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January 02, 2004
Religion and faith
Something that often irritates me is the confusion between these two. Religion, although it implies faith, is not necessarily an indication of having it! The best attempt I have come across to describe the difference, is one which says that religion is "the practice and the public demonstration of a particular form of belief and its symbols and sacred texts" whereas faith is described as "the underpinning beliefs and understandings or accepted, but not necessarily understood, tenets and principles invested in the acceptance of a higher state of existence or being and which motivate a person to behave towards and respond to others according to that persons understanding of the priniciples of faith".
Quite a mouthful when you look at it, but it can be summed up by saying that my belonging to a religion may indicate, but not necessarily confirm, my having a particular depth of "faith". That can only be assessed in the long term by how I respond as a result of that faith, to those with whom I interact daily, and how I conduct myself in all other matters connected with living in accordance with my declared beliefs. Ergo, if I profess to be a Christian, but behave in a thoroughly unpleasant and dishonest way towards the rest of the world, I am probably not a Christian. Oh boy, what a nice Anglican fudge that last phrase implies! But it demonstrates the principle. If I wish to be considered a Christian, then one of the things I should not be doing is going around passing judgement on anyone else's state of faith or beliefs! Therefore, being human, I may THINK someone else may be lacking in faith, but I cannot declare it with certainty.
In short, faith is something we all have - even an Atheist is a person of great faith, in that they have the conviction to believe that they are entirely without higher grace - but it is something many of us neglect to develop. We can cheerfully accept that, because a bus or a train is scheduled to arrive at a certain time, it will, give or take a few minutes, but we either accept and don't think about our beliefs, or simply gloss over them as something we should believe in faith, but somehow can't quite get it right. The trouble then is that we don't make the effort until, when something happens which tests that faith, we find we haven't developed it sufficiently and are somewhat lacking in answers. Too late to reach for the manual now! The world tends to fall apart because we haven't tried to grow and prepare.
As an Anglo-Catholic, I recognise that it is one of the biggest drawbacks to "organised" religion and we are not alone, the same applies in many "protestant" or "evangelical" congregations. The very structures and organisation provide a comfort blanket and people eventually feel safe only inside the familiar formularies - don't expect them to do anything outside of those and don't ask them to try and grow in faith, or even consider what they really believe! Happily this is changing for the better, more and more people are starting to explore the real meaning of faith and finding that it is an exciting and stimulating journey. One which requires an open mind and a mind not afraid to explore new and "different" approaches.
One of the problems many churches face when it comes to the crunch is that the people in the pews have failed to grasp the need to take an active part in the ministry of the church and have also failed to grow beyond the level of the comfortable Sunday School simplicities.
In my time as a Lay Minister (I was first licenced in 1982!), I have had a number of encounters with varying degrees of belief (the precursor to faith!) and complete unbelief. I have also ministered to those who have been seeking faith or found it at the last minute. Both have been incredibly rewarding experiences and have given me the opportunity to grow as well. One particularly poignant occassion involved baptising someone in the back of an ambulance as he quite literally died of his injuries, remaining conscious and aware right to the last few seconds. And it was in those last few minutes of life and consciousness that this young man declared that he had found what he had been seeking. A kidney basin for a font with some simple prayers and the action of sprinkled water allowed that man to make his statement of faith. The Paramedic and I were both moved to tears by it.
One of the biggest problems we all face in this issue of growing in faith (and I include those who declare themselves as having no faith in this!) is that it is very difficult to accomplish anything positive (note I do not say impossible!) in growing and developing one's faith. It is one of those areas where you need to encounter others of similar faith, hear their visions and share in the teaching, learning and nurturing experience. This is where organised religion comes into play, because it can and does provide the environment for this - but, it can also provide a negative environment unless the ministry is faithful, and not afraid to allow and encourage people to grow.
So, my rant for the day, religion is an expression of faith, but it is not in itself faith. And all Churches in the Christian fold are Bible based - but we all reserve the right to our own interpretation of how we show this!
Pax vobiscum.
Posted by The Gray Monk at January 2, 2004 02:27 PM
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Comments
My mother being a professional musician, left me with my grandparents to bring me up to par until I could call myself an adult.
My grandmother was a very warm and loving Christian lady and headed up many of the church's inner fuctions. I first saw this in action just after WW2 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We lived on the palisades above the Pacific Ocean in California and suddenly she and my grandfather had organized a civil defense group that took the entire western area of our city and formed information centers on every block. Wow, I was impressed! After the war was under way every home that had a serviceman was given a little flag with a blue star in the window. My job was to bike through our area and take down the addresses of those blue stars. When the war got going some of those stars were white and gold meaning the solder/sailor would not be coming home.
My grandmother would gather up food, coupons for gas and anything else she could manage and I would deliver this to the home where the loss had been felt. Church services were planned and extra food for the mourners was furnished and it was then I realized what a Christian was all about. I don't remember her attending church but we could hear her talking to Jesus in her bedroom in the back of the house.
She put me through training and I had to learn all the 40 Commandments. When I earned my bible I was stunned to discover there were only 10! I questioned her one afternoon and she looked at me and said I needed 40!
My grandfather added one bit of advice to all this and that was that in my life I would have only one true thing to give to anyone else and and that was my word of honor. That stuck with me through all my years and have never broken the trust of any other human being. I raised 3 very successful kids and am quite content in my old age. My government (USA) is my only regret.
Posted by: Sandy Price at January 4, 2004 08:47 PM
Thanks Sandy for this - we need a few more people like your Grandparents to show the world what Christianity is really about, and happily there are a few about, if spread quite thin on the ground!
Posted by: The Gray Monk at January 4, 2004 11:28 PM
So...it's possible to be a faithful atheist but not an unfaithful Christian?
Posted by: Ron Bell at January 7, 2004 06:40 AM
In a nutshell, yes it is! A "Christian" without faith is worse off than an atheist who at least has the conviction to be "faithless". This strikes at the heart of the jibe at the Pharisees - super religious to all intents and purposes, but without the essential "faith" which makes sense of it.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at January 7, 2004 03:04 PM
ner
Posted by: Sam Daigle at January 8, 2004 04:56 PM