Of Rocks and Sand: Words About Faith

"You know, sometimes, when you trade tradition for progress, you wind up with neither." -Rabbi Samuel Garfinkel from USA's In Plain Sight

Faith is one of those things which thrives well on tradition. Along with family and country, faith instills in us the comfort of a higher power, the conviviality of people who believe as we do. Faith gives us reasons for the things that happen and consolation for pain. But just like family and country, when faith is shaken by any force, our lives can be changed forever.

I used to be under the employ of a protestant denomination. I worked in their national headquarters for almost seven years. When I took the job, I wasn't terribly familiar with what made them different than the faiths I knew. I had been raised Baptist and converted to Catholicism in college. This denomination was somewhere in the middle. The longer I worked there, the more understanding I became as to why people referred to them as 'reformed'. Though Baptists and Catholics are far apart on the Christian spectrum, there's one thing that gives them staying power: unyielding tradition.

The area in which I worked wasn't terribly engrossed in the policy-making part of the church. Though I tried to know as little as possible about the political leanings and goings on within this church organization, I couldn't help but know some things. Most of the people were liberal, supporting everything from extreme 'green' legislation to openly condemning Israel for, what it seemed, the simple act of existing. Though some of this liberal bias was merely a preference for the people who worked and worshiped there, some of it had permeated the very structure of the church. Some traditions, carried on for decades, were cast aside like yesterday's biodegradable coffee cup. The next big liberal agenda was the next big church agenda. Doctrine seemed to change like the weather.

As the years went on, I unfortunately learned more and more about this auto-immune illness that had struck the denomination. Their churches were faltering, like many at the time, but when the trend died down in others, this particular sect did not recover. They tried to sugarcoat things, saying there were signs of progress and growth, but like the government's much-hailed 'economic recovery spurred by stimulus,' news of lifting fog could be traced back to a few strategic press releases tinted with rose-colored glasses. Church attendance could be called abysmal at times. Their faith base was aging; the most recent average age of people active within this denomination was listed at 60. The youth were turning away, so were young adults.

Explanations were abound. People in high places struggled to put a name to what was happening, all the while continuing on their progressive path. To a member of the faith, this was a crisis with no clear cause, one that could be allayed by the careful application of new rules or the dismissal of human failure. To me, an outsider looking in, I saw the biggest cause as plain as the sunrise. In their quest to change always with the times, they had abandoned the traditions and beliefs that brought them together as one in the first place. They had changed so often and so drastically in efforts to appease this group or that group, they had begun to appease no one.

In spite of some people's love for spontaneity and ever-changing atmospheres, some things should never change so quickly. Long-standing traditions and beliefs deserve the slow evolution intended by God and nature. Families change, countries change, faith, at it's core, should not change in this way. As Christians, we must take a cue from our grandfather in faith, Judaism. This time-tested, human-tested faith has stood strong for millennia. In the face of evil's attempts to eradicate them, they have remained faithful. To this day, the Jews, specifically of Israel, are the most devout and stalwart people on earth. This strength must come from a strength of tradition in the light of changing times. Small things may have changed, but the important things remain. God's mandates remain.

As membership declined in my employing denomination, the funds to keep the headquarters afloat declined. A massive amount of the blame was shifted to the down economy, which I can see as a partial contributor, but not the main cause. Downsizing had occurred in the years prior to my employ, but in the years since, the downsizing had become almost an annual ritual. I survived three of them before having my position eliminated this year. Some of you may attribute this post to bitterness, but I can promise you, I harbor only a small amount of bitterness. I pity them. I pity them for what they have brought upon themselves. I pity them for the ignorance that will undoubtedly be their downfall. I pity those people whom I grew to love who remain there and what may happen to their livelihood in the months and years to come.

No, this post was in response to something that happened recently with this denomination. I fear one of the cornerstone beliefs of this faith is in real jeopardy, something that if lost, would cause the ultimate loss of membership. Added to the already sparse membership of this church, a hit like this could be fatal. I am a Christian, regardless of my chosen denomination. I believe in God, in Christ, in the church. My faith sustains me and it gives me a sense of oneness with those who share my faith. But I know my faith is built on the rock of Christ, first and foremost. Humans, politics, policy, those things are ever shifting. Christ does not shift. A church bound to stand the test of time, must be careful where they choose to build. This denomination has succumbed to the intoxicating will of weak, attention-seeking human interests and taken their eyes away from the divine. I have heard, a house built on shifting sands cannot stand, something gleaned loosely from Matthew 7:24–27 (see below for complete passage). Divinity and nature dictate this to be true. No house, no family, no country, and certainly no faith can stand if left to ride the shifting sands of human failing.

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." -Matthew 7:24–27 (New International Version)