Wednesday, September 16, 2009

the types of belief

"Belief" is of the utmost importance in Christianity, without question. Belief is how we are saved (according to Peter in Acts). But in encouraging belief, we should recognize that belief comes in types. A Christian's belief is a combination of these types. It's a molecule in which the elements are types of belief. If a Christian's belief was plotted as a point on a graph like a mathematical function, that graph would have several axes or dimensions for each type of belief. In short, the types of belief occur together but can be analyzed and considered separately.
  • Propositional. Belief in propositions. Propositional belief is language-based. It asserts truths about things and the relationships in-between. "God is good." "All people have sinned." "Jesus Christ is God incarnate who died but now lives forever." Propositional belief is a mental activity. It's categorization between true and false. It's acceptance that the gospel is more than a cleverly invented story. Theological belief is mostly propositional. This is the domain of reason. Christians believe in propositions with the "mind".
  • Emotional. Belief that is felt and expressed in emotions. Emotional belief often takes the form of music. By loving God, Christians believe that He is worthy of their love. By hating their past sins, Christians believe that sin is shameful. Christians feel belief with the "heart".
  • Intentional. Belief signified by intentions and actions. Intentional belief or its lack is much more noticeable than propositional and emotional belief. It's seen in Christians who reject God-displeasing actions and execute God-pleasing actions. It doesn't consist of "someone shoulds" but of "I shoulds". It teaches by example. Christians live belief with the "will".
  • Foundational. Belief as a foundation of other beliefs. Foundational belief is closely related to propositional belief, because it arises in the tension between conflicting propositions. It's selecting Christianity as the primary foundation of one's thoughts, the measure which other beliefs are judged against. Foundational belief doesn't necessarily imply the absence of doubt or unhinged fanaticism. It means that Christians "frame" the world with their foundational Christian belief; Christianity isn't just another set of ideas.
  • Communal. Belief reached through the aid of other Christians. Communal belief has been subjected to the scrutiny of multiple Christians. Proper humility of one's own limitations and fallibility leads to acknowledgment of the need for communal belief. It originates from one's peers and elders and the writings of church ancestors. Inescapably, Christians share responsibility for communal belief. When an individual's belief falls into error due to insufficient guidance and advice from the group, he or she is partially to blame for not seeking such help and everyone else in the group is partially to blame for not doing more to spread communal belief to the individual.
  • Scriptural. Belief discovered through and in Scripture. Scriptural belief requires effort since so much of the age-old material is alien to a current reader and/or written in genres that demand significant interpretation in order to yield applications (e.g. narrative/poetic/prophetic and even letters written to other audiences need to be analyzed in context). Hence scriptural belief is tied in with the other types of belief; the text doesn't really stand alone, particularly the ambiguous and subtle sections that stymie the learned as well as the naive. It informs and constrains belief, not specifies Christian theory and practice in complete detail immediately suitable for Christians here and now. Scriptural belief is pivotal without being all-sufficient.
  • Spiritual/Experiential. Belief mediated by experience of the Spirit of God. "Spirit-ual" belief is literally revelatory, springing out of connection to the living, present God. It's experienced in different degrees and in different ways, some of which have serious dangers of misinterpretation. Nevertheless, belief through the Spirit is a gift of grace much appreciated by Christians.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

avoiding both the Christian mask and overreactions to it

the mask

Much has been said and written about Christians who have hypocrisy of action: unholy behavior that abruptly vanishes during official church events but dominates the rest of their lives. Hypocrisy of attitude is a close cousin that attracts less attention, yet long-time churchgoers often cite it as a common complaint or at worst a primary excuse for quitting attendance and membership. The typical description is "Christians bring their masks to church. They pretend to be stable, well-adjusted, and happy around other Christians because they're scared of looking like failures. As much as possible, they project the false impression that they're excellent Christians who are always tranquil. In effect, everyone is petrified of sullying an antiseptic atmosphere of safe perfection that by definition disqualifies all unworthy people and/or feelings."

