Next-Wave Ezine > church & culture

Oxymoronic Faith
By Casey Tygrett

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I'm not sure when I first had the thought. Perhaps, it was the first time I read Len Sweet's ideas about the "double ring," or maybe it was when I heard Robert Webber talk about "ancient-future" worship. In any case, at some point I realized that many things I believe about the Kingdom of God have to do with the idea of the oxymoron, words brought together despite their apparent opposition to each other.

Terms like "moderate politician," "mainline evangelical," or "socially active evangelical," all seem on the surface to be oxymorons, though, in truth, they are not. We develop an understanding of each other and dialogue with each other based heavily on what oxymoron best defines our position. This is a very general and unfair statement, which someone should probably write about, but I won't do that here. It was in this line of thought that I realized that hanging in the stratosphere was one of the most contradictory terms ever penned: Christian faith.

I'm not trying to make a blanket statement, but I see a great deal of mediocrity in the area of faith when it comes to Christians. Those who should have the highest amount of trust in the unseen have only as much as they can support by their own effort. You cannot own something you are not in full possession of. I point first of all to myself. I'm so intent on making sure I cover all the bases—regardless of the activity—that at the end there is no room for real faith to operate.

We present Christ to people but we add the eschatological punishment item (hell, in layman's terms) in order to "seal the deal."

We live and die as churches on whether or not our funds will outlast the diminishing economics around us, rather than the belief that those who are following Christ will actually see real tangible provision.

Oftentimes, our faith is only secure when we have an in-road to financial prosperity and then we can begin working on our "spiritual life" which is a totally separate and self-contained entity.

The reality of "Christian faith" is that most Christians turn to a life of faith only when every other option has failed. As such, it shouldn't surprise us when those who do not follow Christ call out "Oh Lord!" in a time of trial. They've seen Christians do it a million times.

This leads me to another oxymoron: rational faith.

We believe that God will provide in ways that are common and comfortable not unusual or irrational (on a sidenote, faith is most often questioned when our wants are not satisfied, just read "The Prayer of Jabez"). For a people who believe a man rose from the dead, we aren't too quick to apply the concept of irrational action when it applies to our daily life, are we?

The easy target presented by this line of thinking is the "plan or don't plan" question. I'm pretty sure that if we start with questioning our own planning, we have assumed our own ability to plan as well as the need for our plan to be the primary concern.

That is the desperately secure thing about Christianity: when you follow Jesus' example, faith is not a quality to be grown, it is a necessity of survival. Our planning should be humbly submitted to the irrational and super-wise governance of Christ. We cannot hope to be Christ-like if we are unable to live as if we are sustained only on the inheritance of our Father.

Perhaps, and this is just conjecture, there is a need for us to set aside our "emerging" and our "house churching" and our "dialoguing" to tune into the oxymoronic nature of our faith. The single most effective posture in relationship to God is that which allows for contradictions—that allows for servant-kings, 'slacker'-leaders, compassionate-prophets, and a social-Gospel. Not all of these terms will seem contradictory, but they are gateway contradictions that will lead those who are willing to envision a more potent and powerful Kingdom under the influence of Christ and the urging of His Spirit. If this seems like it is extemporaneous to Scripture, just remember that Jesus' parables and teachings were the ultimate exercise in oxymoronic dialogue: "The first will be last." This, for me, is an ever-expanding internal and external dialogue. In turn, it can be a "one-man dialogue" from time to time but then again isn't faith communion with an unseen partner?

C.K. (Casey) Tygrett teaches at Emden Christian Church (IL). He enjoys golf and the company of his wife and is currently dealing with the adoption of a cat into his dog-biased worldview.

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