Recently, I heard a sermon where the preacher reflected on one of the pastoral epistles with specific reference as to how the faithful were urged to "keep the faith". This was appropriately located in the context of declining Christianity in UK and Europe and specifically in the United Reformed Church (URC) - which according to predictions will cease to exist as a church by 2015.
With the rapid decline of members this prediction seems more than probable. Yet, the occasion for the sermon was one church's celebration of family sunday. It was a packed congregation with the Caribbean British families constituting a significant proportion of those attending.
I was intrigued by the admonition to "keep the faith" and the very good reflection by the preacher. I wondered why and how the church has reached this stage in terms of its present demise and especially since the "keeping the faith" slogan is reflected in numerous hymns sung over the years, in the the theology and ethos of the URC. What went wrong?
The faithful have been "keeping the faith" - but perhaps in a different or wrong way. Or maybe the problem is with our understanding of what it means to "keep the faith".The Oxford dictionary informs us about the pedigree of the word "keep": to have continuous charge; retain possession of; save or hold on to; retain or remain in a specified condition, position, course etc. Herein one can locate a possible reason for what went wrong. Christians may have been "Keeping it to themselves" or "Keeping it away from people who did not look like them or fit into their company" or preserving (or even worst conserving) the faith in an imagined form of authenticity. Or more significantly: "keeping the faith" may have meant that little or no emphasis was placed on "practicing or living the faith".
If you ask me, I prefer "practice" (before faith) as such a habit offers a more realistic space for my insufficiences and all the ambiguities associated with my fragile humanity. It helps me to focus on making this a discipline that I need to continuosly strive after. It is not about holding on to or posessing something in a closed way. Moreover, given our ecclesial and cultural diversity there will certainly be "variety" in the practice of faith.
A related problem is that while interpreters may have noted the connection between "practice and keeping", our translations of the bible have been so conservative that we have never thought of revising "keeping the faith" to read "practicing the faith".
May we practice our faith in 2008 and beyond!
copyright jagessar
With the rapid decline of members this prediction seems more than probable. Yet, the occasion for the sermon was one church's celebration of family sunday. It was a packed congregation with the Caribbean British families constituting a significant proportion of those attending.
I was intrigued by the admonition to "keep the faith" and the very good reflection by the preacher. I wondered why and how the church has reached this stage in terms of its present demise and especially since the "keeping the faith" slogan is reflected in numerous hymns sung over the years, in the the theology and ethos of the URC. What went wrong?
The faithful have been "keeping the faith" - but perhaps in a different or wrong way. Or maybe the problem is with our understanding of what it means to "keep the faith".The Oxford dictionary informs us about the pedigree of the word "keep": to have continuous charge; retain possession of; save or hold on to; retain or remain in a specified condition, position, course etc. Herein one can locate a possible reason for what went wrong. Christians may have been "Keeping it to themselves" or "Keeping it away from people who did not look like them or fit into their company" or preserving (or even worst conserving) the faith in an imagined form of authenticity. Or more significantly: "keeping the faith" may have meant that little or no emphasis was placed on "practicing or living the faith".
If you ask me, I prefer "practice" (before faith) as such a habit offers a more realistic space for my insufficiences and all the ambiguities associated with my fragile humanity. It helps me to focus on making this a discipline that I need to continuosly strive after. It is not about holding on to or posessing something in a closed way. Moreover, given our ecclesial and cultural diversity there will certainly be "variety" in the practice of faith.
A related problem is that while interpreters may have noted the connection between "practice and keeping", our translations of the bible have been so conservative that we have never thought of revising "keeping the faith" to read "practicing the faith".
May we practice our faith in 2008 and beyond!
copyright jagessar
Image Credit
jagessar 2007
jagessar 2007
