The Hole in How We Do It

~ by Nathan Brown, author, Editor (Signs of the Times, Australia / New Zealand)

How we connect our beliefs with our everyday lives and how we connect our beliefs with the lives of those around us in ways that make sense to them and to us, must be a constant challenge to our faith.

And it is in this aspect of Christian religious practice that it seems we have a growing hole. I think for many believers we are victims of history—the history of our belief system itself and of changing social attitudes and beliefs. And it is our success in meeting the challenges of previous generations that has left us exposed when trying to connect in the present.

My faith tradition began in a time and place in which the majority of the population were practicing, church-going Christians of one variety or another. In this environment, the emerging faith community focused on demonstrating to other Christians why some aspects of their traditional faith were not in accord with the teachings of the Bible. We didn’t always convince them, but at least we could engage in a worthwhile discussion and they would have some understanding of our point of view.

In the 20th century, our tradition—and Christianity generally—faced new frontiers. With the growing acceptance of evolutionary theory and atheism, we felt the need to employ scientific methodology to describe our faith and to bolster the foundations of our beliefs. We readily employed the rationality of Christian apologetics and the science of creationism to challenge the assumptions of non-believers. We didn’t always convince them, but at least we could engage in a spirited debate and at least had a hearing for our views.

Today, both these “strategies” have their place and their appropriate audiences. But as the audiences most receptive to these approaches diminish in many societies around the world, the hole in how we do this grows. With an increased interest in spirituality but a declining interest in formal religion, the majority of the population has shifted away from both entrenched Christianity and avowed atheism. This same shift has also been seen as our faith tradition has expanded into non-Western cultures in which these two extremes are not necessarily mirrored.

Reflecting on both of these approaches, it seems we have always been good at telling others how and why they are wrong. In looking for a new approach, perhaps we need to learn to tell others how and why they are right, to share and celebrate their faltering steps toward spirituality as they share and celebrate ours. We bring our treasured beliefs and lifestyle and demonstrate the value and meaning these bring to our lives. At the same time and without compromising our own beliefs, we respect and recognise the meaning others find in the understandings they bring.

This is a challenge, but the scope of our understanding and concern gives a breadth of commonality with a wide variety of people and communities. And from this threshold of shared beliefs, hopes, and life practices, we can set off as fellow pilgrims, trusting the strength of our distinct beliefs and the power of God working in our lives to lead us to a greater understanding of His goodness and purposes in our lives and our world. “His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27, NLT).