(Based on two bible readings for Sunday June 2nd, 2013. Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10)
What is faith?
What does it mean to be a faithful person? In general, we may define it as one who is a devout adherent to a
religious system of belief. A faithful Muslim prays five times a day; a faithful
Jew learns the Torah and observes the Sabbath; a faithful Hindu prays to the
gods and goes to temple. A faithful person
is someone who practices a religion. One can be a faithful spouse, too. Synonymous with faith, a person of integrity, trustworthy, loyal, committed.
The U.S. Marine corp. are always faithful,
“semper fidelis.” --To the corps., its
principles, duties, and national defense calling. To be faithful is to adhere to an ideology or
to love what one has been taught. One
can be a faithful democrat, a faithful bigot, a faithful shopper, a faithful
friend, a faithful anything really. To devote
one’s self to something or someone is to be faithful. To
whom or what are you most faithful? Who is faithful to you?
More specifically now, what does it mean to be a faithful Christian? There may be some confusion about this
question. Why? Because Christians have made it difficult to
know what it means to be a faithful one, because there are so many kinds of
Christians who exercise faithfulness in so many different ways. Christians have defined themselves in a variety
of ways, and by defining who they are have defined who they are not. We call
that dogma or doctrine, human interpretation of belief. Some have defined
Christianity too narrowly, choosing an issue or a moral opinion as the defining
matter. As a result we have drawn distinctions and separated ourselves from
other Christians and even more so from non-Christians. The
diversity of religious expression and our compulsion to be right has meant that
Christians do not live in unity with one another. This is a hurtful scandal.
Christian faith excludes, establishes certain boundaries, and develops systems
to uphold those exclusive boundaries.
Congregations are the end product of private individuals practicing
faith with like-minded individuals. Often, churches have a circle-the-wagons mentality that divides the world into faithful insiders and unfaithful outsiders. We
have chosen to be part of the church, chosen how to be faithful here
together. What does faithfulness look
like here? To be moral, follow biblical
rules, go to church regularly, pray, give, be baptized, take communion, show up
on Sunday, and contribute in some way? Sometimes
we confuse being faithful to a congregation or a pastor or a liturgy or a biblical tenet with having
faith in Jesus. And when we do, we suggest that our ways are the only ways, our
ways define faith. We get stuck in traditions, in rituals, in behaviors, with
people that may not help us mature in faith in God, in Jesus. So what is Christian faith?
