We add adjectives to cover our own uncertainty or unease.
Perhaps the more discomfort or doubt we have, the more often we use stronger, more certain language to hide our own mixed emotions.1
A recent episode of the Emerged Podcast featured a guest talking about the tendency of Evangelical pastors to talk about their “smokin’ hot wives.”2 The speaker made the point that rather than admitting trouble or uncertainty in their relationships, they would just add another adjective.
In his book, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, Andrew Root highlights the tendency of Mainliners (and American Christians more broadly) to do the very same thing when it comes to talking about faith formation. Leaders will talk about wanting to nurture real, deep, authentic faith, as if having faith in itself was not simply enough.
Too often, faith formation is about an “epistemological shift rather than an ontological encounter.”3 This looks different depending on your theological foundation. For Evangelicals, it’s about mentally ascribing to the right set of beliefs. For Mainliners, it’s often about getting people aware and active about the right issues.
The Faith Formula
Root proposes a sort of formula—perfect for pastors and leaders desperate to find repeatable processes in our scientific age—yet this formula is anything but that. Building from the ancient Christian hymn Paul shares in Philippians 2:6, Root suggests that it’s like this; “although [x] not [y] but [z].” Basically, the “formula” goes something like this, “although I was busy and tired, I did not ignore my co-worker’s need for help, but stayed after five to help them finish their project.”
See for Root, God is committed to ministry and serving others. “Jesus humbles himself to the point of death on the cross, not despite being in the form of God, but rather because he is in the form of God.”4 For “God has chosen to be a minister.”5 So, when we do these same acts of ministry and service to others—then share that story—we often encounter God.
Here’s an example.
In my last sermon at the church I served, I shared about an instance last fall where I was in a McDonald’s one Saturday morning with my young son.
We had just sat down with our order when an older gentleman came over and started chatting with me. Although (x) I was tired and not really wanting to talk (since my job is talking with older people), I chose not to ignore him (y), but instead engaged in conversation with him (z). At one point he made the statement, “family is important, it’s important that you’re spending time with your son.” As he said this, I saw a tear welling up in his eye.
I shared this story at the end of my sermon, seeking to emphasize how we can hear from God, for I felt in that moment that God was encouraging me to engage (dare I say minister) to this man. And to Root’s point, it was this telling, this testimony, that really hit home for the congregants that day. If Root is to be believed, in that moment, those listeners encountered God also, and their faith was formed.
Again, “To have faith is to be loyal and give fidelity not to an ideology or concept but to the very person of Jesus.”6 And “for us to help people in our churches experience faith is not to battle for space or commitment… It is…to encourage people to pray, opening their lives to the transcendent.”7
Although [x] not [y] but [z].
Faith Formation is not about a process or mental agreement, its “nothing more than being conformed (taking the very form of) Christ himself.”8 To reference one of my past posts, our faith is often formed through physical actions of service and ministry when we don’t really feel like it. And better, when we share those events with others, when we tell others our “although [x] not [y] but [z]” stories, they are encountering the way of Christ themselves.
As much as I am in support of Christian Education, knowing the stories of Scripture, and understanding Church History, cultivating faith in young and old people alike will only take root9 when we encourage and engender ministry and service to others, then provide opportunity for them to share their stories through testimony. For, “in hearing another’s story we are given the revelation of his person. And when personhood is shared through ministry, Jesus Christ is concretely and really present.”10
Reading Holy Hell, author Derek Ryan Kubilus shares about his youth pastors absolute certainty about the existence of hell and eternal damnation. I have to wonder if this youth pastor was covering for his own uncertainty.
“Peak Emergent: A Movement Hits Its Stride,” Emerged. Podcast Audio, January 29, 2024.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 83.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 163.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 165.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 142
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 150.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age,167.
This was a Freudian slip for sure! Root does have an intriguing discussion on Freud in this book also.
Root, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, 208