Faith not doctrine

For years any discussion about faith was in truth a discussion about doctrine.  We wanted to talk about what we believe.  The content.  The logic.  The implications.  These discussions often ended in "Well, I can't believe that!"

What if we talked about faith as a verb?
   What if we talked about faith as a process?
       What if we talked about faith as a surprise?
       

Think about it.  When you talk about the weather, do you debate whether the barometric pressure is 113 millibars or 85?  Or do you complain about shoveling snow, or your air conditioning bills?  You mention how many days it has rained or your hope for a sunny day for your daughter's wedding?  We discuss the weather in terms of our lives, our hopes, our dreams, even our finances!  (The heating bills up north this year will be an issue.)

Let's talk about children's soccer leagues.  The parents whose discussions are all about strategy and discipline and winning are not welcome in the groups who are laughing at their children's antics, wondering if young David will ever stop running away from the ball, or simply cheering from the sidelines.  For these parents, soccer is about social skills, physical development, group activities and most of all, having fun!

Or cars.  I was once in a discussion about what car we would own if money was no object.  You can imagine there were a few sports cars and luxury cars in the mix.  "A red Maserati"  "A silver BMW" and on and on.  One participant said he'd purchase a Volvo.  "What color?"  "Oh, the color doesn't matter, I like their safety ratings."  Now that was a perfectly legitimate reason for purchasing a Volvo, but this group wanted a little poetry and to them color was critical.  Our Volvo guy didn't realize this wasn't a discussion about reality but about status, and self-image!

Faith is about a relationship with the Divine.  Christians call the Divine God, and we see God manifest in a man called Jesus who lived and died.....and yes, we believe he was raised from the dead.....a long time ago. That is at the center of our belief system.

But our faith is about relationship.  Can I trust this one called God?  What are the intentions of this God towards me?  When I am in a pinch, can I call on this God and expect an answer?  Is this God all smiles one day and all lightening bolts the next?   When this God looks at me, what does God see?  Those are the basic questions that faith asks.

or, perhaps, this  "Can I be safe with this God?"

Let's begin our faith discussions with the questions that we are really asking ourselves; the questions which have answers which interest us.  These are the truly hard questions because these are the questions that we live day after day.  Most of us can manage a long time without a definition of predestination.
 Let's answer the important questions first.

Believing in the deep end

It is easy to believe you can swim when you are paddling around in the shallow end of the pool.  In a moment of panic you can put your feet down and touch the solid bottom again.

Deep water requires a very different level of confidence.  You cannot see the bottom in the deep end; you cannot keep your head above water and touch bottom at the same time.  It's one or the other. 

We live our lives in deep water - where much is unclear, outcomes are uncertain and we can either cling to the solid floor of what we know or we can keep our heads above the splashing water.  Neither approach will work for long. 

Eventually we will have to move our arms, paddle our feet and push out into the deep in order to get to the other side.  Water will splash in our face, we'll catch a mouthful or two of water but we will both move forward and be (here's the prize) held up by the water.

A life of faith is much like swimming in deep water: we push against the forces around us which try to pull us down (even though the most perfect swimming stroke does not prevent some water from mouth or eyes). Real effort is required to keep moving toward a safer shore. Pretending the water isn't deep will not make it so nor take the danger away.

We swim in deep waters.  We need a deep water God.  Shallow theology will prove to be ineffective while deep water will challenge us to trust (another way of saying 'believe'). 

The cross is the way Jesus said, "I'm there with you in the deep water" because there is nothing deeper than that moment when you must release this life and lean into the promises of God for the next.   Jesus stepped into the water of the River Jordan to show us he was willing to swim every step of the way with us.  Cling to that Jesus.

believing is like 'faithing'

There are some technical theological terms for the difference between what we believe and the act of believing.......they are in Latin of course.......but let us not confuse the two.

Believing is a verb that depicts an action - active faith in another.  It is not a doctrinal test. 

Instead, belief is "more like a marriage vow - 'I do' as a pledge of faithfulness and loving service to and with the other"* - in this case our Lord Jesus and the Creator God.  Hebrews 11.1 says it nicely.

When we go out and serve our neighbor it reflects our trust in the promises made in and through Jesus: his work, his gifts, his forgiveness, his resurrection.  We can talk about doctrinal stuff later.  For now, trust.

* Diana Butler Bass gives us this description in her book Christianity after Religion, p 117.

Touchy, feely

We understand Thomas; the one who didn't believe the disciples' story about the risen Jesus.  Thomas insisted on seeing and touching before he would be persuaded.

OK was Jesus' answer. 'Thomas, if you need to touch; touch. Right here in the wounds left by the nails.

If you need to see; look here at my wounded side. Do not doubt but believe.'

Like Thomas, we know that faith is not an easy journey; believing isn't a foregone conclusion. And, we wouldn't mind seeing and touching ourselves.

How do we do this?  Today we find the wounded places of God's creation; we touch the places where anger, greed, envy have drawn blood in this world.....there we can touch and see our wounded Lord as well.  Come with me to the wounded places and together we can believe.