Shades of Faith

The “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” is a 20,000 square foot light and sound display of one of history’s greatest artists. The experience includes separate galleries that chronicle Van Gogh’s life, technique, and influence through panels and interactives. A highpoint of the experience for me was the spacious central area where Van Gogh’s works stretch floor-to-ceiling as pictured above. In this darkened room one was surrounded literally 360 degrees with various shades of colors as the various works of this renowned artist appeared on all four walls of the room. With the revealing of each additional work, one could sense the intent of Van Gogh’s message expressed in shades and forms of color. I believe we see our faith in a similar fashion.

We evangelicals identify our faith by a set of common core beliefs that mostly have their basis in scripture.  Choose any evangelical community website regardless of the denomination and somewhere on that site will be a set of core beliefs.  Looking further into the various faith communities these core beliefs are translated into doctrines that guide the behaviors of the particulars of that faith community.  Any apparent conflict and/or contradiction among evangelical communities is a result of different interpretations of scriptural meaning, context, or application.  For example, I had the experience of reading the same scriptures as a Baptist and a Pentecostal and understanding them differently according to the community to which I belonged at the time.  These liberties should be allowed according to each person’s measure and application of faith.  However, these allowances will produce different views of the same faith,  much like our cell phones are all equipped to take pictures with this feature by adding a filter.  We are able to scroll through the various filters and produce the same picture that seems different based on the filter that is selected.  It is the same with our individual faith experience.  We select different filters, consciously or not, that cause our view of our faith to be changed that is more pleasing and acceptable to us individually.

“Shades of faith” are lenses that frame our faith, largely set by the particular communities of faith, that change our view of faith in some way different from the way it was in its initial or purest form.  I suggest that these colors of faith function similarly to the way primary colors work in nature.  That is the primary colors are usually defined as red, yellow, and blue. These colors can be combined to produce other colors.  As an example of this metaphor, I would like to suggest two sets of colors: red/blue and white/black.  The first set of colors refer to the Republican (blue) and Democratic (red) polarization of faith in our country, while the second set refers to those social issues that influence faith regarding life (white) and death (black) issues. There is no room for an extensive discussion on both these sets of colors in this space, but further discussion will follow in future posts and will be the subject of my next publication. However, some additional clarifying points need to be made at this time.  In the natural existence of colors there are two critical components.  When colors are mixed to produce another color what is utilized is a material referred to as a pigment which is a substance that imparts color to other materials.  For example, if you go to a paint store and order a color to paint your house the use of pigments will produce the color you desire.  However, color in its purest form is a phenomenon of light.  Two colors mixed in their purest form will be different from the same two colors combined by pigments.  For example, combining red and blue pigments will produce a purple or violet color.  However, the result of mixing red and blue lights would produce the color magenta, which is notably different from violet or purple.  In scripture light has been used as symbols of holiness, goodness, wisdom, grace, hope and God’s revelation.  I contend that applying those scriptural principals to our shades of faith effected by political polarization and social issues can be transformed. In other words, utilizing God’s revelation of wisdom, hope and grace in each of our lives will change the view of some of these political and social issues. Why is that necessary? I believe that the shade of faith for the evangelical communities has changed.  I believe there is a lens through which faith is seen more and more in a secular way by the evangelical communities.  That is. outcome is more important than the method.  Results are more important than relationship.  Insult has often replaced integrity in the political leadership we support. A hypocrisy has been birthed in evangelicals that in certain social issues personal rights prevail over the greater good, while in other social issues the universal right prevails other the individual rights of a person.  For example, many evangelicals support unrestricted gun rights as a second amendment right guaranteed by the constitution for every individual while ignoring the greater good of providing safety of every American from mass murder with the legalization of automatic weapons.  Another example is a large number of evangelicals support the banning of abortion based on saving the life of the unborn but at the same time fully endorse capital punishment.  These are examples of some of the shades of faith that exist in the evangelical communities.

How are we to know where to look to learn how to begin such an undertaking as uniting a nation by faith?   It begins with God preparing the hearts of His people of faith.  “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b) This was the direction given to the high priest Samuel in choosing the next leader for the people of God.  That person being described was David who at the time had the appearance described as “ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking.” (1 Samuel 16:12b) At the time a mere shepherd boy, harpist, worshipper of God in song and dance.  This boy turned into a slayer of giants, a warrior, a commander of armies and a king.  Only God knows what lies in the recesses of man/women’s heart and their ultimate abilities through their faith in Him.  That is why today the call to all must be summonsed to rise up in our faith.  So that the Davids and the Esthers of our day must respond.