I'm working through David Crump's Encountering Jesus, Encountering Scripture: Reading the Bible Critically in Faith and have been struck by his definition and discussion of "Christian faith." According to him, faith amounts to "a personal decision to orient one's life to trust of and obedience to Jesus Christ" as a result of a direct encounter with him. The "personal" or "subjective" component suggests two things: (1) "Christian faith is never a deduction from logical argument alone," and (2) "Christian faith requires the believer to enter a new realm of life that will never be completely grasped rationally" (13). Though his study takes a Kierkegaardian turn which I'm still sorting through, his insistence that following Jesus is inexpressibly risky and counter-cultural has been timely for me. Chapter 2, "Offended by Uncertainty," analyzes the nature and composition of authentic faith through the lens of a negative example, 'the Rich Young Ruler' (Mark 10). Crump's summary as to why the initially-eager man of privilege ultimately refuses Jesus's overture is particularly keen. Here it is--fodder for meditation:
Christian faith is an either-or, an all or nothing, a yes or no to God right now. It is based on a decision that can only be rendered by the single individual and is not a collective act. Such passionate, individualized commitment to Jesus does not flourish under the homogenizing regimen of popular opinion. Rather, such passion is typically drowned out by the monotonous voice of the crowd. The collective tends to insist with the persistence of a rabid rat-terrier that all community members obligingly submit to convention. But faith requires that we part company with the crowd, trust that an absolute relationship with Jesus is more important than a relative relationship with the relatives. The rich man was challenged to step out for himself, to act, to choose, to believe individually as an individual--regardless of the offense inevitably created for others (including significant others) in his life. In the end, it was a call he would not obey, and so he stepped away from Jesus and melted again into the crowd (60).
Faith is a death sentence, and we aren't allowed to redefine it for it to be more comfortable or culturally acceptable or less costly. May we not step away from Jesus and melt again into the crowd.
Wd
Wd