Easter 2012: Discussing Faith

I’d put faith at the top of the list of fascinating topics most people don’t want to discuss, at least most of the people I know. 

It’s curious in that I believe most of us are wired, in some way, for faith, and have been since the beginning of our species.  But the proof of higher powers is so limited that it’s easy for many of us to start to think we’re crazy if we even acknowledge the topic.  Further, the people who do have an opinion tend to have only one, and most of them hold it very tight. 

The result is that most “non-aligned” folks stay quiet on the faith topic, probably for fear of bringing it up and immediately being run over by a freight train. 

In theory, an all mighty God could, if He so wished, send an individual messenger to each of us, in a perfectly personalized fashion, to tell us the meaning of life, and how to get our acts together.  

This hasn’t happened.  If any messages have come at all, the ones which have, have been infrequent and not particularly personalized. 

Yet so many of us continue to have some conversation with higher powers.  We have a twinge that there are sentient forces, greater than we, which are at work, and could even be potentially called upon to influence the universe.  

This conversation may be limited to the occasional mini-request “if you could just let me pass this test…,” to full-on daily prayer, or the “conversation” may simply be the resistance to the urge to converse at all.  But the force and notion are present in the minds of many, many people – I’d wager the majority (in some way). 

The prevalent presence of the notion is sufficient to make it interesting to me.  Maybe we’re all just nuts, which would be kind of cool in its own right (why did our brains evolve to have these feelings?), or maybe there’s really something, or someone, out there.  

I think we’re better off talking about it.  

But we do need a bigger vocabulary for the topic, and a greater openness to the discussion. 

Along these lines, I made a comment to my good friend Bart Garrett, the lead pastor at Christ Church East Bay and my co-founding moderator of weover.me that although I thought faith was a fascinating topic, and that I bet a majority of humans had some dialogue with higher powers, that Christianity as a single, all encompassing, explanation was “too good to be true.” 

I guess that stuck with Bart for a bit, and about a week before Easter he asked if I’d be willing to introduce his holiday sermon by expanding on that thought. 

I was profoundly humbled and honored (and scared) by the request, but I agreed. 

To be clear, if prior to Bart’s request, someone had asked me to pick which event was more likely to happen between: 1) being called out of the stands to pitch the A’s out of jam in the 9^th inning; or 2) giving the introduction to an Easter Day sermon in a packed Presbyterian church, I would have struggled with my guess, and had to finally settle on being called from the stands to pitch for the A’s as the more likely possible event.  The latter option being just too improbable. 

But life has its twists and turns, and we never really know what’s around the corner, and it was in fact the latter which came to pass. 

For a couple reasons, and in no small part to ensure I didn’t wander way off base, I wrote out a version of what I planned to say (which I’ve included below).  Interestingly, however, once written I struggled with whether I should read my thoughts, or should just take a few notes up and speak more spontaneously from memory.  I decided speaking spontaneously would have greater impact, even though I ran the risk of losing the exact line of my original position.  People tune out when they hear monotone readings.  It’s better to risk missing something than to be boring.  But, it also goes without saying, this made me even more nervous. 

You can hear what I said here (copyright Christ Church East Bay) - click the play button on the gray box below: 

Easter_2012

Bart’s sermon follows my themes and is well worth listening to as he speaks directly to them. 

For those who would rather read my intro, below is what I initially wrote, but is not an exact transcript of what I actually said:

 

Easter Sunday, 2012: Christianity: Too good to be true? 

Bart enjoyed my comment that “Christianity was too good to be true.”  

Who wouldn’t want to be a new creation, forgiven of all sin and saved for eternity? 

By way of some background, I’ve developed the view that watering down faith, or packaging it as an “opiate” are inadequate lines of thinking and take the knees out of an important part of people’s lives. 

The “Jesus as philosopher” route some take to enable them to casually listen to the message is also problematic.  Gandhi was a great philosopher.  But Gandhi wasn’t claiming to be the son of God!  I tend to agree more with C.S. Lewis, either Jesus IS the son of God, or, WAS a raving lunatic.  There really is no middle ground in this case. 

So, I don’t think the answer is in distorting the Christian signal.  I think you have to respect the signal, as much as you can, in the form in which it’s being sent.

The challenge for me isn’t the signal, it’s the noise.  

There’s a lot of noise around this signal. I think most everyone who struggles with faith, struggles with variants of these questions. Do we have free will?  How can a gracious God standby and watch genocide or slavery?  If He’s present at all, why isn’t He present then/there?    

