Millenium Falcon Faith

Try as i might to replicate the symptoms and signs and accidental by-products of faith and holiness, i cannot. I strive toward patience, humble submission or interior peace (which, if achieved, would be beyond understanding) but i will always fall short.

The xian life is not of striving for spiritual gain, it is of patient, humble submission to the will of God. The struggle is not about attaining enlightenment, but about taming the beast of self-will.

If Christ is serious about his claim to be Author and Perfector, then all my holy attempts to be a “better xian” are playacting and vainglory; second-rate theatrics which Christ never calls for and are not at all interesting to him.

No one wants me touching up a Rembrandt or operating heavy machinery- both of these ideas end in disaster. But for some reason i go thru extended periods where i attempt to author and perfect my own faith. Lovely.

The Still, Small Voice whispers, slightly exasperated, “Are you done yet? Can i get back to work?”

This is all way more complicated and involved than i think it is and my role is drastically less than what i think. Thanks goodness i am reminded of this from time to time and step away for a bit.

Now to the Millenium Falcon part. Normally, i’m against faith/movie analogies; so here goes…

My faith resembles the Falcon. For starters, I co-opted it (“hey, i won it fair and square.”) from someone else who drastically modified it from the makers original intentions. It’s pieced together, (“i’ve made a few modifications myself”) run-down (“what a piece of junk!”), falling apart (“Hear me, baby? Hold together”). Ineffectual (“this bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade”), and doesn’t stand up well to criticism (“she’s got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart”- yep, that’s scriptural).

Being the scoundrel in this scenario doesn’t help, either.

And the very best part, to bring it full circle, i think i know what i’m doing and and i know where we’re trying to get to with this faith thing and… “I’m trying to get us out of here and you’re taking this apart?!” It’s pretty tough trying to be smug, self assured and confident thru all this. Say what you will about how the Falcon got the job done, blah, blah, blah… the point is, this is what faith looks like when i do the designing.

 

Filed under: Theology

Metanarrative

Most every critique of postmodernism i read includes a statement about how postmoderns reject ideas of absolute truth and metanarrative. These critiques are generally not written by a pomo-minded individual, but by modern observers. Given the chance, i think a postmodern would say something quite different.

I think postmodernism does not reject absolute truth, but is rather weary of shams and playacting that tries to pass itself off as truth (nevermind absolute or all-encompassing and complete-can’t-be-added-to truth). I think the pomo rejection of truth has more to do with a rejection of tactics of individuals and groups who co-opt truth to further an agenda, political or otherwise.

This trickles into metanarrative and the attempt to stretch a viewpoint (mini-narrative) into an all-encompassing explanation for why the world is the way it is (which are two different concepts, by the way). This stretching looks a lot like trying to stretch one’s lower lip over one’s head; the observer can’t help but be awed by the dedication and effort put into the action, but does wonder about the ultimate value of the benefits, if any.

What i’d really like to say is: Salvation is limited to Christ, but not to our understanding of Christ. One’s understanding of Christ does not a metanarrative make.

It’s awfully easy to confuse meta and mini narratives. It’s easy to think that what i think about Christ is all there is to know as regards salvation, the kingdom, loving people… but what i think about Christ represents only a very small percentile of who Christ actually is- in reality, what i think about Christ does not really represent Christ one bit- but i act like it does, and that’s dangerous.

So, despite the accusation that postmoderns reject absolutes, i would argue it’s not the case. Modern critiques of postmodernism delight in pointing out the self-stultifying nature (thanks for the link, andrew!) of the “no absolutes” claim, but i think a postmodern would reject the “no absolutes” stuff as silly and say simply, “we ought to be more careful with what we call ‘absolute’”.

This post is in development. Caffeine will likely be required to bring it home.

Filed under: Interdisciplinary Action, Philosophical-Possibly Theological, Pomo, Theology

rumblings

“The clown show has been put on hiatus for re-tooling.”

2 points if you can identify this quote. Bonus point if you can tell me which artist is being lampooned/homaged in the artwork, cause i don’t know.

Filed under: Blogging, Emergent Church, Theology