Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Piatt

Home
Progressive Christian
It’s Not All Going to Be Okay, and That’s Okay

It’s Not All Going to Be Okay, and That’s Okay

Last updated on: November 10, 2012 at 8:51 pm by Christian Piatt

It’s Not All Going to Be Okay, and That’s Okay 2012-11-10T20:51:27+00:00 Christian Piatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I get asked sometimes why I spend so much time critiquing the church from the inside. Why offer up strange church signs rather than walking away from the religion that churns them out? Why point out the oft-employed cliches of Christianity, rather than simply coming to terms with the fact that words mean different things to different people?

My friend, Phil Snider, pointed out recently that there’s a reason why Sigmund Freud called religion a social crutch, or why Karl Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. It’s not necessarily that faith itself is bad and that we should only rely on reason. Faith, after all, plays a significant role in science. Yes, we are bound by observable phenomenon by the scientific method, but its the persistent, creative, faithful imaginations in the possibilities of the as-yet-undiscovered that has tended to stretch the thin edges of science.

I don’t think that the critiques of the likes of Freud and Marx necessarily have to be a call to destroy religion all together, although some religious folks and those without a religious faith tend to misunderstand this point. It’s the way in which we employ religion that is the problem, not religion in and of itself.

The problems arise when we turn to our religious practices or our belief in a supernatural being to make everything all better. I hurt and I don’t want to, so God/Church/Jesus will make it go away. When I think about the possibility of there being no God – at least in the typical metaphysical, anthropomorphic “sky wizard” sense – it scares us, and so we cling to doctrine, ritual, scripture and the like to reassure us.

But if we try to mold faith into something more certain than simply faith, it becomes something else. A crutch, perhaps, or a drug. So how or when does this happen?

It happens when someone is suffering and we tell them that everything happens for a reason. In the bigger picture, this is that opiate of certainty and assurance being cast over all the chaos, suffering and doubt, in an effort to keep it all tied up neatly in a religious package. But what it creates beneath the surface is a bastardized image of a God who sits in the Great Beyond, plotting out our fortunes and misfortunes, causing loss and heartbreak in our lives for some greater unknown plan. This makes us no more than so much collateral damage in some narcissistic divine game.

Is that really the God we believe in?

It also happens when we stake claims based on absolutes about the nature of God. God is this; not that. We do this out of fear, because we don’t feel we can endure an existence in which we simply don’t know the mind of God, or even perhaps whether there is a “mind of God” to speak of at all. Does this mean that, in order to place religion in its proper context as something other than a crutch or opiate, we must kill God? Must we ironically become atheists in order to actually have a healthy faith.

Yes and no.

We do have to allow the false idols we’ve constructed out of our religious beliefs to die, to be purged by the refining fires of life’s experience. We also have to kill off our idolatrous images of God we cling to, worshipping some imagined construct that makes us feel better, but which no more represents God than money, sex, power or any other idol we choose to worship.

So what are we left with once we dismantle all of these idols? Is this some cruel joke, snatching our security blankets from us, forcing us to stand, exposed, staring down into the abyss of the unknown?

It’s no joke; it’s an important step toward spiritual, emotional and social maturity. We’ve clung to a sort of infantilized version of belief for far too long, all the while, ignoring the persistent call toward something more. Toward a more fully realized understanding and expression of love. Toward a beauty freed from even aesthetic limitations. Toward a yearning for justice and peace that surpass all human understanding.

Will we ever get there? Not in this life. After that, who knows? But our response to such a call is the very stuff of life, and it is the kind of real, authentic, mature, honest living to which Jesus invites us.

But to get there, we have to toss the crutches of assurance and the failed religious antidotes to doubt and suffering aside. It’s a journey only made once unencumbered of such things. Yes, it’s scary because it’s uncertain. But if it were certain, we would have no need for faith in the first place.

It’s time to lay down our mats and follow.

Previous Post

November 9, 2012

Our Interview with Jim Wallis on Immigration Reform

Next Post

November 11, 2012 Church Sign Epic Fails, Hangover Edition

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category atonement belief bible Bill O'Reilly Buddhism CCM children christian piatt christianity Contemporary Christian Music current events derek flood Easter education Everyday Sunday faith faith and culture Frank Schaeffer great commission Haaz Sleiman Hobby Lobby Homebrewed Culture humor ISIS Jesus John Paul Lederach Killing Jesus LGBTQ marc driscoll Mission Year Music My Jesus Project Nat Geo parenting politics popular culture postChristian prison reform Ray rice religion republicans sacrifice sexuality theology Uncategorized video violence wild goose festival World Vision young adults

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city did David capture and make the capital of Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hebron Bethlehem Jerusalem Samaria