I had a wonderful conversation yesterday with a woman from my congregation. She is asking great, hard questions about "truth."
She says that her mind is beginning to open to new ways of thinking about truth and she fears that our church is not keeping up. That our teachings are too traditional.
After 45 minutes of conversation--on topics including revelation, tradition, truth-as-beauty, energy, physics, history, Reiki, and the Bible--I think she found that what she was talking about was not so strange at all, but that I understood some of the things she was talking about. And not only understood, but agree.
The question of epistemology--the great set of questions that deal with what we know and how we know what we know--is the dirty little secret of the church.
Most clergy I know have post-modern, non-foundationalist epistemologies. But somehow, we're not communicating that well enough in our churches. I don't know if this is a simple question of expressing doubt more clearly, or if there's more substantial teaching and preaching about the "authority"(or lack thereof) of the Biblical texts that we need to do. But something's not getting through to our congregation. Church still appears--to those on the outside and even those in our congregations--as an entity that buys, hook, line, and sinker, the party line of traditional Christianity.
This is hard stuff to talk about.
But this woman is ready to walk away from church because she doesn't know that her beliefs and her questions are well within the norm for contemporary Christian faith.
I need to do better at preaching what I don't know.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI was a little surprised to read this post because to me I find Marble to be a place where I can explore and question the Christian faith. And I don't find Marble to be Fundamentalist in it's approach to our faith. I am in NO WAY saying this woman's experience isn't valid. I am relating my experience of being in a church where I feel comfortable and encouraged to question my faith. A faith journey is filled with doubts and questions and it's completely normal. Sister Carol's bible studies are always applying the biblical teachings to our culture today. Sister Carol is wonderful and amazing in how she demonstrates the relevence of the Bible to our world today. When I have attended the WeWo services, I have always felt you had a modern approach and you have addressed some very sensitive topics. My whole sense of the ministers at Marble are people who are open minded, who are flexible in their thinking and who are seeking the truth as they understand it. I hope the woman will continue to go to church. Maybe she can explore some other churches in the city. There was a period where I left Marble and I attended services at The Cathdral of St. John the Divine. At that time, my experiences at the Cathedral spoke to my soul. I still love the Cathedral, but I ended up returning to Marble. In addition, as part of my spritual journey, I practice yoga and I have been studying Tibetan Buddhism. I find the yoga practice and meditation, as well as reading Buddhist writings, to actually deepen my Christian faith and my love for Jesus. To me there is no conflict in the teachings. I share my spiritual practices because perhaps that may help someone else on their journey. Remember, we are all human here and we will never have all the answers in our earthly lives. It's okay to live in our questions. I think what this woman is experiencing right now is a good thing. She is seeking right now. It's good to explore and observe what's going on in our mind, heart and soul. It's uncomfortable and that's okay. She may feel like the church is not the right place for her now and again I say that it's not unusual to feel that as part of the spiritual journey. I am glad she was able to talk with you. You are very sensitve to people and that is a wonderful gift you have to share.
Pamela
Thanks for the affirmation, Pamela. There is a really broad diversity of belief at Marble. I just think that some people wonder, when their questions begin, whether even Marble can "contain" their questions. Of course, there are some ways of looking at life that can't be reconciled with core Christian teachings, but I have a very broad sense of who I think can and should feel "at home" at Marble. This woman's comments reminded me that I can't be too comfortable and stop creating intentional space for radical seeking.
ReplyDeletethanks ....
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