It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles
at which one falls, only one at which one stands. – G.K. Chesterton
My early days as a Christian were filled with upright examples—but one by one they came tumbling down. This, as you might well guess, contributes to a certain dissonance of faith. Some find it easy to pass those thoughts by and live life contented. I am not one of those.
Even though many pillars of my faith have fallen, I was able to see the truth in what they were saying. I was able to take the gold and leave the dross, you might put it. I realized that what drew me to these people was the truthfulness and value of what they were speaking: In spite of falling in the Flesh, they spoke the Spirit truth. In this way, I had something real to cling to when my heroes fell.
I have been blessed to sit under the teaching of thinkers who showed truly inspired takes on scriptures that I had long glossed over. It was these novel readings that shifted my viewpoint just enough that I was able to gain something more. And that something more would be stepping stones to understanding my faith at a deeper and more satisfying level.
In one particularly memorable Sunday service, I listened as our pastor taught the Beatitudes, from Matthew 5. He was able to show us that, rather than some kind of list of proverbs, or atomized nuggets of wisdom, the Beatitudes form a whole and each verse builds on the one before. That’s when, per my unique sensibilities, I decided to read it backwards.
Also in Matthew 5, we find Jesus’ words, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It sounds so nice. So right. So…wait, what? Be perfect as God is perfect? I had always left that verse alone with a haunting feeling of falling short. Then, one day, things started to click and I had to write and figure out what was meant by another scripture: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
In another Sunday sermon, our pastor talked about the Kingdom of Heaven: What it is, where it is, and when it is. Just setting it in those contexts piqued my interest. He phrased one thought this way: The Kingdom of Heaven is wherever the King reigns, and wherever the King reigns is where His Will is done. We all have this sense of anxious expectation for the return of Christ to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven, and that’s part of the picture, but Jesus’ own words reveal to us something even more mind expanding.
These three easy-to-miss ideas began to form a change of mind in me, the beginnings of a paradigm shift, and they solidified ideas that would help me to understand what’s really going on with our faith, what constitutes our faith, and what the New Covenant was really all about.