Does anyone really believe the world was created in six days?  Can people really ignore evolution?  

If God was willing to send some proof – why only such a small amount?  Why show up at all?  Why do we have so many other religions?  How come God didn’t send a messenger to each people, in their own language and custom?  Why, how, why? 

The signal, when amplified by the Bible(s) authors and Church, is strengthened, but also unavoidably altered.  Are we really getting the original transmission?   Is the Bible supposed to be taken literally, or more as a collection of both non-fiction and fiction– if the latter then who has the license to provide interpretations?   If the former, non-fiction, than the noise gets even louder and the signal even fainter for many of us. 

I don’t think I’ll ever simply hear the signal and ignore the noise, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to put the signal above the noise.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect and appreciate the signal.  

Someone or something very powerful is trying to reach us.  

I also think most of us want to be reached.  I think the majority of us, in some way, believe in a higher power.  I don’t believe there are many atheists in foxholes, or in hospitals, or buying lottery tickets, or trying to get into a good college – many of us hope for a little divine intervention now and then. 

Awe, gratitude, and hope have been part of the human experience, since there were people to have experiences.  If we didn’t have these feelings, we’d just be a slightly higher form of predator.  We’re something different. 

As I’ve said many times, I think everyone could “use a little more Bart in their lives.”  I see many people who are unsettled by what they sense are gaps in their being, feel profoundly lonely, or are just unsure about the trajectory of their lives.   Just being in this discussion helps. 

In closing, for those of us who hear the noise more than the signal, try to experience the signal, as it’s sent, don’t water it down, struggle with it, respect it, and most of all enjoy it.  I think an effort to consider the spirit should be part of life.  We’re each better off if we think about the role of grace in our lives, divine or not. 

For those who hear the signal more than the noise, don’t ignore the noise, an all powerful creator would not have included the noise if it weren’t for a purpose.  The delivery is an integral part of any message.  The noise is supposed to be there, and to ignore it is a mistake. 

So, today, on Easter, the most important Christian holiday, hear and enjoy what’s being said, as Bart would say, let the words fall freshly upon you.   It’s OK to focus on the signal and filter out the noise for a while. 

Divine grace is a powerful concept, even if it might just be too good to be true :-) 

Comments

[Bart Garrett]

Many people have commented on how much they appreciated your candor and honesty! I think you hit it out of the park (something that most every batter would have done against you had the A's called you out of the stands to pitch!).

[ezra roizen]

I'm flattered that you assume I could get the ball close enough to hit ;)

[Chris Byers]

"Who wouldn’t want to be a new creation, forgiven of all sin and saved for eternity?"

That's a really good question. Let's forget for a moment all of the baggage around faith and "religion" for a moment and ask your question. Why would anyone reject or walk away from a wonderful eternal life and a cleansing of all of the bad we have done? There aren't many good reasons to walk away.

The other questions still need to be addressed but this puts many of us on better foundation for a thoughtful discussion. Thanks for sharing.

CB

[Brian McNitt]

Religion is nothing more than a series of symbols and stories trying to describe "something," pointers if you will, but only that. Ultimately, the desire is to experience that "something" directly; it's that desire that moves the faithful.

But it's possible to experience that "something" directly, here and now, in this very moment and have no more questions. Questions only live in the domain of the thinking mind; sidestep the thinking mind and you're (...pick a pointer to describe it -- "awake, in heaven, one with God") there.

Blessings. :)

[Tim Musgrove (@tmusgrove)]

Ezra, a very brave and thought-provoking essay/talk, on your part. Thanks for that.

Three things come to mind:

1. C.S. Lewis' argument is valid if you accept the premise that Jesus "claimed" to be the son of God, but historical Jesus research casts serious doubt on that. At best, Jesus claimed other things that *might* imply some divine attributes (like being able to forgive people's sins without needing an altar sacrifice).

2. I very much like your "hearing signal amidst the noise" analogy for what faith is all about. This would apply equally to all world religions, however, not just Xianity.

3. The biggest challenge to faith among contemporary educated folks is that a strong movement is afoot (Dawkins, Dennett) to say it's *all* noise, and there's no signal, in religion. I believe faith will survive this challenge, but not in its current (orthodox) formulation.

Look forward to the next we/me event.
-Tim M.

[Demian Entrekin]

If there is no evidence, no factual experience, I'm not quite sure what kind of signal it is...

[ezra roizen]

a feeling, a hunch, a superstition, something...