I knew it wouldn’t go well. Conversations like this never do.
He had called to ask some questions about the Episcopal Church, but he was not your typical church shopper. Adam and Eve, heaven and hell, and lots of Bible quotes, and I knew what I was facing. Understand–I can play that game, too. There aren’t many Bible-based conclusions that can’t be countered with different Biblical allusion, but I stopped myself. Instead of playing the game, I decided to try to understand. Why was it so important to this stranger that the pastor of a church he had never attended agree with his theology?
I never figured that one out. We may have been reading the same Bible in English, but it still seemed like we were speaking different languages. Eventually he gave up trying to sell me on his biblical conclusions. As he hung up, he muttered something about 15 other churches also having disappointed him, so I guess I am in good company.
What was the language barrier? People turn to the Christian faith for different reasons. Some, like my caller, are looking for assurance. They read the Bible as a map or blueprint that will chart out the future, leaving nothing unanswered. Eternal salvation and the end of the world usually figure prominently in their concerns. Faith isn’t enough–guarantees are found in the story they create from their favorite passages. The guarantees answer fears and avoid doubt–as long as you don’t look too closely. Perhaps that’s what the caller needed: an outside authority who could reassure him that he was reading the map correctly and had nothing to fear.
In contrast, in the Episcopal Church we read the Bible as the story of faith. Archbishop Desmond Tutu says that the Bible is a conversation between God and his people. In this written record, we find the ongoing revelation of what it means to believe in God. Reading the Bible this way means that we know that the revelation continues. We aren’t concerned
that the Biblical understanding of cosmology, psychology or physics doesn’t match our modern notions. We can see that the Bible’s perspective on ethics and politics is uniquely advanced for its time. But most importantly, we can read the Bible in faith.
The Biblical blueprint protects us from knowing God in faith
Seeking to have all the answers, my caller and others like him shields himself from faith. He doesn’t need to depend on God–he has God’s blueprint to read! Walking by faith means we live with questions. We might not always live comfortably with them–struggles and doubts are part of the faith journey. A struggling faith is far more alive than a rigid certainty which avoids questions. faith requires the humility of admitting to not being God and allowing the one who is God to be the one in charge. In faith we seek not certainty, but peace.
All this is to say that the Christian faith isn’t an intellectual proposition–it’s about a relationship. God is God–three in one and one in the three–the dynamic reality of the Trinity. We are God’s people, and that is enough. Questions, not answers, keep us moving, following Christ who leads the way.
One Response
I think you said it best with sentence “All this is to say that the Christian faith isn’t an intellectual proposition–it’s about a relationship.” When I read Genesis, I kept saying to myself how can he be justified before God with all the terrible things he did. I finally realized that it was his relationship with God that justified him. Similar to St Paul’s theology that can be summed up that we are justified by faith. Of course, there are all types of relationships. And in our walk with God with should try to perfect our relationship with God.