Statements Of Faith

Posted by Jonathan Brink
January 28, 2009

statement

There is an interesting discussion going on over here at this post regarding statements of faith.  And in the process of dialog something stuck out to me.

First, I get statements of belief.  They’re the little list of things we say we believe.  They include very important components to our faith.  I personally have no problem with people having them because they can very much be a working out of the belief process.  I do get seriously concerned with fixed constructs of what we say we believe, which is not the same as what is truth.  Truth exists as a construct all its own.  It just is.  How much we capture of that truth is highly relative based on a huge number of factors in our life (mentors, location, access to Scripture, community, etc).  And in many ways our statements of belief create unnecessary barriers to relationship and even our own spiritual development.

And here is my point. What if our statements of believe are neat little tricks we play on ourselves?

Jesus spent almost no time focusing on the list of beliefs but instead on the action of belief.  In other words, he looked for the fruit of believe in each person’s life.  Did they step up?  Did the follow?  Did they put something on the line?  It mattered very little what they said, but instead what they did.

What if Jesus understood that our little belief statements can become just as much a hindrance as a help?  What if he understood that we’re likely to bullshit ourselves.  It’s what we do isn’t it?  We’re broken, prone to lying and deceiving, even to ourselves.  And what if Jesus understood that our lists can actually keep us locked in a perpetual state of arrested development.  Because once we say we believe something, it becomes much harder to shift gears even when we don’t believe it. (Unless that’s the point of the lists.)

I appreciate the way Blake put it in the previous post.  He said,

“I’m not interesting in something else that I have to confess or sign off on.”

Which in some ways drives home my original concern.  Statements of faith often become insurmountable barriers to entry.  They close us off from relationship.  And if the point of the mission is love and restoration, we can’t do that very well from afar, or when the barriers we have created keep people from engaging what is supposed to be called Good News.

And it is so easy to say we believe.  But Jesus even said, don’t look for the words.  Look for the actions, the fruit of our lives as the true indicator.  But we don’t like that do we.  We like lists that look pretty on paper.  We like lists that people can read and assume good things about us.  And the best part is we don’t actually have to believe the list.  We just have to say we do and it is generally accepted that we do.

It’s would suggest it is actually harder to not have a statement of belief.  It’s harder to live instead in the tension of becoming, of growing, and of asking do we really believe.  It doesn’t mean we ignore belief.  It means we hold lightly the things we have convinced ourselves of, leaving the true work in our lives to the Holy Spirit.

I would offer that it would be more powerful for a community to live into what it believed, wrestling through that discovery process over time and then recognizing that we do believe.  And then holding that lightly as true, as a growing process, as something that is now.  Because things might just change.

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Church, Church Leadership, faith

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  • Well, Jonathan, if you put it THAT way ... "I believe that we are bullshitting ourselves!" ... that's the kind of statement I'd be willing to sign any time. :-)

    I still believe that there is some urgent need for strong affirmative teaching - not to lull ourselves into false securities - or define who fits in and who doesn't - but for the sake of those who are truly struggling with perversions of the image of God. Sometimes you can't just stand back but need to say: "No, God is not like that! Love is not like that!" We've got plenty of parables (take Lk.15 for example) and emphatic lists that are more than poetry (1 Cor.13) for exactly that kind of occasion. In THAT context, statements of faith (and unequivocal descriptions of who God is) are not only legitimate but indispensable - a prophetic voice that calls to the kind of repentance you've just described.
  • Josh, know that I'm not against statements of faith. Like I've said before I think they can be very helpful for some in working out their faith. I just don't see Jesus focusing on the list of beliefs but instead the acts that reveal belief.
  • Agreed, they can never be the focus. I merely reacted to your suggestion that it may be better and more beneficial not to have them at all.
  • I don't want to dominate the conversation here but couldn't many of your concerns be addressed by simply adding a preamble, something that could be worded like this:

    "The following statements are an expression of our heart, our passion, of things we hold dear because of the way they have impacted and benefited our own lives. We are aware that they can only represent temporary snapshots and limited sketches along our journey of faith and of seeking understanding, and that we more often than not fall short of these ideals ourselves. These are the things we nonetheless are striving to pursue and implement in our daily living rather than just affirm our belief that they are trustworthy and true. They are not meant to exclude those who would disagree with them or would describe their personal passion and faith in a different way but to at least give an idea what makes us tick and offer a starting point for conversation and a continuing meaningful relationship that may even lead to express the same things differently in the future."
  • Josh, you could. But have you ever seen anyone do that? I haven't.
  • Maybe it's about time someone dares to do it. It's called "learning from past mistakes"!
  • Jeff Richards
    I would hope that what we say, or mean to confess, is what we actually live out. That the two would be one. I think Jesus' push for action instead of (or even alongside righteous?) belief might have been meant more for the pharisee, those that were all talk and no righteous walk.
  • Hope is a good word Jeff. I hope to. But there's a little Pharisee in us all don't you think?
  • I have a feeling that quote may end up getting me in trouble someday...ah, well. ;)

