Glenn, the taxonomy you laid out here is exactly right, and it matters more than most people realize.
What gets lost in the sacrament vs. memorial debate is that both camps are reacting to something, not building toward something. Luther pushed back on merit. Zwingli pushed back on mystery. Cranmer tried to hold the tension. But when your theology is primarily defined by what you’re against, you end up with a practice that’s more about position than presence.
I served as an Assemblies of God pastor for 35 years. We sat firmly in the Zwinglian stream, often without knowing it. Communion was observed, not inhabited. It was correct, but it rarely felt weighty. It took me years to understand why. We had defended the memorial without recovering the mystery.
The frame that finally shifted things for me: the table is where theology stops being an argument and starts being an encounter. Sign. Memorial. Mystery. Not a spectrum to choose from. A simultaneous reality to step into.
Mid-career leaders, especially those who’ve led from a platform for years, often face this same collapse. They know what they believe about leadership. They’ve defended it. They’ve taught it. But at some point the framework stops feeding them. What Glenn is describing here applies far beyond ecclesiology. The thing that sustains long-term leadership isn’t certainty. It’s the capacity for mystery.
Sadly, we often approach Christ with our hands full of trinkets. He wants to bless us with something better, but our hands are full.
Glenn, the taxonomy you laid out here is exactly right, and it matters more than most people realize.
What gets lost in the sacrament vs. memorial debate is that both camps are reacting to something, not building toward something. Luther pushed back on merit. Zwingli pushed back on mystery. Cranmer tried to hold the tension. But when your theology is primarily defined by what you’re against, you end up with a practice that’s more about position than presence.
I served as an Assemblies of God pastor for 35 years. We sat firmly in the Zwinglian stream, often without knowing it. Communion was observed, not inhabited. It was correct, but it rarely felt weighty. It took me years to understand why. We had defended the memorial without recovering the mystery.
The frame that finally shifted things for me: the table is where theology stops being an argument and starts being an encounter. Sign. Memorial. Mystery. Not a spectrum to choose from. A simultaneous reality to step into.
Mid-career leaders, especially those who’ve led from a platform for years, often face this same collapse. They know what they believe about leadership. They’ve defended it. They’ve taught it. But at some point the framework stops feeding them. What Glenn is describing here applies far beyond ecclesiology. The thing that sustains long-term leadership isn’t certainty. It’s the capacity for mystery.
“Well, if it’s just a symbol, to hell with it!” —Flannery O’Connor