Formal or informal, if we come away from here having had good conversations I think we will all come away richer people.
You could be at home alone reading various books on the various subjects that we are going to cover, but the value of being together is that we get to talk about things.
You get to ask questions. Hopefully you will share with us your stories, observations and insights. I have never come away from a Mosaic course not having learned and gained something from the people taking the course.
We have set this room up intentionally around tables. And we have people at each table to facilitate conversation.
Take some time right now to get to know each other… 1st & 2nd Questions.
You are all unique people. You are here with particular expectations. And desired outcomes. It might look something like this… 3rd Slide.
It would be great to share this with the group.
I’m going to make a couple of observations.
Although the pursuit of happiness is often said to be one of the most fundamental human rights, since the dawn of time it has been astonishingly elusive.
Granted this is a generalization, the rich are frequently miserable. The powerful often appear insecure and driven by fear. Those of us who don’t have wealth and power … those who simply seek comfort, become complacent and wake up feeling restless.
…the “meaning in life” will not be satisfied by a pretty spouse, a better job, a bigger house and a new SUV.
Scientific progress, for all it’s achievements, hasn’t really satisfied the longing…
Einstein said, “I desire to know God’s thoughts, the rest are just details.”
Jim Morrison – lead singer and primary songwriter of the Doors – said, “You think people want two cars and a house don’t you? You’re wrong. You know what they want? Something sacred.”
Sometimes we think this itch is a reaction to our accelerated modern culture … but it’s always been around.
3000 years ago a grumpy old philosopher named Quoheleth – interesting guy – pursued more or less everything life had to offer and concluded that life was more or less meaningless. But at the end of his life he makes this puzzling observation…
“God has set eternity in the hearts of all people.”
It’s a pretty bold statement … in spite of all his futile search for meaning, there still is this itch for something more.
1000 years later, a Christian thinker and leader named Paul was discussing the Christian faith with Greek scholars in Athens, and came across this passage in their ancient texts that said…
“God is not far from any one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being.” St. Paul
Essentially he was saying, “Your poets were right. The source of that itch … that longing … is God himself.”
Today we live in a culture that is becoming increasingly sensitive to spiritual matters all the time. And this is not an anti-scientific statement. Science explains a lot of the “How’s” in life. But the “Why’s” don’t seem to go away. And people are entertaining all kinds of ideas these days.
For the most part, I think it’s really exciting. But I think it has created – at times – a degree of confusion.
And one attitude that has surfaced recently is this one…
“It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.”
It’s a very common statement. And I can understand why people say it. As we are entertaining ideas, let’s not fight … let’s not grow intolerant of one another. If we are all equal, one idea should not be better than another.
I understand the sentiment but I don’t think any of us mean literally…
We don’t mean…for example…
• It’s okay for white supremacists to believe and practice hate so long as they’re sincere…
• It’s okay for sincere fundamentalists to control people through intimidation, censorship… MiddleEast or N.A.
• It’s fine for parents who sincerely believe that life is meaningless to offer their kids drugs…
You see where I’m going with this. I don’t think anybody here would agree that this is okay.
Next week we are going to begin our journey into the depths of the Christian faith. But before we do, I think it’s important to develop a healthy understanding of faith.
I’m going to throw some ideas out to challenge you with. And maybe we’ll take some time to talk about them afterwards.
Firstly, I want to talk about what we’ll call, for lack of a better word, “bad faith”.
1) Bad faith is based solely on unquestioned authority.
Now, to begin with, there are a lot of things that all of us believe that are not based on some kind of authority. I believe that New York exists even though I’ve never been there. Why? Because when I watch Seinfield I see it in the background. So based on what I’m seeing through this little square box in basement, I believe New York exists.
To my horror, I believe the Yanks won last night. Why? Little box told me.
But to believe something simply based on what some authority figure or structure tells you is pretty dangerous. BELTBUCKEL
We want you to think for yourself. We want you to question what’s being said here on Wednesday nights.
Even tonight we want you to break into groups and talk about this stuff. To discuss and probe ideas. That’s why we have discussion facilitators for the group. No question is stupid.
2) Bad faith is based on pressure or coercion
One Sunday night after church, a woman approached me and asked if she could talk to me. She wanted to talk about what I had been teaching. She had been crying through the service and was now feeling sick to her stomach. “Oh no, what have I done?”
She said, “What you were saying tonight rings true to me, but I’m involved in another kind of religious community …and if they knew I was here, I would be shunned and disowned.
And I don’t know what to do.” She was so disoriented that night that, really nothing I could say was able to else her anxiety. Everything she had believed up to that point had been…
Now, the church has been very guilty of this tactic…so if you are ever feeling pressured by what we are doing or saying, yell at us.
3) Bad faith is arrogant and unteachable
Again, so much of religion has an edge of arrogance to it.
My neighbor once said, “I had this friend, she used to be such a nice person, then she became a Christian and now she’s become so judgmental and pushy. Either you have to convert or she doesn’t want to be your friend.”
When a person takes pride in feeling “right” and rewards himself with a sense of superiority …when his faith puts him in a high and mighty posture to look down in judgement on others…well that can’t be good faith.
I think it’s no surprise that Jesus’ highest command for his followers was not to be “right”, but to be “loving”.
4) Lastly, bad faith is apathetic
Real faith should inspire some kind of life change. If faith is just talk, then it’s like spreading strawberry jam over moldy bread.
If you walk out of here in November having found faith based on these principles, I think you’ve taken a step backwards, not forwards.
Okay let’s turn it around.
1) Good faith is humble, teachable, and inquisitive
Aristotle once said that humble and curious people tend to understand more than proud and arrogant people do. Philosophy profs…
Sometimes I think that’s the difference between adults and children. So let’s be childlike in our journey: not childish and infantile…but childlike in our posture.
A humble sense of wonder … that acknowledges that none of us has the absolute corner on the truth, but continually seeks guidance can’t be a bad thing.
2) Good faith is honest
Whether we are talking about our emotions or our intellect, we should be free to be as open as we possible can. You have permission here to open up.
In fact, if you have deep issues with God or the church, we would consider it a gift if you were to share it with us. I also I believe God can handle your honesty.
3) Good faith is communal
My individual understanding of things is so utterly limited.
I need to connect with a group of trusted companions, so we can help and encourage one another in our common search of faith.
I’m a lousy golfer…I don’t see my swing. In life I don’t always see my ‘swing’ either. Wife.
Again, not coercion and pressure...but mutual encouragement and support.
4) Good faith is active
MEXICO…Christianity is a system of beliefs / Christians are holders / Church is enforcer
We want to see Christianity understood – not so much as a system of beliefs – but a way of life. It should effect the way I see things. It should effect the way I live.
5) Good faith is relational
If Epi-men-des is right and there is a personal God at work in the universe, then my search for truth should acknowledge my relationship – or lack of relationship – with God.
Faith isn’t like biology class where you dissect dead animals. I would like to think that faith is creative transforming and alive…because it will lead us to a creative, transforming and living God.
Now, this list is not the last word on the subject…in fact, this is not an exhaustive list at all. In your mind you may be coming up with other criterion as to what is good faith and bad faith. And…you may be in disagreement with what I’ve already presented.
Which one of these statements generates the strongest response positively or negatively from you? And why?
If you could, what would you add or subtract from this list?
I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable sit still in a room.
--Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)
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