Fortunately this posture of pretense has many obvious weaknesses that earnest, perceptive Christians should notice. 1) It's difficult and exhausting to maintain the fakery. 2) It's devastating to evangelistic efforts. 3) It's in direct contradiction to the Lord's acceptance of the lowly and despicable people of His time, the ones who, before meeting Him, neither aspired to be holy nor tried to appear as such. 4) It's pointedly overlooking each and every believer's undeniably pitiful condition before conversion. 5) It's ignorant of the pervasive biblical passages that mention sins committed by the righteous, and their sometimes ugly emotions like rage and lust. 6) It constricts the authentic spiritual growth that comes partly through others' cooperation and understanding. 7) It's an inadequate basis for practical Christian living since it's flimsy "wallpaper" over someone's sincere motivations rather than "overflow" from out of one's inner spiritual development.

overreaction to the mask

It should be clear that I'm in favor of authentic interactions between Christians. However, I worry about the possible consequences of the opposite excess, which seems to consist of encouraging total/unrestrained (public) honesty about everyone's sins, doubts, temptations, and angst.
  • Egocentrism. There's definitely a time and place for discussing an individual's unique problems in living up to the lofty Christian standard. Yet placing too much focus on this topic has the danger of confirming the altogether natural tendency of egocentrism. That is, too many "I..." statements when weighed against too few "God..." or "We..." statements. For instance, selfishness is indeed a personal struggle, but surely it's astoundingly blind to not also acknowledge its detrimental effect to everyone around you? As we pursue God, our attention should progressively shift from off ourselves. Preoccupation with one's strengths is egocentric, but so is preoccupation with one's faults at the expense of other important ideas.
  • Shock. One ostentatious method of emphasizing "openness" is for a speaker to select shocking concepts or presentations solely because of the provocativeness. Nothing else quite so effectively screams "this isn't your parents' church". Plus, shocking (and repelling) your listeners focuses them on bracing themselves for what may come next: what terrible thought will summarily assault them as they listen? Although shock may be a valuable rhetorical tool in some circumstances, shock shouldn't be an end in itself. "Pushing the envelope" doesn't impress God, and enjoyment of mere dreadfulness is childish. And unlike shock, other devices can capture your listeners' attention without repulsing them. (Of course, desensitization will blunt the effects of frequent shock in any case, and over time this desensitization to awfulness could lead to a destructive greater acceptance of it in daily life, too.)
  • Inappropriateness. Closely related to shock is inappropriateness. Whereas shock is seeking to stun listeners with horrible/taboo admissions, inappropriateness is usually an oblivious harming of the relationship with listeners via specific "sensitive" vices or details about those vices. Children are well-known practitioners of such inappropriate truth-telling. Another example is people revealing graphic struggles with lust in a group that includes the opposite sex, needlessly sacrificing their comfort. Discreetness in general is a vital ingredient for communities of people, and simply because a sentence is true doesn't imply that everyone who hears it "should be willing and able to handle it". A whole truth can be partially or completely masked in some contexts while coming out as appropriate to its audience.
  • Inaction. Exposing one's dark side to the light of day yields freedom and relief. Its power feels lessened. Everyone feels closer. The confessor perceives the enemies of his soul with greater clarity. The anxiety of rejection by fellow believers proves to be mistaken. For all these reasons and more, confession and honesty are beneficial. Nevertheless, a "realism" that consists of talk but not action betrays its superficiality. Talking about unpleasant/negative aspects should spur the talkers to repentance, forgiveness, retribution. An apology or a frank doubt should produce renewed efforts to avert sin and dispel unbelief. And since the church is His body, it should be active and out-facing in addition to its members ministering to one another with words. I've known excellent Christian counselors, but none of them have claimed to be the end-all of Christianity.
  • Despair. It's commendable to commit to confronting oneself (and the world) as is, not in fictional terms. Still, relentless narrow-minded concentration on stating and/or hearing the flaws of existence erodes hope. Confession of the same old transgression is highly discouraging. Facing no more than a temporary temptation becomes a trial when the temptation has been gratified from time to time over a period of years and it hovers on the edge of awareness. Therefore, a Christian who refuses to protect himself with a mask of fake moral accomplishment must be wary of despair, especially when it's mixed with...
  • Mundaneness. Similar to other supernatural belief systems, Christianity is an intermediary between the otherworldliness of the supernatural and the mundaneness of everyday practice. Some believers want more otherworldliness (ahem, "mystery") that's compelling and different from other options. Some believers want more mundaneness (ahem, "relevance") that's directly applicable to current concerns and experiences. As a church reform that's meant to address the actual state of believers' spirituality, explicit rejection of the Christian mask (of hypocrisy of attitude) tends toward the mundaneness pole. The hazard of too much mundaneness is losing track of the essential otherworldliness in biblical commands like "be ye perfect" and rejoicing in persecution. Admitting that one is depressed shouldn't prevent one from searching for joy or doubting its possibility. Mundane guilt over a failure to resist shouldn't prevent one from grasping for an otherworldly victory from the Lord. An honest appraisal of minimal progress shouldn't prevent one from embracing the concept of lasting change. An angsty, gritty, edgy Christian life may be preferable for artsy purposes, but if it's always that difficult for someone then he or she may be doing it wrong. A Christian mask with a frown permanently affixed is false as the mask with the smile.