery into love — how can I love a God I fear in the wrong way?
MacDonald is not saying reject truth permanently. He is saying: if a truth does not yet appear lovely, wait. All truth is lovely — but the soul may not yet see its real form. Better to wait for the light than to accept a distortion that divides the heart.
Le connects this to James: a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Two portraits on the wall. Two pictures of God in the prayer room — the loving one and the harsh one. And the instability that follows poisons everything. Hesitation in prayer is the poison we must avoid.
✦ All Truth Is Lovely
MacDonald closes with the promise that makes the waiting bearable: all truth is lovely. If a truth appears harsh, frightening, unworthy of Christ — it is not yet seen in its real form. The truth has not changed. The eyes have not yet adjusted. And when they do — when the light finally breaks and the truth is seen as it truly is — it will be loved. Because all truth, when finally beheld, is lovely. Every truth is a facet of the character of God. And the character of God is love.
Until the eyes adjust — wait. Refuse. Hold to the Christ you know. And trust that the truth you cannot yet see will one day appear in its loveliness. 🙏
"Better to refuse even the truth for a time than to introduce hesitation into our prayers, a jarring note into our praises, and misery into our love."
George MacDonald · Unspoken Sermons · Wait for the light — all truth is lovelyThe Portrait on the Wall
Crude portraits of tradition hung in the prayer room — and the real Christ turned away as an impostor because He does not match the picture. Judge the portrait. Do Him no injustice.
The Sheep Knows the Voice
The sheep does not know better than the Shepherd. But the sheep knows the Shepherd's voice — and will not follow a stranger's. Not knowing better. Knowing His voice.
Better to Wait
Better to refuse even the truth for a time than to accept a distortion that poisons the prayer life. Hesitation in prayer is the poison. All truth is lovely — wait until the eyes see it so.
No Hesitation in Prayer
A double-minded heart — two portraits, two Gods — is unstable in all its ways. One clear picture of the Christ you know, even if incomplete, is better than two that contradict. The prayer room must be clean.