The 3 Legs of Your Faith Stool
Photo by Joseph Gonzalez on Unsplash
We live in a post-modern and pluralistic era, which is a fancy way of saying that there is no longer a single, dominant ideology or worldview. If past generations floated on a common barge down the same river, today’s shifting spectrum of values move about us like waves on the open sea. Most everything is up for grabs, from the origin of the universe, the purpose of life, and the nature of being human.
Not only does this include a diversity of religious views, but also the elevation of political ideologies to a spiritual level, whether Marxism, the Green movement, and numerous other causes with their respective versions of evil, redemption and utopia. The human search for meaning is a powerful vacuum that must be filled, and today we have more options than ever.
We even see this divergence within the Christian Church, as prominent leaders and organic movements alike have challenged longstanding Christian beliefs or practices related to worship, marriage, gender, and theology. Some aspects of this activity are essential to the "semper reformanda" (always reforming) nature of the Church, the spirit-led ambition of Jesus’ followers to jettison man-made impediments in order to return to the foundations of faith.
But along with this iconoclastic impulse comes the chronic risk of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It’s not uncommon to encounter models of Christian faith which have become so neutered or distorted that they bear little resemblance to the Biblical vision. These individuals appear clumsy and chaotic in their faith practice, staggering about like drunken sailors.
So what does real, Biblical faith look like today? What does it mean to believe?
After twenty years of ministry, here are what I have found to be three essential attributes to following Jesus--the three legs of the faith stool. The absence of (or overreliance upon) any one of these legs will make our faith appear tipsy.
Codification: The gathering of complex beliefs into transferable statements
The Good: At times, we need to boil down our beliefs into principles that distill vast swaths of truth. Several centuries after Jesus, the early Church found itself lacking a framework that would separate false teaching from true, and so they codified creedal statements that focused and united their leadership. The modern equivalent of this may be religious tracts or belief statements that provide definition and clarity as to the values of a given leader or group. At its best, codification shores up the boundaries or guardrails of our faith, clarifying the essential character while providing continuity and safeguards for teaching.
The Bad: On their own, bullet points of belief statements become stale lists that one must either accept or reject. Even statements like "Jesus died for your sins" (I Peter 3:18) or "we are saved by grace through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) can lose their meaning if not experienced beyond a textbook or bumper sticker. The over-reliance upon precepts is an area in which the early Church "Fathers" have been criticized, despite the profound contributions they made to the development of Christian theology.
Today, there are scores of “Christians” with absolutely no connection to the local church and no intention of expressing their faith in a public or communal manner. They may assent to a set of beliefs or general philosophy, but the actual impact of their faith is as disembodied as the principles they affirm. If we fixate on codified statements alone, we stagger with imbalanced, isolated faith. Our faith stool tips over.
2. Narration: Experiencing life through God’s story.
The Good: Most of the Bible is written in the form of story, aiming to help readers identify their place in the "before-during-after "story of God’s work in the world. Hebrew children were taught that they were slaves in Egypt, but now they are the people of God in the promised land, called to shine as a light to the Gentiles. New Testament believers were once without mercy, but now they have peace with God through the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 2:10; Colossians 1:13) and are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-14).
Our brains are hardwired to think narratively, which is why every child wants a bedtime story before they fall asleep. Just as the "you are here" finger on the mall kiosk map helps us find the food court, the Gospel story enables us to locate ourselves in a complex world. We don’t merely believe isolated principles; we learn how identify or locate ourselves within the framework of God’s Big Story. The narrative nature of the Christian faith provides the meaning and purpose that every human being was created to seek. Further, it gives us a story of our own to tell, in which God came to redeem us and send us out to change the world.
The Bad: Narrative faith becomes imbalanced when it's overly individualistic, as my life becomes all about me and Jesus. I can post on social media about my perfect walk with God, complete with filtered selfies in nature and wise lessons-learned. Since the world revolves around me, everything that happens is a sign for me to decipher as I hyper-spiritualize the world around me. In this distorted narrative, my faith story is more about me than Jesus, giving me a means to maintain my narcissism behind a facade of faith.
To keep faith from stumbling down the narrative staircase, I need a healthy dose of codified truth to ground me in Biblical doctrine, along with an investment in a community that will draw me beyond my self-absorption and hold me accountable for my narcissism.
3. Tribalization: Active membership in a committed family of believers
The Good: It is absolutely impossible to read and apply the Bible outside of a strong and connected faith community. Every word of Scripture was written to groups of people who were committed to doing life together, with the assumption that no one would dare to attempt the life of faith alone. The letters of the New Testament offer countless encouragements and challenges, but the language is nearly always plural. This is where English translations of the Bible fall short, as the word "you" can’t be translated to distinguish singular from plural (Believe it or not, you can actually download a “Texas Plugin” on the Youversion Bible app, which adjusts the plural to "y'all"!). When we read and apply Scripture in its communal context, all of the y'alls should make us feel like we've relocated to the deep South.
In addition to the plural use of "you," the New Testament uses many communal images to describe the Church. When we are baptized into Christ, we are initiated into the Body of Christ, the people of God, the Good Shepherd’s flock, a Kingdom of priests, a chosen race, a holy nation, the cloud of witnesses, the family of God… shall I go on? It’s virtually impossible have Biblical faith without a tribe, which is a healthy challenge for Christians in an isolated, self-obsessed culture. Unless we’re holding onto other believers in a committed faith-family, our faith tips over.
The Bad: The communal aspect of faith has the least risk in my view, because faith that isn’t isolated can incorporate the collective wisdom, accountability, and encouragement of others. However, if I surround myself with a cult-like group of clones who all drink the same Kool-Aid or blindly follow a charismatic leader, tragic consequences can certainly emerge. To keep from becoming an irrelevant or dangerous sect, our faith communities need accountability from the outside as well as the inside. Since we’re part of the wider Body of Christ on Earth, we must listen to and participate in the larger story of God that transcends our small, spiritual cliques.
If you find yourself tipsy in your faith, chances are that one of these three legs is missing on your stool. It may be a good time to lean into a local church that can help to get you back on your feet, or if you’d rather, your seat.