Growing up, I had a lot of opportunities (probably too many) to commit and re-commit my life to God. Looking back, there were a lot of things associated with these invitations that I don’t (and didn’t) like. A classic example was the “just slip your hand up when no one is looking” and then later ask those who privately slipped their hand up to walk up now in front of everyone. Somewhat reluctantly, I forgive such manipulators and deceivers, though I don’t understand why churches let preachers get away with that kind of stuff.
One reason that I forgive them (though, of course, I should forgive without justification) is that I was stubborn enough, even as a kid, to resist most of the emotional garbage around those invitations and simply re-commit my life to God. My inner dialog was often along the line of “God, I’m not going to do what this guy is asking for but you know my life is yours, right?” Getting baptized was a more important and appopriate way of making this public than any altar call. But being used to the idea of actually making such inner (or outer) commitments to God was, I think, important for me.
Recently, I articulated this commitment in a way that tries to clarify what I really believe God is now calling me to. It is written in “we” form because even though it is personal and grows out of my understanding, it is a commitment I want to make together with others and invite others to either enter into or dialog with. It is very loosely called a “rule” in the sense of an old monastic shared commitment of a life together. The language and flavour of it will certainly not be for everyone, which, of course, is fine.
This is not a statement of faith (though it may share some similarities). I don’t believe in statements of faith. Statements of faith are often tools of those in power that are used to draw lines in the sand, guarding hardened doctrine and stopping conversation rather than encouraging it. The attempt of this “rule” is to express and invite others to consider a personal commitment to action in a certain direction. I assume this collection of commitments could only be improved with dialog and disagreement.
Finally, you will note that it is written in various levels that get more specfic. I believe there is one level of specificity still missing. It is the level of immediate and unique application for any specific moment. I think a great “use” of this rule would be to consider what those missing specific applications might be. So I invite you to read this and consider your own commitment. Change it freely for yourself. Suggest that I change mine if you think I should. And then consider what specific actions this might actually lead to in your life.
If anyone has any trouble opening this, please let me know either by commenting or emailing me.
One Comment
Walter
Just wanted to thank you for what you have been sharing here. It is truly a blessing. I really loved what you wrote about statements of faith, whilst framing it alongside the challenge of the rule of St Croix. It has given me plenty to meditate and muse on.
shalom