    I think it's interesting that we're always so preoccupied with statements of faith and belief, often to the neglect of their practicality. I hardly ever see anyone upset that a statement of action and praxis isn't codified. And we hardly ever stop to think about how our living, our participating, and our actions determine our beliefs. In that respect I think our fruits are, at times, much more emblematic of our actual beliefs that any doctrinal statement.
  • Don't worry Blake. I got your back on this one.
  • I have been contemplating my own thoughts here and I wonder if the balance is found between documenting what we believe our effective actions are. Much like the "love one another" sayings our beliefs are defining actions, not theological constructs. I find this much more appealing.
  • It seems to me that the need for theological constructs and outright condemnations (in a doctrinal context) in the history of the Church always arose when the leadership felt that it needed to draw clear lines opposed to teachings they considered damaging. And I don't think it's limited to documents like the Nicene Creed or the Augsburg Confession. You'll find it also in Galatians 1, 1 John 4, in Revelation 2 and a bunch of other places. The question then remains how you balance the inclusiveness of the Gospel and those teachings that clearly are detrimental to the content and goal of the Gospel. In other words: where and when and how do we actually need to draw lines today? To give a concrete example: I personally hate to talk and attack like the authors of many self-declared theological watchdog sites. At the same time I've felt the need occasionally to say some very stern words from the pulpit regarding "faith healers" and proponents of the prosperity gospel because I know how many are watching those kind of TV programs and read their books without much discernment.
  • In a "pulpit/teaching" centered western church, we have exchanged unity of spirit for unity of doctrine.

    We gather together because of what we believe. But is there any other way? I would say yes, but that is a whole new wine skin, and is incompatable with the current system.

    I guess we will see what happens. We are in one of those historical stages where two systems are colliding and that of course is never a smooth transition.

    What is different about this transition is that never before has there been a breakaway from the basic catholic doctrine. This is what is taking place before our very eyes. It will scare some and encourage others, but the sooner we can accept this the better.
  • djames_abi
    Unity of spirit can only be based on unity of belief. You can't have unity of spirit stand by itself - it has to have a basis. It is one level removed from the foundation, which is unity of belief. For example, there cannot be unity of spirit between a Christian and someone who practices a religion that encourages sexual immorality (there is a group in remote China that does not practice marriage in any sense - they're language doesn't even have a word of "marriage") or child sacrifice or infanticide (this still happens in parts of world, especially northern India).

    The only thing that can bring unity of spirit is if they accept my beliefs as their own or I accept theirs.
  • John
    You should review your history of the church. The basic catholic doctrine that you refer to is the result of numerous controversies that challenged each and every aspect of what is now considered "orthodox." Everything from the humanity of Jesus to the divinity of Jesus is believed because it was denied by someone who argued for unity of spirit instead of unity of belief.

    Any crossroads that the church faces today is really no different than the ones of the past, except that we may resort to violence less often that earlier Christians.
  • djames_abi
    I understand what you're saying, but actually, Jesus spent a HUGE amount of time on the "list of beliefs" - as did ALL of the apostles. (Just take a look at 1 Timothy, for example, and see how many times Paul mentions doctrine / teaching )

    God has the truth and He has revealed it to us in very clear, unambiguous ways. Faith / belief must have an object - and that object is God, and specifically the Son - and we only know what God is like through the specific truths He has revealed - and we "become" like Him by being obedient to that revealed truth, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

    If you look back over your post you will see that there are several logical contradictions, primarily in that what you are suggesting only works consistently in the context of "the list" - and in fact, it is clear that you are operating from your own list. If you weren't it is logically impossible to believe - unless you resort to simply having faith in faith - and that can't work either.

    Dave
  • Honestly I think you are missing the point of the post. I haven't argued against belief per se, but against the impending consequence of the list. In fact I'm not even against someone creating a list to understand and state what he or she believes. My concern is in the nature of belief to change or shift. And when we document those beliefs, we can often become subject to them at the very expense of our own growth.

    We can create also create barriers for other people's growth because we have in essence defined for other people what they are to believe. We tread dangerous ground when we do. Because it's not when we get it right that we cause a problem. It's when we get it wrong.

    And I would strongly argue against the idea that Jesus created lists. He offered stories and practical actions that revealed the kingdom. He said, Come follow me, which required a response of action, not a specific documented belief set that people adhere to.
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