Daily Pastoral #39

Yes, there is reason and understanding things at a brain level. But when it comes to belovedness, rational thinking only steers us into despair.

When you read, for example, Isaiah 43:1…

But now thus says the Lord,
God who created you,
God who formed you,
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

…the rational part of your brain hears that and might very well go into freakout mode: What, what?! God didn’t MAKE me - there’s this thing called BIOLOGY, idiot! Sheesh… And God didn’t NAME me, my parents named me (and btw, I HATE my name)!

It’s easy to think that we evolve from faith into rationalism. The way our culture holds it, faith is childish, and then, when we mature, we stop believing in Santa Claus (so to speak), and we get smarter and smarter until we die.

But what if rationalism is the middle stage? Think of it this way…

We seem to be born with all of this faith and wonder. And then, in adolescence, we start questioning everything. This questioning is normal and healthy and human. We need to know things. We need to know how to know things. This is all part of our developmental growth.

But then, the questioning and doubting lead us to one place… Into a deep pit of nihilistic despair. This is when we’re ripe for shedding the skin of our rationalism and stepping (back?) into faith. But this faith is different from our faith when we were children. It’s still faith, but it’s a more mature faith (and when I say ‘mature’ and ‘immature’ - I’m not saying that one is better than the other). So maybe this is the order…

1. Childlike faith

2. Doubt/rationalism

3. Mature faith

I don’t know… I don’t like to legalize this kind of thing or put too firm of a structure around it. But this sure makes sense to me.

Culturally, in the US, I think we’re in about 7th grade. We Christians moved from the childlike faith (well, maybe ‘childish’ is the best descriptor here) of our puritanical and legalistic roots into the depths of modern nihilistic doubt and rationalism. Soon, I pray, we will develop into a mature faith as a culture. I don’t know how this will look and am open to God surprising me.

So, back to the main pastoral point. When you read Isaiah 43:1 (here it is again)…

But now thus says the Lord,
God who created you,
God who formed you,
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you read that, I hope you don’t let your brain get in your way. I hope you can accept and believe the blessing that finds its foundation in the eternal Word of God that created the very cosmos from nothing. I hope you know that this ancient word is speaking directly to you, [enter your name here], no matter where you are in your life right now.

This is, was, and forever will be
truer than true.

Amen.

As Ever,
Jonas