H,
That is what it truly comes
down to. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” has no hidden
definitions. We will not know everything when we begin. All we will truly know
is that we need help and this is the place to find it. It all begins with the
idea that God can solve the unsolvable. To some it will be with money and to
others it will be purpose. He is not any of these things solely but it is fine
to start there. The problem is if this is all we want to see.
There is always deeper to go
in God. Once we do not acknowledge this depth we begin to fill the vacuum with
all sorts of nonsense. Soon we have the business approach and the “glory” approach
and finally a sort of “kingdom” narrative that deals only with our own egos
being served and our own enemies of self to be vanquished. Not real enemies or
the real enemy. Just people who have told us off or belittled us or made us
sad. Our whole faith becomes an exercise in self-esteem reinforcement and
self-worth building. It is not that these things are not there. It is that they
are not the only thing and they are all far from the main thing that carries
everything else in its depth.
You can’t speak to such a
delusion because that only reinforces the concept of us v. them. This is how
cults are formed. This is how tragedy begins. This is how human wisdom is taken
for divine folly.
The faith we truly profess
does not answer one question but all questions. It is not for one aspect of
your reality but all of them. It will not solve your problems but it will cure
the problem of you. The former is just a branch of the latter. This is the holy
business of being made whole. Half measures will not do.
This is not to say that we
must be all in or nothing. We start, as with this letter, from believing our
specific problem can be solved. We end knowing the problem is most likely in us
and will be cured over the course of a lifetime on a very narrow path. We come
as we are and for what we want. We will never leave. We come to stay in God and
that in all its fullness as expressed in Christ.
It is not one thing.
It is everything.
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