<description>&lt;p&gt;Trey Herweck, pastor of Refuge Church here in St. Charles, and I talk about faith and doubt and certainty and mystery. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As always, we riff on the latest edition of The Embassy - &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://theembassy.substack.com/p/certainty-doubt-faith-mystery"&gt;Certainty, Doubt, Faith, Mystery.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is an excerpt:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;About that path to God - much of the New Testament interacts with this question - what is the way (or way back) to God? Almost the entirety of the book of Hebrews stresses the unique and irreplaceable role of Jesus as the only One who can bring us back to God. One of Jesus’ disciples, Thomas, responds to Jesus’ message at the end of His life that He is returning to His Father -&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;John 14:5-7&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As we read in Acts 17, Paul, in the early years of the church, arrived in the heart of the philosophical world - Athens - and saw idols all over the place. He did not respond with distress, though he was distressed, he responded with a loving, engaged, culture honoring and culturally informed call to a God they did not know about, referencing an idol to an unknown god that adorned the square among all the other idols. He walked through a door they opened in language they understood to tell them about one who died and rose to invite them back to God and called them to turn from their beliefs to a commitment to this path to the true God. Some believed, some scoffed, and some wanted to hear more.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All of these are very particular invitations to a very particular, a scandalously particular, path. And there are dozens more I could reference. This is a central message of the New Testament that has been believed by the church for many centuries. Again, others have a different understanding of scripture and the way to God - and I respect their views. But the church has taught this central message for almost two millennia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can God apply His grace, in Jesus, through His Spirit to those who don’t have all their beliefs in order? Yes, of course. At least I hope so. We all should hope so, because none of us has all beliefs in order, whatever that means. That is part of the central meaning of grace. God’s grace is God’s - He applies it as He sees fit. But he tells us something - something scandalously particular - about how He ordinarily applies that grace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Faith is required, and faith isn’t certainty - but it is a knowledge and foundation for life and action, grounded in our understanding of what God has said to us. It is a gift of the Spirit, so we can be transformed and transformative. Is there a mystery here? Yes. We are not promised a life without mystery. And, God being the one who loves us best and knows what we need the most, we shouldn’t seek a life without mystery if that is the life He has for us. But acting in the world requires us to assume some belief about us, about God, about others, about the world - even if are not aware of these beliefs, even if we claim uncertainty about them, when we act, we live out some belief. We can say we want to dwell in the mystery, but acting requires us to express some belief - held in faith, with humility … but held. We are not quantum elements existing in a state of indeterminacy - when observed, we particularize. And we are always observed … called to act under His loving observation. One of the tragedies of our moment is that some cling to a certainty that binds them in angry, fearful, pharisaical concrete. Another tragedy of our moment is that others drift - lacking agency and purpose because all is mystery and nothing holds any particular meaning&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Read the &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://theembassy.substack.com/p/certainty-doubt-faith-mystery"&gt;whole piece&lt;/a&gt; … &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Get full access to The Embassy at &lt;a href="https://theembassy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4"&gt;theembassy.substack.com/subscribe&lt;/a&gt;</description>

On Culture

Mike Sherman - a podcast of The Embassy substack newsletter - theembassy.substack.com

On Culture - Belief, Doubt, Faith, Mystery

OCT 5, 202446 MIN
On Culture

On Culture - Belief, Doubt, Faith, Mystery

OCT 5, 202446 MIN

Description

<p>Trey Herweck, pastor of Refuge Church here in St. Charles, and I talk about faith and doubt and certainty and mystery. </p><p>As always, we riff on the latest edition of The Embassy - <a target="_blank" href="https://theembassy.substack.com/p/certainty-doubt-faith-mystery">Certainty, Doubt, Faith, Mystery.</a></p><p>Here is an excerpt:</p><p>About that path to God - much of the New Testament interacts with this question - what is the way (or way back) to God? Almost the entirety of the book of Hebrews stresses the unique and irreplaceable role of Jesus as the only One who can bring us back to God. One of Jesus’ disciples, Thomas, responds to Jesus’ message at the end of His life that He is returning to His Father -</p><p>Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”</p><p>Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”</p><p>John 14:5-7</p><p>As we read in Acts 17, Paul, in the early years of the church, arrived in the heart of the philosophical world - Athens - and saw idols all over the place. He did not respond with distress, though he was distressed, he responded with a loving, engaged, culture honoring and culturally informed call to a God they did not know about, referencing an idol to an unknown god that adorned the square among all the other idols. He walked through a door they opened in language they understood to tell them about one who died and rose to invite them back to God and called them to turn from their beliefs to a commitment to this path to the true God. Some believed, some scoffed, and some wanted to hear more.</p><p>All of these are very particular invitations to a very particular, a scandalously particular, path. And there are dozens more I could reference. This is a central message of the New Testament that has been believed by the church for many centuries. Again, others have a different understanding of scripture and the way to God - and I respect their views. But the church has taught this central message for almost two millennia.</p><p>Can God apply His grace, in Jesus, through His Spirit to those who don’t have all their beliefs in order? Yes, of course. At least I hope so. We all should hope so, because none of us has all beliefs in order, whatever that means. That is part of the central meaning of grace. God’s grace is God’s - He applies it as He sees fit. But he tells us something - something scandalously particular - about how He ordinarily applies that grace.</p><p>Faith is required, and faith isn’t certainty - but it is a knowledge and foundation for life and action, grounded in our understanding of what God has said to us. It is a gift of the Spirit, so we can be transformed and transformative. Is there a mystery here? Yes. We are not promised a life without mystery. And, God being the one who loves us best and knows what we need the most, we shouldn’t seek a life without mystery if that is the life He has for us. But acting in the world requires us to assume some belief about us, about God, about others, about the world - even if are not aware of these beliefs, even if we claim uncertainty about them, when we act, we live out some belief. We can say we want to dwell in the mystery, but acting requires us to express some belief - held in faith, with humility … but held. We are not quantum elements existing in a state of indeterminacy - when observed, we particularize. And we are always observed … called to act under His loving observation. One of the tragedies of our moment is that some cling to a certainty that binds them in angry, fearful, pharisaical concrete. Another tragedy of our moment is that others drift - lacking agency and purpose because all is mystery and nothing holds any particular meaning</p><p>Read the <a target="_blank" href="https://theembassy.substack.com/p/certainty-doubt-faith-mystery">whole piece</a> … </p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to The Embassy at <a href="https://theembassy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">theembassy.substack.com/subscribe</a>