Theological Absolutes

The more committed we are to certain theological absolutes, the more likely we are to discount the work of the Spirit when it doesn't confirm to our presumptions. (Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans).

Theological absolutes.  What are your theological absolutes? Are they the words you recite when you say the Apostles' Creed? Are there more? Are there less? Are they different than those words?

How tightly do you hold to those absolutes? Do they become synonymous with God? 

Do we think if we were to doubt our absolutes, that we would be doubting God? Doubting God's existence? Doubting God's word? Do our absolutes become an idol?

And do we hold so tightly to them that even the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and others becomes invisible to us? Can we become so stubborn in what we hold that we blind ourselves to God?

Born into the Faith

In her book Faith Unraveled, Rachel Held Evans wrote about her experience as an evangelical in the later part of the 1900's:

To experience the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we didn't need to be born again; we simply needed to be born.  Our parents, our teacher, and our favorite theologians took it from there, providing us with all the answers before we ever had time to really wrestle with the questions.

I'm not sure this is a symptom that is unique to evangelicalism.  Aren't we all tempted to take the easy way? To assume that what we have been taught is the "way it is?"  It doesn't require struggle or doubt, questioning or thought.  Just assume the way we heard the stories as a child are true.  Simple.  Easy.  No questions.

And yet, we are called to more, don't you think? To think.  To question. To struggle. To find answers that are honest and true to our faith.  To have a close-minded faith means that we are never open to change. Never open to growth.  We remain - not child-like in our faith - because children question everything - but we remain childish in our faith.  

Christianity is a faith of change and growth.  That's what sanctifying grace is all about.  That's what moving on to perfection is about.  It isn't easy. It takes effort. It requires confronting what we believe in the light of the truth of God as experience through the holy spirit.  It doens't mean rejecting scripture. It means really, truly, struggling to understand it.  It means respecting scripture.

And then, instead of being born into the faith, we are re-created into who we were made to become.  Grown up - or growing up - Christians. 

Core Beliefs

And one more thought about the quote from Wednesday of last week.  

At first, when I read the quote, I thought, "YES! This is a defining characteristic of fundamentalism."

Then, as I thought more about it, I think all of us have core components of our faith.  In my mind, a belief in the divinity and humaneness of Christ, and the belief in God's grace are (to name a few) defining characteristics of my faith.  These I hold on to. 

We should think about this for ourselves. What defines your faith?  What is it that if you had to let go it, would either destroy or irrevocably change your faith?

Culture and Faith

Continuing on from last Wednesday regarding the faith we hold and how it remains "unchangeable".  

I also see this in the way people approach culture and faith.  I don't believe culture should define what we believe, but I know that we need to adapt the way we tell our story in order to reach people in the culture.  

And I also believe that the Bible was written to a particular culture in a particular time.  We need to investigate how that culture (2000 years ago) shaped the words of the writer at the time.  We can't just plop words written to a particular community 2000 years ago in our time and expect them to apply to our own culture and time.  

This doesn't threaten our faith.  It is a way to remain true to it.

Fundamentalism

I'm reading Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans.  Near the very beginning of the book, she writes:

I was a fundamentalist not because of the beliefs I held but because of how I held them: with a death grip.  I would take God himself to finally pry some of them out of my hands.  The problem with fundamentalism is that it can't adapt to change.  When you count each one of your beliefs as absolutely essential, change is never an option.  When change is never an option, you have to hope that the world stays exactly as it is so as not to mess with your view of it.

I can see that viewpoint.  I was listening to the radio on the way into work one day. The story was about a person who believed in a literal interpretation of the Creation story.  He defended it against any assault and believed that if this interpretation was wrong, then his whole faith would be threatened.

I was shocked by that.  How can that be? How can the loss of a seven day creation belief threaten an entire faith system?

And why do we hold so tight to a belief? Do we think that belief is God? 

Change

Rachel Held Evans, in Faith Unraveled, says:
I was a fundamentalist not because of the beliefs I held but because of how I held them: with a death grip.  It would take God himself to finally pry some of them out of my hands.

I think we have all experienced stubbornness - our own unwillingness to let go of an idea or belief, even to the point of ridiculousness. I remember arguing with a fellow high school student over the pronunciation of a French phrase.  He was right; I was wrong, but I couldn't let go of my opinion because to do so would mean that he was right - again.  I so valued the idea of his wrongness that I prioritized it above truth.

When we apply the same thoughts to our faith, our stubbornness extends beyond our desire to be right.  Our faith, I think, defines how we see God, and when we are wrong, our whole belief system can be shifted.  How we imagine God, or what we imagine God wants for our lives, might have to change.  And sometimes allowing that change feels like betraying God.

Look at the second sentence in that quote: "It would take God himself to finally pry some of them [her beliefs] out of my hands."

So often I hear people protest that God does not change.  I think there is biblical support to counter that arguement, but even if it is completely true - God does not change - then why do we equate our understanding of God with God himself?

Shouldn't we be humble enough to know that our understanding of God must change in order to be perfected? Do we really believe that our own personal undersatnding is unflawed? And are we so convinced we are completely right that open ourselves up to change would mean that God does not exist?

I think God would argue that point.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I  became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we  will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  (Corinthians 13:11-12)

Today

I just started the book Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans.  It's the first book she wrote, and I've never read it before.

In the introduction, she says, "At twenty-seven, I'm probably too young to write a memoir."

She died a couple of weeks ago at the age of thirty-seven.  Reading that sentence reminded me that none of us knows the future.  I'm glad her age didn't stop her from writing the book I'm about to read.

What are you putting off that you should go ahead and do? What relationship in your life needs healing? What call from God have you set aside until later?

Maybe think about it today.