February 05, 2004
journey vs. guilt trip
this sign keeps catching my eye whenever i drive down lookout mountain lately. perhaps i should say these signs, as they are all over the mountain now (i took pictures of three just on my way down this morning) and it appears to be a pretty common sentiment in churches these days. it was rainy this morning, so its not such a crisp picture, and if you can't read it, it says "Faith is a Journy, not a Guilt Trip -- Lookout Mtn. Baptist." something about it irritates me, though i'm having a hard time putting my finger on exactly what. its not that i disagree fundamentally: faith certainly isn't a guilt trip, but then, its not soley a journey either. but its ambiguity isn't what bothers me. i think its the implications that it makes about all other churches. that is, basically what its saying is that if you come to LMBC they won't associate guilt with "faith" like all those other guilt-ridden churches do. and its not even that i think they're pointing the finger at any particular church as much i find it worrisome that they'd put such a loaded statement on a roadside sign and clutter the landscape with them. as if faith weren't a diluted enough concept already...
Maybe that sign could be translated: "Come to our church, we won't make you feel bad about yourself."
Faith in itself is not a guilt trip, but true faith in Christ cannot be separated from knowledge of our guilt. Seems to be an attempt to up the attendance by making the gospel less offensive. Either that or they are paying a lot more attention to clever puns than what they are actually saying.
My discomfort comes from two things:
1. Cheesy Christian 'stuff'
2. What they're saying about the nature of faith. Haven't got much time to think about it right now, but Francis Schaeffer's phrase about 'the empty hands of faith' keeps appearing in my sleep deprived mind.
Posted by: jeep at February 5, 2004 01:25 PMI think the Puritan's slogan was:
"Faith is a Self-Loathing Journey, not a guilt trip"
or something like that
Posted by: JosiahQ at February 5, 2004 02:53 PMFrankly, we could all use a stronger sense of guilt. Today, it seems to be almost entirely displaced by pity and denial. Sin has become disease, and there's no guilt associated with that.
Posted by: ryan at February 6, 2004 08:59 AMGood point, Josiah.
That sign represents something that I think all good Reformed types shudder at. If there's no guilt, there's no problem, and if there's no problem, there's no good news, unless the good news is how great everybody is (which is significantly different from what the Apostles consider to be the good news). It's a whole ball of wax: changing Christianity from something primal and cosmic to some wishy washy trip full of magic gumdrops and dancing pixie sticks.
However, I appreciate Josiah's joke. Our Puritain heritage often strays in a non-Apostolic direction on the other side of the coin: i.e. the focus of Christianity is how far short you, as an individual, fall from your ethical requirements, which changes Christianity from something primal and cosmic (and communal) into a never-ending, navel-gazing immersion into what a sorry excuse for a Christian I actually am.
It seems like the Resurrection of Christ on behalf of His people overturns both scenarios. The first makes a Resurrection largely unnecessary. The second pretends it almost never happened.
Posted by: Phil at February 6, 2004 09:20 AMI be diggin' your thoughts Phil.
I've stumble across the following..ah... dilemma in enough situations that I beginning to think it's something broader than my personal experiences in limited circles, though I certainly admit the possibility of it being just that, my experience.
But I've noticed in certain Reformed/Academia circle-types that a certain response against the Puritan dweary sin-heavy mindset towards a more optimistic, somewhat (boy, am I 'bout to call down the Baus hammer) postmill-ish Transformationalist that completely fails to recognize the noetic effects of the fall i.e. sin as some kindof epistemic category.
Basically I'm feeling that as a response against Puritan self-loathing and Presbyterian Scottish Stoicism has swung the other way to a lack of humility in epistemizing.
Ok, I'm done having fun with the English language. Epistemizing. Heh.
Posted by: JosiahQ at February 6, 2004 10:31 AMfaith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of it unseen.
No hammering from me on that point, JQ. Postmil "optimism" isn't where it's at.
If we hung out and discussed Ecclessiastes for a while, I think you'd find us on the same wavelength.
By the way, Phil Ledgerwood is the last of the unicorns. He once breastfed me back to health.
perhaps there should be a comma between lookout and mtn. baptist.
Posted by: dr mo at February 9, 2004 08:44 AMOmg thats right! Please come see me and my friends! ;)
Posted by: watch moi at March 17, 2005 09:11 PM