Martin Luther drew his famous contrast between 'the theologian of glory' and the 'theologian of the cross.' Climbing ladders of speculation, merit, and mystical experience, the naked soul seeks union with the naked God. As a theologian of glory, the monk tries to ascend to heavenly realms, away from this world--the body and its senses, in specific historical events. In such a presumptuous ascent, we miss God on his way down, descending to us in our world, in our flesh, lying in a manger and hanging on a cross. The theologian of glory judges by appearances: how things seem to look on the surface. However, the theologian of the cross trust the promise of God that he hears in God's Word, even if it seems to be contradicted by how things appear. . . We try to ascend to heaven, expecting to find God in glory, when he is only to be found in the small and even despicable things--like the cursed cross.
I love this distinction. The problem with works-based righteousness of whatever form is that it denies the incarnation and the efficacy of the cross. We no longer need to rise to God on our own steam; the work has been done for us in the descent of his Son. So many of my own errors in piety are this type of category error: forgetting that the theology I follow is one of the "small" and "despicable" and not the great glory and struggle I often imagine for myself.
Which, thank God, because if it were up to my own "heroic" struggle I wouldn't have the power to climb one rung on that ladder to heaven.
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