I am currently reading a book by R.R. Reno entited “In the Ruins of the Church.” It is an intriguing book and while he pushes my ability to read highbrow, intellectual, overly professorial works of non-fiction, I am still finding a great deal of spiritual and intellectual challenge. His basic argument is this: the modern world thinks that the problem with Christianity is belief in implausible stories and myths, so if we just make those stories more plausible then we can make more people want to be Christian. Reno believes this to be crap and that our real challenge in engaging with Christianity is that we are not able to submit to the cross, to Christ and therefore experience true personal transformation, not just a surface transformation of understanding moral codes.
I beg to differ. I don’t think it is just that people want to make the church hip and I for sure don’t think that it is a lack of desired engagement with true personal transformation through submission and giving up of ones power. For me on my own journey–its a little of both. In this book he keeps speaking of the original Christianity or “true” Christianity. But that true Christianity has been utilized to justify a variety of un-Christian teachings in order to meet the needs of the day–always has. To understand Christ is not to just understand transformation through resurrection, but a constant cycle of death and resurrection. That as we think we know and have changed, Christ isn’t done yet. Easter was not just on that sacred day, but it is today, Good Friday is today and each of experiences that cycle through out our lives. As we go through the cycle different mysteries of the truth of the Gospel are revealed to us. So is the church really just trying to be a part of some spiritual fad or in a discerning process on how to be the best church that ministers today’s people, in today’s time and cultural context. Contrary to Reno’s argument, I thoroughly believe in cultural context as a factor in understanding the world around us.
While I do think that cultural context is one part of the equation for doubt, I would also agree that submission to the will and truth of God is also in affect. As a modern, educated woman, I am in love with being in charge of a lot of things. Mostly, my own life. Surrendering to God is some seriously difficult stuff. For the past two months, I have been playing “I surrender all” on my bassoon in hopes that maybe it will eventually help in the process, but getting there is so much more difficult than one can imagine. Not wanting radical personal transformation is not what draws me from the cross, it is the doing. To desire and to do are two drastically different things.
As I have conversations with friends and families, we are all, in one way or another, seeking a deeper relationship with the divine. We are all in need of a life center in God over things. But the ways we get there will be difficult. Surrender is one part of the conversation, but maybe also our context and cultures play a role in how we get to that place of divine centeredness?
Now I must leave this with a disclaimer—I am only on page 57 of this work so things might change as I learn and read more and compare with what else I read and learn and pray about. For me this is spiritual journey, this is the way to the cross and the way to submission
Pursuing Call 