In reflecting on how/if my faith has changed in 2008 as a result of engaging with all things emergent, I have to admit that part of me now finds the question entirely annoying. Too much of my past was spent comparing faith barometers out of an unhealthy preoccupation to be spiritually superior. Perhaps this fact says more about me, than the question at large; nevertheless, the emergent conversation has given me the freedom to not really care about the level of my faith as it compares to others, which has in turn caused it to become more impassioned than ever! The emergent conversation has enabled me to take my focus away from being super-Christian (which wasn't working out so well anyway), and given me new ways to engage, new questions to entertain, new ideas to imagine, and new (and diverse) people with which to embark down our postmodern context. One additional thing is sure: in no other period of my life have I said to myself on so many occasions: "Ah, that's exactly what I have been feeling/thinking/wondering."
Christian Identity and the Hegemony of Mammon
2 years ago
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3 comments:
Right on Greg. I totally resonate with what you wrote, and feel like it describes my experience as well. Great thoughts.
Greg,
I understand where you are coming from as well. I also used to constantly try to check my faith to figure out how close to God I was at any particular moment, and if I ever felt far away, then I felt guilty. Still, I think it is a good idea to interrogate our relationships occasionally, because it is easy to become complacent. I know, for instance, that in my marriage I do this periodically, usually with Nick, because this activity seems to advance our relationship in strength and richness, even if I do this in a period where I feel like things are already good.
Jane,
My point is that I do not fear becoming complacent anymore. That is what has changed. (Boy, does that sound arrogant!)
But to be clear, I do not mean to devalue the importance of the question. Nor did I mean to suggest that your motivation in asking it came from a prior place of guilt-based Churchianity, the likes of which we can both claim origin.
Furthermore, I respect that your interrogative process with Nick strengthens and enriches your marriage relationship. But how do you question God in this regard? How do you question yourself in this regard?
The emergent conversation has simply changed how I reflect on my faith. I trust God in a way now that is not compelled out of a desire to work at the relationship, which has had the ironic side-effect of strengthening my faith and actually causing me to work at the relationship more than ever before.
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