Holy Nomad and the “Quest” Approach to Christian Faith

Last updated on: November 8, 2012 at 10:07 am by Kyle Roberts

Holy Nomad and the “Quest” Approach to Christian Faith 2012-11-08T10:07:39-04:00 Kyle Roberts

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.

This post is my contribution to Patheos’ book club on Matt Litton’s Holy Nomad: The Rugged Road to Joy.

I suppose this book falls in same genre as The Ragamuffin Gospel (Brennan Manning) and The Sacred Romance (Brent Curtis and John Elderidge)–sort of a combination of memoir, inspirational writing, and biblical/theological reflection. As an academic, I’ve grown used to reading lengthy tomes, with long, winding sentences, gnostic-like “discourse” understandable only to the initiated, and plenty of fifty-dollar words. While I wouldn’t want my theology any other way (sort of), this book was a nice change. The chapters are remarkably short (I found myself several times thinking, “already?”). The prose is lively, quick and engaging. I didn’t find many fifty-dollar words. But I did find my heart stirred on more than one occasion.

Who doesn’t want to be lifted out of the “cells” we find ourselves in? To break free from the institutionalization of our lives, and find new meaning, fresh joy, new purpose? Litton is calling us to reflect on whether our lives are too confined, too static, too predictable, but mostly–too joyless.

The Christian life, he enjoins us, is meant to be a “nomadic” life; a journey toward the divine (toward the “Holy Nomad”). It’s a good reminder. In the wake of the weight of months of heavy, often heartless, political arguments and the relentless marketing machine, it’s also good timing. Can we get out from under the weight and find a new joy for the journey?

I have mixed feelings about the Nomad metaphor–sort of. It’s an odd-sounding, dusty word, so I wonder how much traction it could really have outside this book. But I certainly resonate with the journey image. Some psychologists utilize a “quest” or “questing” construct in understanding the religious life (e.g. Batson, Becker, Sandage, etc.). I found myself thinking of the psychological category of religion as quest, when reading Litton’s book. Questers approach religion with open-endedness, are OK with existential questions and doubts, are humble about their grasp of truth, and in general approach religion as something to be lived rather than something to be used.

To me, that’s a natural (or at least, ideal) way to approach the Christian faith. A Christian is a “Christ-one,” after all–a follower of Jesus. But somehow, over time, it becomes more a cultural identity, a set of rules and practices (often extrinsic to what is most naturally meaningful to us), or even a politics of power that hedges us off from the “other” (and therefore, from ourselves). Too often, our approach to religion ends up killing joy and subduing love, rather than unleashing them both. But the New Testament gospel calls us to be pilgrims, wayfarers, followers, aliens and perhaps even nomads.

If you need a little boost in your joy metric, Litton’s book might be a quick jolt–a lively reminder of what life in Christ is meant to be.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 7, 2012

Nothing Changes

Next Post

November 13, 2012 Artists Behaving Strangely

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alex Blondeau Authors Daniel Harrell Daniel Siedell Dawn Duncan Harrell Kyle Roberts Uncategorized Wyndy Corbin

Select a Month 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jesus say to Lazarus to raise him?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Awake! Be healed! Live again! Lazarus, come out!