I've got so many books that I wanted to read for so long, it is a wonder that I ever manage to make it through my personal "recommended reading" list. I heard about Nancy Pearcy's book last Fall (2004) and bought it this past Summer. Just this last week, I finally pulled it off the bookshelf and opened it up. Wow! The introduction had me acting like Pavlov's Dog...
Nancy begins where Franics Schaeffer ends when he explains his concept of illustrating truth as a two-story building - he's Two-Realm Theory of Truth. There is a private truth and a public truth and ne'er the twain shall meet. The Upper Story is where Nonrational, Noncognitive concepts live while Rational and Verifiable concepts take up the Lower Story. Upstairs is Values; Downstairs is Facts; Upstairs is the Private Sphere filled with Personal Preferences while Downstairs is the Public Sphere filled with Scientific Knowledge. Religion and Faith are considered upstair tenants.
There is a fact/value split - or better yet a secular/sacred split - that the world imposes upon us and, sad to say, we have, in many ways, accepted this within the universal church - at least in the United States. I've heard many times that we don't have a voice in the public square anymore, that faith is repeatedly privatized and internalized. That it's all about a personal relationship between the individual and God (which is true to a point) and we shouldn't be forcing it on other people. The phrase "That may be true for you but it's not true for me." is born out of this dichotomy - this postmodern way of thinking and viewing the world and it's seeped into the church now. It didn't happen last week or last year or in the 90's. It's been a slowly evolving movement that's crept in silently, over a long period of time and over several decades.
While I want to write more on this subject, I'll save it for another post. But I do want to mention that the main thrust of this book is how do we cultivate a Christian Worldview? That is a worldview that isn’t relegated to upstairs living. How do we break the cultural trend of having our Faith compartmentalized and effectively cross that barrier that has been erected? Nancy says that she will address those issues and give practical ways to apply it to our lives. I believe that it’s important that our faith permeates every aspect of our life and that it is not just left to worship time. But it seems to me that many Christians view their Faith as nothing more than a series of mini-doctrines (Virgin Birth, Sin, Salvation, Resurrection, etc.) and that these make no impact on their professional lives unless they happen to be in the ministry. Instead, a secular mindset is adopted Monday through Friday at the office and our Spiritual/Ethical/Moral mindset is left for Sunday. It’s a dangerous trend because allowing our Faith and the message of the Gospel to be repeatedly pushed to the rooms upstairs – we lose any force in following the Great Commission. If the Gospel is Private, then we have nothing to share with the World.
Shawn
2 Comments:
This seems like a heavy reading, but your summary is right on.
Matthew 25:31ff (sheep and goats) is a good reminder of the importance of avoiding a faith perspective that compartmentizes--it also speaks to the more pragmatic (moral and ethical) as opposed to academic approach to our faith walk. I like the reading from The Message:
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, "Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
36I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37"Then those "sheep' are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38-39And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 40Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me.' (The Message)
I think your statement is correct that "many Christians view their Faith as nothing more than a series of mini-doctrines and that these make no impact on their professional lives unless they happen to be in the ministry".
I'm not sure that many people would get what Nancy is explaining in her book, but I do believe that you and many others are doing the right thing to set an example by the way you live (24x7x365)...keep it up!
"This seems like a heavy reading..." - yeah, i think that's part of my napolean complex, or should i say my einstein complex :)
seriously though - i've read some things that were so far over my head and technical that i really didn't understand much of what was written. but nancy's book is very easy to read and grasp her concepts. if you'd like to read it, i'll lend it out.
Shawn
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