The Missing Link?

Jaroslav Pelikan was on Speaking of Faith last weekend - clearly a repeat since he died in 2006, but it was wonderful. You can listen here.

Many know Dr. Pelikan as The Go To Guy on creeds and other statements of faith.

My faith tradition is credal. And we don't just affirm "The Creed" (The Apostles) but we have creeds written as responses to specific historic times like The Barmen Declaration of 1934 (anti-Nazi.) And we are considering a new creed that affirms our belief in global justice (Belhar.)

There are those who find strength and assurance in standing and stating what we believe to the point that stating a creed is an essential part of divine worship. Stating a mantra of faith reminds us who we are, even if that faith is feeling wobbly.

There are others for whom stating a creed feels rote and meaningless. We might stand and say it like automatons, or we might keep their mouths shut for the sake of integrity. Do I really believe in bodily resurrection? If not, I won't say it.

In these post-modern days, we have many people coming through our doors who don't know what they believe. Sure, we still have some are lifelong Presbyterians with an enduring faith in the basic tenets of our theology. But many others were raised in no consistent tradition or they question their tradition.

But here's the thing: when we become members of a church are we declaring that

• we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior? OR
• we will follow Jesus as Lord and Savior?

The answer, of course, should be "yes."

But I'm wondering if our reputation as hypocrites comes out of a long standing reality of declaring what we believe without living out what we believe.

We are going to be hypocrites no matter what. I might want to follow the way of Jesus with all my heart but I have already screwed up this morning and it's just 8:07 am. But I am trying.

We all know people who aren't even trying. They are faithful church people, in that they are committed to the church. But they don't seem all that interested in being committed to following Jesus or even figuring out what that looks like. And some aren't even all that interested in committing to the church.

The creeds make us accountable or should. (Imagine the pressure of putting this on your car. No more tailgating. No more yelling at other drivers.) But creeds are meaningless without following through on what we say we believe.

Is this the Missing Link explaining the basic conflicts between traditional and emerging faith communities? Some stress belief and some stress action? They are not mutually exclusive, to be sure, but one tends to dominate in the way we practice our faith.

Phyllis Tickle might say (and I agree) that we used to come into the church with a strong belief and we would learn how to behave. But today we come in not knowing what we believe but we watch other faithful people and, after learning what behaving (following Jesus) looks like, we come to belief. Because following Jesus is the best way to live.

This is what I believe.