I have a kind of convergence of thought going on lately as I consider various questions. As I process, I’m realizing a lot struggle people are having today is one of faith vs. dogma. Young people my kids’ ages leave home and leave the church. People who have been a part of the church their whole lives suffer through a pandemic never to return. In a different vein, long-standing friendships are severed over politics or a stance on some social issue. And it strikes me – churched or unchurched, we are living in dogmatic times.
I take issue with Merriam-Webster here. I don’t equate dogma with doctrine. I think rather we can approach doctrine faithfully or dogmatically. And I think it’s critical to understand what’s at stake. When we approach doctrine dogmatically, we shut down questions. When we approach doctrine faithfully, we invite questions. Faith breathes. Dogma suffocates. Faith moves. Dogma sits. Faith lives. Dogma calcifies. Faith is hard. Dogma is easy. Paradoxically, faith anchors. Dogma is easily dislodged.
As I said, questions are catalyzing these thoughts. Some of my questions I’m almost afraid to voice out loud because, as I said before, these are dogmatic times. If you ask a thoughtful question, dogma oversimplifies difficulties and questions why you would raise such a question. You can find yourself on the outside of a group you have a long-standing relationship with – you can find yourself shunned. But that doesn’t stop the questions – and here is where I think the issue is….
I can answer my kids’ questions with dogma, giving them easy answers to complex questions. I can question them as to why they would even bring up some questions, shutting down discussion and imposing a false peace – but that’s just what it would be – a false peace. If the dogma doesn’t make sense to them (and dogma rarely does) the questions don’t go away. And when they’re out from under my roof living far away from the church of their youth, they’ll look for answers to those questions somewhere other than the places they received dogmatic answers. They’ll leave the church.
We can answer our brothers and sisters with dogma. And when a pandemic comes and they can’t be together with the saints, they’ll go somewhere else when they can finally get out. Maybe to a volleyball league or the Lion’s Club.
If we are going to survive… no…. let’s aim higher than that…if we are going to thrive, we’d better answer questions with faith. Faith will wrestle. Faith will deal with ambiguity. Faith will breathe. Faith will give life.
Okay. So, I addressed the church issue. I want to be clear. We live in dogmatic times. Have I said that? It’s not just in the church where dogma exists. It’s not even primarily in the church. It’s out in the world too – neck-deep in spades as evidenced in a cancel culture that can only work in a dogmatic world. Our political and social discourse is full of poorly supported dogma. Do you hear what I am saying? The world has always been dogmatic. But unlike the church, it can’t be any different because it doesn’t have faith. And this is our in. Faith breathes. Faith lives. We may be excoriated for expressing ideas that fall outside the current dogmatic sphere, but we should be brave enough to do it. Because as the mob does its worst and gives us up for dead, a few will linger. And wonder. And as our faith animates us and we, like Paul, get up off the ground and walk again, that wonder will turn into questions. And they have then started down the path of faith.
