Three Ways of Understanding our Spiritual Life Experience

I am blessed to have four or even five vibrant generations in my church.  Each of these generations are well represented and each has different needs and questions.  Unfortunately, it is so easy for all of us to look at the world through our own experience and perspective.  It is hard to realize that others have different questions, different thought-processes, and they come to different answers.

As I am working through a series on evangelism, I am finding it increasingly difficult to communicate through these difficulties.  Why?  I do not believe it is for lack of effort or because the hearers have hard hearts.  No.  I think it is due to the difficult nature of attempting to view reality through the eyes of someone very different than you: folks with different experiences, different world views, and ways of thinking.  

In order to catch a glimpse of the perspective of others, we must know what we believe, be willing to suspend our quick judgment of other ideas based on what we believe, and instead be willing and able to listen and think as the other person.  No one said this would be easy!

I believe there are three primary means of thinking within my church and within most established churches.  In order to help us know what we believe, I will attempt to briefly share the primary characteristics of these three ways of thinking.  I find that all three ways of thinking are found among those within each generation in the church.  Yet, certain generations are marked in deeper ways by one thought process than the others.

Again, please understand that these basic characteristics of thinking are not shared by all within each generation.  In fact, life circumstances can just as easily cause these viewpoints as generational placement!  I realize they are generalizations.  Yet, where else can we begin?

Of course, everyone knows that!

The first way of thinking represented was brought up in the church.  They know their bibles, their catechism, and their prayers.  They are saturated with the life the faith because it is the air they breathe and have breathed since childhood.  They know God exists, they believe in Jesus, and they see sin as willful disobedience to the call of God to faith.

For this way of thinking, truth is obvious, knowable, and found through faith in Christ.  They recognize that many will reject this truth, but that is their issue.  Their role is to be faithful witnesses to what God has done in Christ.

This way of thinking sees the decay of society, and those who have it bemoan the lack of vibrant witness to the lost.  The problem is that they understand this witness as doing what they know and what is meaningful to them with greater intensity.  After all, it worked for them to bring them to faith, it can work for those who are lost.

This way of thinking believes, and they struggle to understand why others don't.  This line of thinking has a decent outreach to those who grew up in the church, but left it because of rebellion.

Prove it!

A second way of thinking represented within the church might have been brought up in the church, but not necessarily.  They know their bibles, their catechism, and their prayers.  These folks are very knowledgable concerning the Christian faith, and they have studied apologetics so as to answer the "questions of the day."  They know God exists, they believe in Jesus, and they see sin as willful disobedience to the call of God to faith.  They recognize that some of the biggest obstacles to faith are intellectual questions.  They have a heart to answer these questions.

For this within this way of thinking, truth is obvious, knowable, and found through faith in Christ.  They recognize that many will reject this truth because they have not been adequately presented with the truth in Christ.  They seek to eliminate and answer the intellectual difficulties that faith might engender.  They see their role as being faithful witnesses to what God has done in Christ.  

This way of thinking sees the decay of society, and those who have it bemoan the lack of vibrant witness to the lost.  They seek to be faithful witnesses by working their faith through the areas of doubt common within our culture.  They are often thoughtful students of scripture and open to new interpretations and understandings of how to present the truth in Christ.  Their primary means of outreach is intellectual, respectful, and professional.

Those within this way of thinking have a thoughtful faith, and they are constantly seeking to prove what they believe to themselves and others.  This means of thinking has a decent outreach to engineers, some physicians, accountants, scientists, and others who operate professionally along these analytical lines.

Whatever!  Who cares?

The third way of thinking is also found within my church and within all churches.  It is also the dominate thought form of those under age 40.  Many of our friends and neighbors hold, at least loosely, to this way of thinking.  Many within the church hold to this way of thinking while also believing in scripture as the Word of God and Jesus as the Son of God who is the way, the truth, and the life.  

In many ways this way of thinking is opposed to the first two understandings of truth.  Within this way of thinking, truth is personal, often changing, and it might be found through faith in Christ.  Yet, it also might be found through many other beliefs and causes.  This group sees differences, but they embrace these differences are part of the human experience.  As such, differences are good, and they should be embraced.

This way of thinking may see the decay in our society, but they do not have one answer what can help.  In fact, they probably embrace many avenues to help strengthen society.  These folks believe in many causes, and they even recognize that sometimes these causes appear at odds.  They can live with this tension.

While it might not be directly stated, this way of thinking affirms "to each their own."  It is very pragmatic and the key question often involves, "Does it work?"  In particular, "Does it work for me."  While this sounds individualistic, this way of thinking also affirms the importance of community and being part of community.  Questions of truth and meaning are worked out in community while holding to the tensions of competing individual preferences.

Believers and churches who emphasize this way of thinking often have trouble growing deep in faith and there is a constant struggle to maintain commitment.  People who lack faith but who are marked by this way of thinking often view Christianity with suspicion and they will tell those who witness to them, "I am glad that works for you."  They view this as a way of affirming your experience, but in return they wish for you to affirm their experience and beliefs.

So what?

This post is getting long, so I hope to pick up on answering "so what?" in the near future.  Until then, I offer a few questions.

What differences do you think these ways of understanding make in the life of faith?  What problems do these differences make for how a church operates and reaches out into today's world?  Which thought process marks your life?  Do you find you have a mix of several?