The Dialogue is the newsletter of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in St. Joseph, MO. Oftentimes, I'll post here on the blog my columns for the weekly newsletter. I mention it just so that folks who read the snail-mail version can skip this post if they've already read it.FAITH IS A JOURNEY NOT A GUILT TRIP
In last week’s Dialogue, I issued for the second year in a row a Lenten Challenge to the membership of First Christian. The challenge asks every church member to be present in worship every Sunday in Lent, provided they were in town and physically able to attend. Ironically, after issuing this challenge, we had to cancel Sunday’s services due to that morning’s snow storm. Given the fact that I got stuck trying to drive up 10th street, I decided that all of us should fall into the “physically unable to attend” category. So you’re off the hook for last Sunday but not for the other Sundays in Lent—not that I’m trying to lay a guilt trip on you or anything like that.
If we had been able to have services on Sunday, you would have heard me preach a sermon entitled, “Faith is a Journey Not a Guilt Trip.” I can’t take credit for that phrase. I found it on a marketing postcard used by a church in New York. I kept that card and had it taped to my office door for a long time to remind myself and others what our lives of faith are supposed to be about. I need reminding, because I grew up in a religious tradition which taught that our relationships with God and indeed our very salvation from eternal damnation were gifts of God’s grace. In practice, however, that tradition stressed informally and formally quite a long list of do’s and don’ts which proved a person’s righteousness. Doctrine said one thing; practice said another. The net result in my case was a whole lot of guilt.
It is just this type of guilt and shame that comes to many people’s minds when they think about organized religion in general and Christianity in particular. Added to this perception of Christianity, I believe, is a secondary suspicion on the part of many that church leaders who peddle guilt and shame are really nothing more than hypocrites themselves. It is tragic that the religion Jesus’ words and actions inspired has so often devolved into just such a cycle of guilt, shame and hypocrisy, because he challenged the religious hypocrites of his day and practiced a shocking hospitality towards people who felt condemned and ostracized by them.
One of the lectionary texts for Sunday was the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. Abraham and his wife Sarah stand as the patriarch and matriarch of three of the world’s great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Their willingness to answer the call of a God they hardly knew and to follow that God to a new and strange land functions as the paradigm of faith for all three religions. The apostle Paul wrote centuries later that Abraham (and Sarah) were considered righteous by God because of his (their) faith rather than because of their obedience to God’s laws. A reading of the stories of Abraham and Sarah reveals the truth of Paul’s words; Abraham and Sarah had many faults that the text refuses to hide, yet through one struggle after another they chose to stick it out with God. The story of this faithful couple reveals that God’s criteria for judging a person’s righteousness is based upon a person’s willingness to answer God’s call and begin the journey of faith rather than on their moral superiority. Unfortunately, this is a far cry from what is preached at many churches on Sundays.
What would it mean if First Christian Church understood God’s desire for us to be a call to a spiritual journey rather than a checklist of morality? One thing it might mean is that people who have experienced Christianity only as a tool of shame and guilt could discover a God who loves them and welcomes then. Another thing it might mean is that we, as a church, could free up the energy now spent on determining what behavior is moral, righteous, proper and/or acceptable and devote our time to asking what steps of faith God would have us take. I’m sure there are other things that might happen as well.
Guilt is a rather cheap way to motivate people, but I understand why many ministers and church leaders make use of it. It is difficult to inspire people to take seriously their faith in God. Making people feel guilty so that they will give their time and money comes easier. Nonetheless, the hope of this minister is that the membership of First Christian Church will be motivated not by guilt but rather by a deep love for God and a sense of excitement about where God will lead them on their journeys of faith.
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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