whispering the truth

Last night I attended our small group, “Generous Orthodoxy.” At some point in the discussion one of our bright thinkers commented that he would like it if we stopped deconstructing because after so much deconstruction there is little left to actually call “the faith” when you/we get done.

At this point I checked out and began thinking about deconstruction. I began to ask myself where all this deconstruction happens. Ironically I think the primary area that deconstruction happens is in our collective slighting sarcastic comments. We see or hear a phrase from our pasts and we snicker and make a joke of it. Let me stop here. I’m chief among these people and I don’t think this humor is all together out of line. Humor has a unique ability to expose what is wrong with systems from time to time.

In case you are not following let me give you a quick example. When Donald Miller came and spoke to Baylor over a year ago now he talked about how we have a Christian subculture for everything. His example was a Christian office supplies store. His punch line came when he asked us if when we purchased hole punchers that had been “bathed in the blood of the lamb.”

This is a good example of what I’m talking about. So many things have been handed down to us that haven’t been given apt explanation. Thus, when the experience doesn’t substantiate the language we grew weary and became cynical. In this sense I think the sarcasm and deconstruction have a place.

On the other hand I think we secretly believe that for some, perhaps our parents, phrases like “bathed in the blood of the lamb,” had/have significant meaning. These types of phrases evoke a bit of nostalgia in us and we secretly appreciate this type of language and practice in someone when we sense they are genuine.

This is why I believe that Ben told me that in a way he really enjoyed when Louis Giglio came and spoke to UBC. This is why Craig reported to me that when he dined with the Brownings several months ago he was a bit touched by their before meal prayer. And this is why I believe there has been an overwhelming positive response to this past Sundays service.

We sat there and began to notice the familiar. Church picnics, baptisms and communion all remind of our past that we so often ridicule….but…but are still secretly appreciative of.