Have Faith!

That was the charge of many of the graduation speakers, salutatorians, valedictorians that I have heard speak at the three graduation ceremonies I attended over the past week or two. If this wasn't the specific charge it was nevertheless an essential piece of almost every speech that was given. The students were exhorted to keep the faith, have faith, and reminded that it was by faith that they had made it to this glorious point in their lives. Everywhere I turned faith was being mentioned in one way or another. But what kind of faith? Faith in what?

That is exactly the problem. The faith that was being exhorted and remembered was not a specific faith but merely some abstract notion and vague concept. These salutatorians, class presidents, and valedictorians freely mentioned church and God because most were good church-going people. But their concept of faith was surely less than a Christian understanding of the term.

Let me be clear, I am not laying the fault at these young kids because that is exactly what they are. They are students, they are doing nothing more than putting together a speech based on what they've learned through their lives at school, church, and from society. These kids did an admirable job with what they've been given, but sadly they have not been given enough substantial teaching in the Church to really know what faith is. I lay the blame on the churches for these students having unqualified abstract notions of faith that do not match with what the Christian church has taught through the ages. I also do not leave my church without blame because one of these speakers (though she was one of the best ones) was a student from my church.

As these students and graduation speakers spoke of having faith they mentioned faith in self on par with faith in God. They spoke about being able to overcome adversity and one even mentioned a scriptural reference of "faith the size of a mustard seed." It was when this quote was given that it all hit me like a load of bricks. This student (not the one from my church) and all the rest before her are products of an age of protestantism where faith is a commodity. Faith is something akin to positive self-talk. Sadly faith has become a form of positive God-talk that aids the individual in achieving his or her dreams and goals. The years of therapeutic and anthropocentric Christianity have left us with a shallow faith that amounts to nothing. This is what we are passing on to the next generation.

Sure, as protestants we champion the reformation cry "sola gratia" based on Paul's expression "salvation by grace through faith" but practically this works itself out to pulling oneself up by his or her bootstraps because faith is nothing more than positive thinking and self-motivation. If this is the case we are nothing more than pelagian heretics masquerading as believers of the truth. Surely faith is essential to the gospel call, but the substance of our faith does not lie in us but in our relationship with the triune God.

We have lost the sense that "faith the size of the mustard seed" isn't pointing to "faith" in the abstract or faith as a commodity but it necessitates that faith is something had via a relationship with the divine. To speak of faith in the abstract is absurd and it digs right at the root of the Christian Faith that we hold and are charged to pass along to younger generations.

In order for Protestantism to be true to the call of the gospel we must realize that faith is more than positive God-talk, that faith is based in the work of Christ - his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; for divorce faith from the Christ event is to own a faith that is as unchristian as pagan worship. We must also realize that faith by nature changes the very substance of our being. One cannot have faith in God and remain unchanged. Faith is more than a mental ascent it requires a change of our whole being. The Christian faith does not belong in the realm of the abstract but is firmly planted in the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the Father who brought about our redemption.

Really I'm not angry at these students, I'm sad for them. Their professions merely indicate that we as a church have not done a good job passing on the truth of the Christian message. Lord have mercy on us as we seek to proclaim and pass along the true faith. Amen.

- Ben