For many, the faith is made up of these similarly shaped pieces, drawn from both the Bible and the doctrines of their tradition, stacked nicely, well ordered, and as long as people leave it alone, it looks good. But…if people start trying to call into question pieces of the tower, if people start messing with pieces, if there is a sense that someone may even be trying to remove a piece…fear becomes the order of the day. Fear becomes a motivation for anger and hostility, defensiveness and conflict. Many Christians stand guard fearfully defending their towers from the assaults of others. Don’t touch my tower! Unfortunately, that’s one of the reasons why many churches don’t often embrace the hard questions or the doubt of searching skeptics. Their questions and doubts threaten their neatly stacked tower.
Warning: This image is a real problem when the key pieces that hold the tower together are actually minor themes or insignificant pieces that weren’t intended to carry the whole weight of the tower anyway.
I prefer the image of a patchwork quilt. A patchwork quilt is made up of various, multi-colored (sometimes multi-textured) pieces of fabric, arranged in the mind and heart of the creator and then stitched together with a thread that binds the pieces. Each piece itself can have a sense of beauty about it. You might like the color or the feel. Perhaps you were drawn to a particular pattern on the piece. But the true beauty isn’t until you step back, taking in the breath of the whole quilt, all the pieces arranged beautifully and stitched together in the hands of a master.Biblical faith becomes about beauty more than delicate balance.
I prefer to speak of Biblical faith in terms of themes and threads rather than stacked building blocks. Using this image we might say that the themes are the patchwork squares and the threads are the character of the God of Scriptures holding and pulling all the various pieces together.
Note…There is a center piece! The piece that’s in the center of the quilt, around which all other pieces are arranged is Jesus Christ. We’ve spoken about this consistently through this Blog. We mustn’t forget or neglect His preeminent role in the quilt. In fact the Scripture says of him in Colossians 1:“16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Ok…how about an example here.
I believe one of the patterned pieces of Biblical Faith that shows up in the quilt over and over again is “Redemptive Hope.” This is a theme of Scripture. Taken alone, this piece is beautiful. No matter who you are, how deep your commitment to religion or faith is, HOPE standing alone is a beautiful piece. However, I believe it’s true beauty is found within the overarching beauty of the quilt. Redemptive Hope speaks to the desire of God’s heart. It emerges (as we will see in days to come) from the beginning of the Scriptures. It speaks of the desire of God to take all that is broken, shattered, wounded, and wrecked and to make it whole again. It’s the aspiration of God that this will become reality.
Hold on cause this is about to get good!! That theme (the patchwork piece) is woven into the quilt through the thread of God’s character. God’s character binds the pieces of the story together. We might say its God’s character as LOVINGLY FAITHFUL that makes possible the beauty of the piece. Without the thread of God’s consistent character and it’s place in the overall quilt, Hope as a piece might look beautiful and even feel compelling, but in all reality it’s just a beautiful piece that becomes wishful thinking. However, HOPE woven together with God’s LOVING FAITHFULNESS becomes more than possibility, it becomes the enduring testimony of God’s people throughout the scope of God’s entire story (The Scriptures) pointing to the center piece of Jesus Christ, and witnessed in the people who live out this promise.
This is simply a theme and a thread. We will explore many more over the coming days, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. We will look at themes like creation, recreation, liberation, restoration, reconciliation, etc. We will also look at the threads or Holiness, Self-Giving Love, Compassion, Patience, Graciousness, Strength, etc. We will also anchor these themes and threads in the overarching story of the Scriptures.
Again…this MATTERS!
Why? It changes the pursuit and purpose of Biblical Faith. Instead of learning which way the pieces of the Bible should be stacked and neatly arranged, guarded and defended with insecure zeal, Biblical Faith becomes about discovery and quest. It’s the discovery of those themes woven into the fabric of human history that lay alongside one another and give expression to the beauty of its CREATOR’s design. It’s about the intimate journey of discovering the heart and the character of God that is the thread that holds these pieces together. Biblical Faith is less about defense and more about beauty. It’s less about guarding stacked pieces that at anytime can topple and more about the passionate pursuit of a relationship with the One that binds all pieces together.
Reading Plan…
Ok, so if you are following along in our reading plan so far, you should be at about Luke 9:21. I want to encourage you to take today and read the rest of Luke 9. The quilt of Biblical Faith as a whole is absolutely beautiful. However, one of the key pieces (themes) that emerges throughout the text is the idea of “Cost.” To be a God chaser is to recognize this journey doesn’t come easy. Resolute commitment is requisite in this journey. Explore this chapter from that perspective. Ask God to reveal to you not only the immense cost that Jesus speaks about for himself throughout this chapter but also the cost he calls his followers to in this chapter. Then ask the question, “Amidst the cost, what thread of God’s character have you witnessed so far that would make that piece seem possible in your life?”
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