Meditations with Pastor Tom (4/25/20)
"There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death." ~ Proverbs 14:12
My effort failed - miserably. I was preaching at the Surest Path Recovery Center and we stumbled across some ideas on which there was radical disagreement. There were two women in particular who were absolutely dead-set sure that their Christian tradition had all the right answers. I wasn't trying to argue with them; I was simply trying to soften their rigidity a bit, trying to help them see that other devout, spirit-filled Christians might see things differently, and they weren't necessarily always wrong.
So, I told them that Christianity Today, a widely respected Christian magazine, had concluded that there were approximately 37,000 different brands of the Christian religion. Every one of them has its own take on the faith. I was hoping that they might see good reason to soften their iron-clad certainty on their interpretation of the faith, that keeping an open mind is the only way for spiritual growth to occur, that exploration and curiosity are powerful tools in moving towards God.
My attempt not only failed, it backfired. These two women only more strongly asserted they were right and everyone else was wrong. But to make matters worse, another woman in the group responded to my statement by just throwing her arms up into the air and saying something like, "Well, then, how is anybody supposed to know what to believe?"
So, now, I had a battle on two fronts. One was saying I was a heretic because I didn't believe what they did, and another was openly wondering if Christianity could be true at all. I don't remember exactly how I handled this ticklish situation, but I do know that I walked away dissatisfied with my responses. I was proud that I kept my cool, but the right words just didn't come to me. I remember wanting to escape.
I suppose this clash is so prickly for me because it strikes at the heart of the most important reason I left my former faith tradition. They would use passages like the one above from Proverbs to say that other so-called Christians believed in things that seemed right to them but were, in fact, leading them to death and destruction. They were convinced that there was only one right interpretation of scripture, and it just conveniently happened to be theirs. I couldn't, and still can't, accept that way of thinking.
But that conversation has stuck with me. On the one hand, believing that any one of us has a lock on the truth about God, Jesus, and the Bible strikes me as the pinnacle of arrogance and ignorance. That there are so many different stripes of our faith is strong testimony to that fact. On the other hand, disagreement over the details doesn't have to lead us to disbelief. Experiencing the power of God doesn't require assent to all the right doctrines. God's existence doesn't depend on our having the right beliefs about God.
So, I resolve the issue this way: Don't fret over having all the right beliefs. Follow the Way of Jesus as best as you can. Love God. Love your neighbor. Try to love like God loves - unconditionally, extravagantly, and sometimes sacrificially. You'll know if you are on the right track if your faith is leading you to greater love and wholeness, first in yourself and then hopefully in the people around you. If you are filled Godly love, God will most certainly take care of you in the end.
The Sermon this Sunday
Five things Cleopas learned from his Emmaus experience.