Doug Pagitt, the founding pastor of the Solomon’s Porch community in Minneapolis used to talk about how his congregation didn’t have a static statement of faith. This was somewhat shocking, coming from a pastor who was considered evangelical. Having a public statement of faith or list of beliefs on your website is a standard practice in that part of Christianity. Doug’s comment was that their beliefs and faith changed each time someone joined or left their community. To try to figure out how to keep that up to date wasn’t realistic, so they skipped it.  

One of Doug’s ideas about Christian community was to have less rules, less walls, and less boundaries, at least in the traditional sense. Clearly, he had believed and had a particular faith out of which he preached and pastored, but his effort to create a body of worshippers and faithful who would chart their course together definitely put them at one end of the spectrum.  By comparison, we Episcopalians hold onto the historic creeds, and we have a catechism for those who care to look it up in the Book of Common Prayer. We might debate much of it on a regular basis, but we have a historical basis for faith and belief.

This week’s Way of Love theme is learn. We learn about God in all sorts of ways, one of them being in the way we interact with, and thereby learn from others. We are changed by every relationship, every conversation, and every encounter we have with another person. It’s typically so subtle we don’t notice, but it is happening to us all the time. Sometimes, when we formalize the process, and spend time together intentionally listening to stories or trying to understand another, the change is more obvious and measurable. Perhaps this is why we are told that we tend to act like the persons we spend the most time around. We just rub off on one another.

When it comes to faith, we also learn through the study of scripture, theology, and traditions. Many of us have questions about God, about Jesus, about the world we live in, about ourselves – about so many things. We can find some of our answers by listening to how God has revealed truths to the Church over millennia in the words of those who crafted the Hebrew scriptures and are responsible for the New Testament. We can learn about much from studying the thoughts and arguments of men and women who have taken up the challenges of their day and listened for God’s movement in the midst of them. And the Church herself shows us the way, as we see what the faithful have done as the Body of Christ over time.  

Part of living a Christ-centered life is to remain curious about our faith, our church, and the people in our lives. One of the specific Lenten practices mentioned in the prayer book is one of study for this reason. Asking questions can be a lot of fun, and it is one way to draw nearer to God. What questions do you have? Where might you look to find answers? Maybe you could journal out some of your own theological understandings. It’s a lifelong process.  

We are ever changing as we meet people, study, read, pray, and meet the Holy Spirit along the way; we are not the same from one day to the next or one year to the next. God, however, is the same: always loving, always inviting, always encouraging us as we learn. It’s nice to know, given that we’re all a work in process.

Tom+

 Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Photo Credit: Group Prayer, by Monkey Business Images, and Bible Study, by Bruce McQueen, via Dreamstime.com subscription.