"Faith is at once the most wonderful and the simplest of things. In it a man opens his eyes and sees and accepts everything as it - objectively, really and ontologically - is." - Karl Barth1
Why do we pray?
I cannot help but ask this question over and over.
If God indeed knows everything, and administers everything according to His will why then speak about our desires to this all-knowing, all-powerful God upon whom all things and its existence out-and-out depend on?
I cannot say that I know the answers to all these things.
Earth Day is only minutes away from being over. Another day, has passed and like in so many things that are subject to time, this day now becomes part of my memories and are now recorded as a chapter in my life.
I am more than glad that this remembrance of Earth Day was done with the celebration of the life of a dear person with whom I count myself fortunate to have as a friend .
Perhaps it is safe to say that in as far as speaking about Earth Day and the need to uphold the urgent struggle of safeguarding the environment, the celebration of Earth Day and the work for those in the environmental movement must always be reflected in the context of love for life –and I am not talking here about token sentimentally about Mother Nature, nor am I simply being a bleeding heart for the cute and cuddly animals, nor am I romanticizing my love for the outdoors –far from it!
While it is true that the aforementioned things are part of the things that bear weight in my decision to commit myself to my work with Greenpeace, a larger part of me recognizes the resolute urgency of taking action for the environment lies in the love that can be found in life that is shared in relationships –relationships that can be found in that of parents, grandparents, children, siblings, relatives friends, comrades, kindred spirits and lovers.
For the past few months I've been undergoing what one might call a crisis of faith.
That is not to say that I'm deciding to part ways with the God I love, but mainly this has to do with discouragement –at church, at other Christians and with those in the faith that at one point in my life I've looked up to. I do not want to feel this way.
In fact, I believe that those who share this disappointment are not enjoy state as well, and believe me I know of people who are close to my heart that are feeling the same way as well. Don't get me wrong I have not gone off to believe in another Gospel, or in another Christ, and no I do not intend to stay in this state forever I am just sad, at how the church that God used to proclaim Christ to me as a kid is also the same church that has pierced my heart with grief for its dichotomous approach to doctrine and practice.
That's why I am writing this hoping that putting what I feel into words that fit nicely in some facet of the world wide web would give solace as I am pondering the possibility of parting ways with the church that I've been a part of since I was a child.
People who know me or at least those who take the time to read my musings on theology and the life of Christians and the Church are probably familiar with my interest in relating exploring the social dimension of a believer’s faith in Christ.
Primarily because I am a staunch believer that though faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour are personal affairs – it does not mean though that it should be a private affair wherein a believer must be contented in living a Christian life of ‘working our their relationship with God’ through misguided exercise of personal piety and overemphasis on devotional Bible-reading and prayer, however good and important those things may be for each individual Christians.
Hate me as much as you want to but I believe that Christianity is not just about us and Jesus. Because the relationship that we have with God through Jesus Christ brings us into communion with millions of others. Otherwise there won’t be a need for the Church, which exists within the world to be a visible revelation of God calling upon mankind to become subject of His present and future Kingdom.
Looking at Christianity from the perspective of individualism hurts the body of Christ and its witness as it makes it seem that this present world doesn’t matter and that our relationships with one another (however imperfect they are), are not at all important because we have a personal relationship with Jesus.
It is in line with that thought that I have resolved to talk about this social dimension of the Christian life in previous and present post as well as in the coming days as I will try to share with you my personal readings on faith as articulated from the theological reflections of fellow believers who like myself are wrestling with Scriptures in defining a faith that is not ‘dead’ but rather a faith that is transformative not only in the aspect of the individual’s sanctification but also in the life and witness of the Church at large to the world that groans for its liberation when Christ returns in glory.
So it is here that I would like to share about James W. Douglas’ insight on faith’s relationship with hope as he has written in his book Lighting East to West:
“The Christian experience of faith is in a God of hope to humanity, a loving God who will finally bring justice and peace to the world. The Christian prays, “Thy kingdom come,” knowing that when the kingdom does come, swords will be beaten into ploughshares – or more difficult to believe today that nuclear weapons will be abolished and the world’s masses freed from hunger and oppression. The Christian experience of faith is in a God who will finally transform the world as we know it, filled with violence and suffering, into a new heaven and new earth where love and truth will reign in people’s hearts and be embodied in a global community. Thus faith in God means hope for the earth, a hope for all humanity.”1
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[1] Douglas, James W. Jesus, Gandhi and the Nuclear Age: Lighting East to West p.92
