BLOG 8/3/16. THE SHEER, OFTEN CONFUSING, MYSTERY OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
For starts, Jesus told his followers that not everyone who calls him ‘Lord, Lord’ is going to enter his kingdom, but rather those who do the will of his Father who is in heaven. So then, there is some kind of a profession of Christian faith that is not authentic, i.e,. doesn’t make the grade. Or, maybe as the old Negro spiritual put it so plainly (really a ‘dig’ at white slave-owners): “Everybody talking about heaven, ain’t-a-gonna-go-there.” Church institutions are well populated with those who want their sins forgiven, and want to go to heaven when the die—but somehow miss the whole all-of-life-consuming and transformational dynamic of what Jesus came to be and to do…. Yes, those who are altogether comfortable with the words of the Christian message, … but for whom that same message is not that which is the heart and core of their lives, their motivation, their goals, their focus. Church membership is easy to explain, but how does one explain supernatural new life (… even if one has experienced it)?
(For Harry Potter fans, it would be like trying to explain Hogwarts to a bunch of muggles. I hope that doesn’t sound too sacrilegious.)
In my New Orleans sojourn, there was a movement of new life in the Roman Catholic community in which thousands of the Roman Catholic faithful, who had attended Mass all of their lives—suddenly encountered the Spirit of God and their eyes were opened and they became captive to Jesus, they discovered scriptures, and their lives took on a whole new dimension. How does one explain that: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes? So is everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
Where does the the very sense of need of something to fill the lurking void in our lives come from? From where does our common human need for meaning, for acceptance, or for hope and a future come from. The eminent physicist, Blaise Pascal, spoke of the “god-shaped vacuum” that inhabits every human breast. If one is in conversation with that array of real men and women with whom one rubs shoulders every day, it doesn’t take long to begin to discern those from all kinds of secular and religious backgrounds who are on this quest. (Those engaged in mission studies refer to such as: men of peace, i.e., those looking for meaning, or hope, or something to explain their lives.)
I’m pretty suspicious of easy evangelistic formulae. The mystery of true Christian faith will not be confined to formulae. At the same time there is a venerable piece of explanation out of our theological heritage that is helpful. It says that there are three components to saving (translate: authentic) faith in Jesus Christ. First, one must have the knowledge of, the facts about who Jesus is, what he came to be and to do, taught, etc. This is referred to in Latin as notitia / knowledge. This is behind the Biblical teaching that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the communication/preaching of Christ. Secondly, one must give assent to the truth of that knowledge, i.e., that what is communicated in Christ’s incarnation is, in fact, reliable. This is referred to as: assensus / or assent to its reliability. But, thirdly, there is the necessity of embracing Jesus and his teachings in one’s whole life, of being willing to be formed anew into his likeness, and to have our lives totally built upon our loving obedience to him and his teachings. This is fiducia, the embrace of whole-hearted trust and obedience to the One who is the object of our love. And the mystery is that this all can emerge in a huge plethora of ways. The truth can lie dormant for years, it can germinate in strange ways, and it is an ongoing process of conversion after conversion when it all becomes more and more real. But the word mystery remains. And in every human being you meet, there is that element even when intentionally repressed out of one’s intent to remain autonomous. Welcome to the mystery!
