However did we get into this situation? Yesterday, I started to open up the question of belief and I stated that belief drives out faith. Doubt creates room for faith. Today I'll explore this a bit further.
The Christian faith is very economical. It turns our weaknesses into strengths. For example, even after we know we are saved, we know we are still prone to sin. It is this knowledge which leads us to develop humility. Humility helps us to stand aside so that God's love might be expressed through us. Those who mature in the faith often experience awareness of their personal sin increasing as they grow in faith. Some do not perceive God's love in their lives, it is others who see it in them.
Similarly, certain belief crowds out faith. The Spirit filled life is not derived from the word on the page, it is a life led in a particular place, at a particular time; here and now. Life is messy and dirty, the believer is often compromised. Faith sustains Christians as they cope with the realities of their lives. Belief is an escape, it is a choice to inhabit a fantasy world. In such a world everything is perfect, things work properly, there is only goodness and truth. This is how heaven is imagined; much damage has been done by attempts to bring this false heaven into the here and now. Utopia means 'nowhere' and that's where it belongs.
This sort of cast iron belief is a relatively modern development. It seems to have arisen as science has played an increasing role in society. Some scientists look at the Christian faith and read it literally. To do that is to mistake what they are reading as equivalent to scientific statements. The problem is too many Christians have fallen into the same trap. These Christians believe, those scientists don't believe. Both are in the same place.
Faith is a conversation between the believer and the believer's world. The believer has scripture and their time and place. Their interaction lead them to a closer encounter with God. This takes place in the context of the wider Christian community. Belief will tend to restrict or prevent this conversation. What's the point when I already know the answers?
But is there not a danger that I will end up believing nothing? Is this not a plea for theological liberalism? The accusation of liberalism is a symptom of how difficult theological debate has become. A determination to work with the Christian faith as we find it and the world as we find it, is not liberalism. It is a faith that takes the inheritance of my Christian tradition and all Christian traditions seriously. It is confidence that living within the faith will enable us to read the world according to our faith. It is not about imposing our beliefs upon the world but discovering our faith in the world.
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