FAITH/WORKS (again...)

“WHERE IS IT WRITTEN?”

If it were possible for an evangelical church to have a mantra, this would certainly be the one for the Evangelical Covenant Church! This foundational formulation guides every aspect of our denominational life, from Bible study to worship to the sacraments to the living out of our faith. So, it is written:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

And it is written:

“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

And again it is written:

“We have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16b)

And again:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:34,40b)

And yet again:

“Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)

And......

“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)

Faith - works - grace - law - belief - deeds - yep, there sure are lots of things “written” in Scripture; lots of ideas, instructions, and truths that often seem quite diverse, contrary, situational maybe. What does all this mean? Why would God allow these conflicting sentences into His “perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct” (another one of our major Covenant affirmations)? You’d think that something as significant as our salvation would be spelled out so clearly, so unequivocally, so unambiguously that there would be no hint of confusion, no need for interpretation, not a bit of conflicting thought or instruction for us, God’s people. It should be presented plainly, objectively, exactly (like a “how to” book), in plain English, everything defined with a precise meaning: “This is faith! This is what belief is! This is how it works! These are the steps/procedures/formulas for correct faith and getting to heaven.” Black-and-white answers; all doubts and questions resolved.

Maybe this is why we create things like “The Four Spiritual Laws.” Things that simplify the complexities of faith so we can manage it, prescribe it, control it.

Yet there it is, in just some of the verses of Scripture I chose: different ideas, plainly saying that faith is not about what we do--and also that faith apart from what we do is useless; no faith at all; dead.

If you know church history, you know that this was one of the key issues during the Reformation: justification by faith/justification by works. Protestant theology has affirmed that salvation is sola fide, through “justification by faith alone.” Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology exclude such a firm, strong, single-minded stance, holding instead that grace implies good works, and so they are also necessary for salvation.

(Let me state clearly at this point, so no one can charge me with Covenant heresy :) that I ascribe fully to “justification by faith alone!” As both a member of the Covenant Church and the Covenant Ministerium, and as a follower of Jesus, this tenet seems most real, miraculous, unique, TRUE--so refreshingly different from all other religions where salvation must be achieved and where actions and consequences create uncertainty, fear, and distance from the deity, rather than the confidence, hope, joy, and intimate relationship with the God of the universe that we graciously have through our Savior, Jesus. The question is: what defines “faith?”)

Why am I rehashing all this topic? I got to thinking about faith and works again because of something I read in a recent teaching letter from “Bridges For Peace,” the organization I volunteered with on my sabbatical in Jerusalem four years ago:

“In rabbinic teaching, we find a great depth of instruction on the importance of what we do. In at least modern Western Christianity, we find the emphasis placed on what we think or believe. Sadly, sometimes this difference has been exaggerated and portrayed as Jewish people only caring about “deeds” and being bound to legalism. A more accurate criticism is sometimes leveled against modern Western Christianity: that we only care and teach about what we think or believe and not about what we do. Neither of these extremes is a fair portrayal of either rabbinic Judaism, nor of biblical Christianity.”


This made me wonder if what needs clarifying are our definitions of faith/belief and works/actions. It seems to me that what we have done is to divorce what was never intended to be separated at all. That “faith” is, in and of itself, an active thing; a demonstrative thing; an embodied reality of one’s strongly held tenets of truth. It is not merely an intellectual, ideological, theological doctrine to which one gives mental assent. The way the writer of James frames his instruction on faith affirms this more unified, integrated, Jewish approach to belief.

But is this the way we Evangelical Covenant Protestant Western Christians really understand faith? To be honest, in my growing up years it was firmly planted in my Christian education that faith has nothing to do with what we do. For years, faith to me was very much an idea, right thought, correct belief, specific knowledge, and orthodox doctrine--in short, a mental exercise, giving assent to and consciously accepting this entire slate of information. Being open to other information and ideas was risky and dangerous. It might be unorthodox, erroneous, even heretical! People would be suspicious of you, God would surely disapprove, and you certainly were in danger of not going to heaven.

This “either/or” understanding of faith and works is what I picked up as I was growing up as a Covenant youth. Perhaps this was meant to distinguish us from Catholics, or to help us steer clear of “works righteousness” (I’m not sure why...maybe that’s just the way we evangelicals assumed faith to be in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s).

