Breakthrough Faith
Why I do, what I do...
Within a matter of moments, my entire faith experience came crashing down around me. Almost three years ago, I was sitting in one of my classes at school and the professor began to lead us down paths that I had never tread upon. To that point, my faith was characterized by a certain naivete and simplicity. But in moments I was stripped of innocence and found myself swimming in the waves of uncertainty. It is a moment that many that engage critical thinking about Christianity can attest to, a moment of deconstructed certitude. I felt alone, anxious, and a bit angry that he had done that to me. I wanted to quit, to run, to hide amongst the memories of my safe faith. But I couldn't...there was no turning back.
In just a few weeks, I found myself seated before my professor, frustrated and blaming him for my struggles. I was even bold enough to accuse him with certain names we use to disregard the thoughts of those who envision reality different from us. I was a mess. But I pressed on. I knew Christ and amidst the uncertainty, I clung tightly to Jesus. No one could take him away from me. They might strip me of my folk theology or my ideological idols...but Jesus had taken hold of my life and he wasn't letting go. Needless to say, with much stress and prayer I survived that semester. And can I tell you this...I am a much different (I hope to say more mature) Christian for it. I weathered the storm of critical thinking and watched as my statues were torn down. Something happened that semester. I was set free, free from the bondage defensive thinking. I was free to worship the God who is above all things, through all things, and in whom all things hold together. No longer was my faith dependant upon random verses loosely held together. No, God had become the origin and destination of my faith. I now credit that same professor with leading me into the understanding of Christianity that I now have today.
Unfortunately, we reserve such breakthroughs in faith development for the esteemed clergy and seminary graduates. We are told to keep the cookies on the bottom shelf for the "common folk." Because we have had such an experience we feel a sense of spiritual superiority...which is nothing less than intellectual narcissism. I say hog wash! Since that liberating moment, I have made it my mission as a minister of the gospel and a teacher of what the church believes, instructs and confesses to lead my brothers and sisters in the congregation into an atmosphere where they might experience God in freeing way. I have committed myself to teaching the faith in such a way as to remove comfort and ideological idols and instead negotiate an encounter with the God who stands above the certainities that we have defended so pointedly. I desire nothing more than to invite Jesus into our midst to disrupt and disorient us so that he might reorient our faith in a faithful, God-centered way.
Occasionaly you might read a devotional, if you are in my Sunday School Class-you might hear a comment, if you attend Saturday Nights you might encounter a Sermon that challenges you in a way that makes you uncomfortable. I am both sorry and glad. I don't do this to "mess with you." I don't do this to scrath an academic itch. I do this because I love God's people. I love them enough to risk frustrating the church if it forces us to reconsider (for some of us consider for the first time) our faith. I want nothing more than you to have a rich faith in the God who through our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed and saved you. I pray that you walk in an ever-deepening relationship with him. I know that it will hurt and I might even frustrate you, but in the rapidly changing world we live in...we as the Christian church must know what we believe, why we believe, and how believing it changes the way we interact and engage the world around us.
Let's continue to walk together and allow the Great "I Am" to reconstruct our realities according to the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. What he has begun he is faithful to bring to its fulfillment.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jeff