Don't laugh but @n_d_anderson & I did some white boarding for our family over the weekend & sure as anything, we included "Keep our faith" as one of our goals.
The kids also added "house w/ a creek" & "another dog" so take it for what it's worth, BUT...
I think there's something to be said for recognizing that faith is a tenuous thing, especially when both the world & religious structures around you operate in ways that resist healthy spirituality.
So when I say "keep our faith," I don't mean the kind of bunker mentality or white-knuckling so prevalent in fundamentalism. I'm not talking about hunkering down, repressing questions, & fending off the world. I mean we want to actively create space for faith to grow & flourish.
We want to create a lifestyle that removes barriers to spiritual attention & roots out things like fear, control, anger, consumption, scarcity--all those things that choke out faith.
IOW, we're betting that the surest way to "keep our faith" is by fostering it & being willing to cede control over the process to God.
But all that to say, I think part of remaining in the faith must include the awareness of how easily faith dies w/in our own hearts. That faith is a growing, living thing that must be cultivated & cared for. That toxic or infertile environments can kill it.
It should also brings a great deal of empathy for those who struggle to believe b/c we *know* how fragile faith is. Of course, people doubt. Of course, we have questions. Of course, it is a mystery.
But to @joeycochran's original question (which I don't think he intended to be about perseverance):
I'm still a Christian because I can't get over the hope of Resurrection.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Guys, this is worth your 1:48 if only to observe how some women respond when they feel uncomfortable. It may seem counterintuitive to men, but women often react to discomfort by becoming *more* polite & conciliatory. Don't read it as agreement.
The logic's simple: As a class, men outmatch women physically & in aggression. When men are in position of authority--whether by age or role--this affect is augmented. Direct confrontation is not an option for women so we must get out of uncomfortable situations thru other means.
Why point this out? If you're a man in leadership or just want to be a good friend or Xian brother to women in your life, recognize how a woman's response to the same situation could look completely different to yours. Read her actions as coming from a *woman* not as from a man.
I'd venture that his observations also help explain part of the exvangelical phenomenon. Both those who leave Christianity altogether & those who shift to Christian traditions outside evangelicalism.
Apparently there are just no shortcuts here. No programming or gimmicks that can replace the honest, deep work of living out of your own faith (& struggles!) in front of your children.
What if the conversation about gender roles in the church isn't so much about gender itself but about how we form community & what we think that community is supposed to do?
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at this point, but I continue to be amazed by how little we question the shape of modern ministry.
When a church operates like a business or government, it will have little need for spiritual mothers b/c our culture understands family formation as a private (vs. public) endeavor. "Mothering" is exclusively biological, directed toward home. It's not a mode of being elsewhere.
I think about this quote from Dorothy L. Sayers a lot. It's from the essay "Why Work?" published in 1942 in the middle of WW2.
This bit from Sayers gets me every time: "The root causes of conflict are usually to be found in some wrong way of life in which all parties have acquiesced,
and for which everybody must, to some extent, bear the blame."
Sayers was writing in context of a literal war, but the principle applies to the ideological wars that often precede physical violence. The principle applies to how we engage in culture wars.
Quick niche thread for credobaptists on baptizing children after a confession of faith.
(Padeobaptist friends, I see that hand... please come find me after the service.)
Context: I'm a Baptist who believes in baptizing children upon a confession of faith regardless of age. I've thought through the question over the years as a pastor's wife, mother, children's SS teacher, & believer baptized at 6yo myself. Here's why:
1. A child's faith should not be evaluated by an adult's faith. A "credible" confession of faith for a 5yo is a confession of faith that shows that he or she as a 5yo is exercising a 5yo-faith in Christ, not 35yo-faith in Christ.