No wonder I experienced several crises of faith at various times throughout my life as I tried hard to resolve all the conflicting “bits” of theology, teaching, preaching, and information I was continually receiving and discovering as I sought a closer, deeper walk with Christ. I really wanted to know the TRUTH! I really did seek to honor God with all of my life! I really did want to understand this whole Christian deal; to have it make complete sense. But I kept bumping up against things that raised questions and doubts, that did not make sense to me, and that sometimes just made me want to throw in the towel on the whole business of Christianity. I’m grateful for the many teachers, counselors, authors, pastors, and other spiritual advisors who walked along side of me through these “dark night(s) of the soul” and helped me discern and develop better, bigger ways of grappling with Scripture, theology, ethics, and all the other aspects of faith with healthy, critical thinking.

But back to faith & works - belief & actions...here are some things rattling around in my brain:


•Can we distinguish between “works” and “actions?” Might “works” be human attempts to achieve one’s own salvation, while “actions” are the seen embodiment of faith/belief; the inevitable evidence of one’s deepest convictions?

•Faith: it is NOT works. But is it NO works?!

•It seems to me there is a lot in our faith that is not meant to be pinned down and dissected like a frog in an anatomy lab! The realities of God’s designs are too immense, too beautifully rich and complex, too intricate to be contained in the logic and thinking of finite humanity. Remember, Jesus spoke in parables! “The kingdom of heaven IS LIKE...! It cannot be precisely defined. Maybe it isn’t meant to be. It can only be grasped obliquely; subtly; with something akin to peripheral vision. This kingdom is too spectacular and wonderful to nail down or to be viewed directly. Same with faith and works. They are best approached with “parable” language, best understood as elements in a relationship, intricately and intimately connected, like a marriage--and not meant to be sundered. We get into a can of worms when we try too hard to specify and delineate and pinpoint each element--faith and works--and mess up the rich relational reality of belief and action as they are lived out in actual life.


Overall, I think the author of the teaching letter gets it right when he says the extreme portrayals of faith and action in Judaism and Christianity are not fair in either case. It seems obvious--and biblical--to me that faith is not just an idea or construct, mental assent to something, or vocal statement of what “I believe.” It has within it implications of action/deeds/works--evidence that what is inside one’s head and heart is actual, real, alive. The book of James clearly testifies to the interconnectedness of faith and works. We need to get over our human tendency to demand hard, definitive, intellectual constructs regarding these two components. We need to realize that the Jewish understanding of faith as a lived-out active reality beautifully compliments the more intellectual, mental, in-the-head understanding of faith that has been characteristic of Western Christianity. As we do, the world’s rather jaded and negative perception of the Church as a hypocritical religious institution obsessed with irrelevant, divisive agendas will be changed, “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love” as we offer the world obvious, irrefutable evidence of our faith in Christ.

Whadayah think?

WORSHIP (again...)
"FEED ME!"

How many books, articles, devotionals, bulletin inserts, blog posts, workshops, seminars, Sunday School classes, sermon series, experiential teachings, discussions, and arguments have I read, written, taught, created, led, attended, and engaged in over these past 30 years that I have been a minister of music/worship pastor/associate pastor here at Hilmar Covenant? And what has been the #1 point that I have always driven home in my speaking, writing, and modeling regarding worship?

WORSHIP IS ALL ABOUT GOD AND NOT ABOUT US! We are never the focus of worship. It is not something for us to observe or “enjoy,” to get warm fuzzy feelings from or make us content. It is not something we consume, like entertainment, to satisfy ourselves. Worship is not about what we like or don’t like, and it is NEVER about “meeting my needs!”

This is nothing new. And I am not going to rehash what I’ve been over so many times before. I do believe that people “get it” intellectually (that worship is all about God and not about me). We understand it, and most of us who think about these things from time to time do agree with this truth regarding worship.

But when it comes to the practice of worship, the vocabulary we use in describing worship services, the expectations we have on any given Sunday as we walk into the sanctuary or worship center or whatever we call the gathering space, I’m afraid our best understandings and intentions vanish in a moment. As soon as we hit the parking lot, open the doors and enter the church building, our all-too-human habits and expectations rise up within us and worship once again is about what we want, what makes us happy and content, what is meaningful/familiar/ comfortable to us, and so once again worship actually does become much more (if not 100%) about US.

We might not want it to be this way. Our intentions may, in fact, be very right and true. We really do desire to make the entire time of worship all about GOD; to give everything of ourselves completely to Him during that time. But then, well...”There’s that song again--I just can’t stand it! And why can’t that person reading Scripture dress better--it’s Sunday, after all. Why doesn’t the power point person change the words faster? Wow, that choir anthem sure was a dirge...(or) Wow, that choir anthem sure gave me chills! Whew, this sermon sure isn’t feeding...oops! Don’t go there... But why does the offering take so long? And why do we have to keep standing up...?

