I don’t think faith should be comfortable. I once thought it should be comfortable, but I no longer do. Yes, I think one should be confident in their faith; one should examine and trust what they believe; … but not comfortable.

Once I start to think I’ve got it all figured out, and I have a nicely packaged theology, I start to get uncomfortable.

Once I think I’ve fully understood Jesus, and am no longer challenged or convicted by his teaching, I start to get uncomfortable.

Faith can be very much like something you carry around in your pocket. Like a security blanket or a weapon. If I can contain it in a box, then it could help me control my circumstances. But it seems to me that faith is not something I control, but something trusted. In fact, the very definition of faith is grounded on trust.

Once I put my faith in a box, it is no longer faith.

a couple of days late….

Tim Keller recently gave a lecture at Google featuring his recent book on Marriage.
I really enjoyed this presentation:

Our Cultural Stories: Part 1

Individualism is the idea that individual happiness, liberty, and pleasure is the highest pursuit above all else. The purpose of life is that each of us attain our personal goals as the primary concern. While this may seem self-centered to us, it is a story that saturates our western culture.

You hear it in statements like “I need to be free to be me” or “it’s my life, it’s now or never (Bon Jovi).” I am convinced that the reason why divorce rates are so high today, is because someone in the marriage decided that their personal happiness or liberty was threatened and so bailed out. of course It makes sense if individual pursuit stands above family interests. Most abortions are decided because of inconvenience towards a sense of liberty.

However, as individuals, some of our concerns are valid. History has shown that institutions like financial corporations, governments, and churches are subject to deep corruption. Our desire for self interests can also be fueled by the need to protect ourselves from social and religious institutions.

If you ask most people to provide one word that defines the highest ideal in life, it will probably be the word freedom. Our sense of freedom centered around individualism comes from the modern era; the very driving factor of the enlightenment. But defining the word freedom in our individualistic culture is not always easy. Does individual freedom surpass the greater good of society?

“While most worldviews acknowledge the right of individuals to act freely to some degree, it is interesting to note what happens to values when freedom fights its way to the top of the virtue hierarchy. In classical thought, the four cardinal (or basic) virtues were identified as prudence, courage, moderation and justice. The idea was that a person became free when she lived according to such virtues. In other words, the limitations to our freedom were viewed as internal, moral obstacles that could be overcome by developing and internalizing these virtuous characteristics.”
— Hidden Worldviews – Steve Wilkens, Mark L. Sanford.

As I find myself critiquing this cultural story of individualism, I can’t help but realize how much I am ingrained in this mindset. I am totally wrapped up in the individual pursuit… it is a story I’ve known all my life, and it takes a lot of effort for me to de-centralize myself. I don’t really know what the proper balance is between individualism and corporatism but I do believe that in today’s western culture… we are radically shifted in one direction.

I can’t help but wonder if this is what Jesus meant when he talked about ‘dying to self.’ How much more so today, when our modern culture is far more self-centered.