The eCrozier

Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still.
– T.S. Eliot

As I listen to the voices of younger Christians, such as the ones I recently heard from students at Georgia Southern, I am excited to hear of their passion for the Gospel, their deep desire to follow Jesus, and their longing for true community, even if some part of that community is expressed in online social networking. As a Baby Boomer, such social networking doesn’t feed me. I do, however, appreciate its importance to younger people. What I do not hear from younger Christians is much interest in arguing about what might be called propositional theology, which reduces faith to a series of propositions about God. Taken to its extreme, such propositional theology is reductionist. All one has to do is make sure one agrees with the right propositions about God and then one can be assured one has the right words and thus saved.

This is not to say words do not matter. They do. The words we use have consequences. They can bless or curse. They can build up or they can tear down. They can heal or they can infect others with hate. But as the quote from Eliot above indicates, “words strain” and “decay with imprecision.” And when we equate faith with a belief in a set of words on a page, then we are not being true to the faith we have received from the Saints.

Faith in Jesus involves our whole being. It is a compelling, holistic trust that God was in Christ reconciling the world. It cannot be reduced to the thoughts that run through our heads or to certain propositions with which we agree. To be sure, faith involves our thoughts and beliefs, but it is so much more. Faith in the reconciling love of God in Jesus is the focus of our being. It defines who we are in this world, what we do with our lives, and it is reflected in all the choices we make.

Younger Christians are reminding us of that. I thank God for their witness. As I listen to them, they express disinterest in many of the current arguments of the Church. It is not that they think the arguments don’t matter. Nor do they think the issues being raised are unimportant. It is just that they do not understand why they have reached such importance for older people. It is Jesus that matters to them: what he taught us about how to live in this world; how he conquered sin and death on the cross; and, how his resurrection is the first fruit for all the faithful.

Because of their witness, I am ever more hopeful for the future of Christ’s Church. They are helping us remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing: A living faith in Jesus.

+Scott