You get the picture. We’ve all been there. Because for many of us in our American culture (or at least those of us 40 and older), “good” or “meaningful” or “effective” worship means a smooth, well ordered, carefully crafted event that unfolds the same way an excellent movie or concert or play does: in a timely fashion, without mishaps or mistakes, completely engaging us and striking all of the right chords within us. More on this in a moment. But first...

I bring up this theme of worship again because of something I came across recently--something we need to be continually reminded of regarding worship--and the very humorous response it brought forth in me:

Worship should never be pursued as a means to achieving something other than worship. Worship is never a step on our way to any other experience. It is not a door through which we pass to get anywhere. It is the end point, the goal. (John Piper)

I read this quote while I was eating breakfast, and it was a good, bracing jolt of reality for me again. Piper is essentially saying what I’ve been advocating for 30 years.


But as I reflected on Pipers words--probably because I was taking my morning nourishment--a crazy image came to mind.


It was of that huge ugly plant, Audrey Two, from “Little Shop Of Horrors” booming out: “FEED ME!”


Can’t you just see that enormous, hideous mouth, opening and closing, needing more and more nourishment to satisfy its ever-increasing needs?


Then I superimposed this image over that of worship, and I got this hilarious picture of an entire church full of little “Audrey Twos” sitting in pews, demanding: “FEED ME!”


Pretty funny, don’t you think? Especially if you’ve seen “Little Shop Of Horrors...”

But what if this is how it looks to God, peering down on His people in church: Yikes! A “Little Shop Of Horrors”--week after week!

(Once again, let me be clear to those who are missing the point and starting to take offense: I am being humorous here! Not specifically criticizing anyone or any one church. I’m ust trying to help us be reflective, to challenge ourselves and our relationship with God. I am not being negative or haranguing...)

So what’s the point here? What does all this say about our worship, particularly as Americans with a strong Western cultural perspective? Picking up where I left off earlier...

Through my study and involvement in global missions, I know that we humans view everything in life through a set of cultural lenses--including our religious values and beliefs. Also, culture is so elemental to being human that we are rarely conscious of it, nor of how all the things we do, say, value, expect, and assume in life are filtered through the cultural reality we live in. Like fish in water, where the water provides everything that fish need to live, but the fish have no conscious awareness of the water, we humans are not conscious of the ways our culture affects and touches every aspect of our live--including our religious values and beliefs. Thus, there is no “pure” Christianity; no completely unadulterated pristine Christian faith unaffected and untouched by the many world views held by people around the globe. For there is no “faith” apart from its lived out expression and context--which by necessity occurs in and through a particular people’s culture. (Ooo! There’s another interesting topic to blog about...) This is precisely the reason why missionaries spend so many years and strive so hard to get inside the cultural world view of the people they seek to reach with the gospel.

Two of the most highly esteemed values held by us in America are individualism and consumerism, and I strongly agree with the many writers who have articulated the many ways Christians have unknowingly embraced and allowed these cultural values to infect, influence and shape every aspect of our faith in America. In oh-so-subtle ways over time, we have allowed our particular Christianity to be co-opted by these priorities. We clearly see these two values at work in the individualistic consumer-driven expectations, attitudes, understandings, and approaches to worship that I described above. Volumes have been written elsewhere and more extensively about all of this, as well as about how individualism and consumerism have shaped the way we in the West read Scripture, organize ministry, prioritize moral values, pray, understand “faith,” manage our assets, interpret Christ’s teachings, and so forth.

I wonder: why haven’t we in the American Church rejected these two values in relation to our faith? Instead of allowing individualism and consumerism to invade and affect our Christianity, why don’t we strive to transform these values in ways that would better reflect Kingdom values in the world today?

John Piper’s words challenged me to think again about the many ways I have unknowingly contributed to this process of allowing individualism and consumerism to contaminate my Christian life and faith. I recognize this has happened in ways that I have talked about faith, managed my ministry responsibilities, understood “success” in our church, counseled individuals, etc. And I know there is a bit of Audrey Two in me too!

But hopefully just a small part--like, maybe just the size of the plant in the coffee can...

Lord, help all of us to listen to Your voice and leading, to live with Your values and perspective, and to better discern the influences and forces that drive our lives each day. May we not fall into the trap of letting the world’s priorites infect our thoughts and actions and be totally unconscious to the subtle ways these values manifest themselves in everyday life. Amen.