Recently, I've been doing some writing about the way we think about and use scripture. Some of that you will see here soon. And while I've been thinking about that, a bigger question - about the way we think about a lot of stuff - has been going through my mind.
WHY ARE WE AFRAID TO THINK?
There is a little back story here. Several years ago, I was confronted by an angry dad who was upset because a book I was using for a class included some ideas that he found offensive. Well, he hadn't read the book, but it was on a list that he had seen of "dangerous" authors who were perverting the minds of Christians. The list included folks like Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning - real dangerous dudes. As we talked, well, as he yelled, I realized that this dad was afraid. He was afraid that we were teaching his daughter a different kind of Christianity. When I could get a word in, I asked him why he had sent his daughter to a Christian liberal arts college if he did not want her to learn how to think. I have never forgotten his answer:
"I don't want her to think. I want her to know!"
Wow! I had never thought of it that way before.
I think that we are afraid to think because we are afraid to doubt. We think that doubt will kill our relationship with Jesus. However, doubt is the beginning of faith, not the end.
Remember several years ago, when some letters written by Mother Teresa were released. In some of them, she expressed her doubts. Some folks were upset, thinking in some way this took away from her amazing life of faith and witness. Not to me. To me, reading those letters, I felt closer to Mother Teresa, and she became more real, more human - and more a person of real faith.
You know, there are certain sins that are best dealt with by staying as far away as possible. Just don’t go near them. Don’t allow yourself the temptation. However, the sin of a bad idea is not the kind of sin you should avoid. The best way to deal with a bad idea is to think about it, examine it, talk about it. That’s why I’ve never understood folks who are afraid to read certain books, have certain conversations, and think about certain ideas. They are afraid that they will begin to doubt - that somehow, the only way God can rule in their life is if absolute certainty is maintained. But I think God is bigger than that. God is not afraid of my doubts, because God knows that when I leave the certainty of my box of answers, and let my doubts see the light of day, there is freedom, and that’s where faith lives.
I do think this has something very important to say to us about what we do with scripture, and I’ll write more on that later. But what do you think? I’d love to know. Let’s talk. Share your comments.
*** Thanks to Rachel Evans for helping me to think about some of this stuff. If you are not already a reader of Rachel’s blog, check her out at www.rachelheldevans.com
Mike, you've summarized it nicely! Thanks! I only wish you'd gone into more detail on this, because it's a MAJOR issue in this country, especially amongst conservative evangelicals. I kid you not, 2 wks ago I had a "debate" with a guy 20 yrs my senior about the difference between spiritual maturity and having 'faith like a child'. Basically his stance was that the 2 are mutually exclusive, i.e. spiritual maturity robs you of the ability to have childlike faith. Ergo, we should take the Bible at face value rather than think about it.
ReplyDeleteNow, when it comes to memorization of Scripture, I can't hold a candle to this guy. He knows his stuff. But, he's one of those people who likes to raise controversy, toss a few choice Bible verses at you and declare the matter settled because "it's right there in black and white." I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't want to just shake him and say, "If you spent as much time THINKING about the Bible as you did MEMORIZING it, maybe you'd start understanding something deeper...like what it's ACTUALLY saying!"
There's a big difference between having faith like a child and having the intellect of one.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It reminds me of a quote from Bresee I often give my students: "Faith isn't the opposite of doubt. Faith is choosing to believe despite doubt."
ReplyDeleteThinking on...
Tom
I think that so many folks are afraid to think, to parse, to examine, to pick apart their faith because they believe God will be upset with them.
ReplyDeleteI think that's about as much hogwash as trying to "keep" my anger from the Almighty. Really, can you keep it a secret? It's not like He doesn't already know.
Paul's approach to spreading the Gospel in Greece was with great thought. He went to the meeting places of the thinkers, to reason with them.
There's not a thing wrong with having doubts and searching for answers. It's how we learn, how we grow. I know the knocking I'm hearing in my mom's kitchen right now is the ice maker in her freezer, but only because it gave me the heebies once, and I went looking to find out what was making that creepy noise in the dead of night.
Anyone who claims to be a Christian and yet also claims they never have once doubted their faith...well, that just seems like arrogance to me.
To have doubt and come out the other side is to be more sure of your faith, and more confident in defending and explaining it.
He had a problem with Brennan Manning?!
ReplyDelete*comical WHAAAA face*
My friends are split down the middle as far as Christian/Secular go. Something that prickles me is when my Secular friends say things about Christians, Evangelicals in particular, and then assure me that Eric and I "are different" than the people that they're talking about, because we are still questions, reevaluating and thinking.
My first reaction is to get defensive and say that we're not different, lots of Christians are like us! I then proceed to rattle off a list of my Christian friends (especially if they have met them) who also strive to be thinkers of faith.
A response I got recently is "Well...they're your friends, and your church, so they probably would think along the same lines as you."
I didn't know what to say after that, because...the guy was right. Obviously I'm going to be part of a church family that encourages thought and study and is accepting of the doubts we all have, and I'm going to seek out friends who do that same, and DUH, I was raised my pastor parents who encouraged it as well.
Are we really in the minority if we think this way, though? I wish I knew.
Thanks for this, Mike. I'm actually going to share this with the guy that said that to me.
One thing I teach my kids is that God's Word is the ultimate truth, and that it's the yardstick against which they measure what is good/bad, true/false, etc. I would say that it is healthful and necessary for them to "think" and grow spiritually and theologically within the bounds of the truth they “know” (Bible-centered truth). Likewise, they should be encouraged to grow in knowledge academically (in science, the arts, etc.) with the same biblical world view. I consider it unhealthful, and even destructive to go beyond those bounds (human-centered truth). If the Bible is my source of truth, than I can confidently face tough theological questions, take positions on scientific thought, etc. The regrettable consequence of my position is that I’m usually considered to be fundamentalist, unthinking, uncultured, intolerant, etc. I think what the angry dad might have been saying is that he wants his daughter to have a solid biblical-centered worldview – that she “know” what her basis of truth is before her “thinking” can inadvertently misguide her.
ReplyDeleteSteve - I am so appreciative for the passion you have for the Bible. We share that.
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