More than Catechism

More than Catechism


Every Catholic kid I knew hated catechism, today known as CCD. They envied me that I didn’t have to go after school twice a week. As it turns out; catechism is a good thing. It is good to know the facts about our faith. It is good to have a solid foundation.

A solid faith, however, is more than just figuring things out. Faith is much deeper than merely knowing/believing that which is factual. We can be theologically correct, philosophically astute, logically sound and also fearful and overwhelmed. There times when life is so ruthless that reciting a memorized catechism or glibly reading a string of promises leaves us still weak, lost and fearful. There is more to faith than a theological/teleological understanding that God cares for us and is at work for us. Faith becomes truly real only in a deeply intimate relationship with a personal God. A relationship that grows ever deeper and stronger in the storms of life.

John Wesley was a deeply earnest, well nigh unto obsessive, Anglican priest. His deepest desire was to be holy and obey God. As a young priest he made his way across the Atlantic Ocean to Georgia as a missionary to the Indians. Even as he sailed across the sea, he was preaching, teaching, praying and administering the sacraments to those on board. Every moment was devoted to seeking and serving God. He speaks of his daily schedule:

“We now began to be a little (are you kidding me?) regular. Our common way of living was this: - from four to five in the morning, each of us used private prayer. From five to seven we read the Bible together … at seven we breakfasted. At eight we were the public prayers. From nine to twelve I usually learned German … At twelve we met to give an account of one another what we had done since our last meeting and what we designed to do before our next …”

It goes on like that; lunch at one, 2pm reading to the passengers, 4pm evening prayers, 5pm private prayer, 6pm more reading with some passengers, 7pm German service, 8pm another meeting to check up on one another, 9-10pm sleep. And this was on a cruise ship! This guy really had faith i.e. he really believed God.

But it wasn’t long before the storm blew in and that obsessive compulsive religious cruise ship began to rock and roll! Wesley describes waves that … “rose to the heavens above and clave to hell beneath.” He was overwhelmed with fear and was … “ashamed of my unwillingness to die.” Asking himself, “How is it that thou art unwilling to die?” At the same time he observed the German Christians calmly singing a psalm through to entire storm.

Clearly, knowing and believing the right stuff was not enough when the storm threatened to turn his ship upside down. He confessed:

“I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well; nay and believe myself, while no danger is near: But let death look me in the face and my spirit is troubled.”

Without a warm, genuine, intimate, life changing relationship with God, Wesley was unable to face the storms of life that broke in upon him.

In his search for God Wesley speaks of going “very unwillingly” to a society on Alsdersgate Street where at about quarter to nine he felt his “heart strangely warmed.” He continues, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

It is vital to have a clear assurance of the unshakeable, immoveable foundations stones of faith. No matter what our feelings, whatever the situation, nothing will change that: God is (a reality) … God is love (in nature) … and God is at work (through grace). But while a solid faith foundation is vital; a genuine, warm, personal relationship with God through his one and only Son is indispensible. Living our faith is less about what we believe and more about our relationship with God and how we respond to him in obedience..

Our faith in God is more than a tool needed to smooth out the bumps of life. It is by faith we come to know God. God is a God of revelation who wants to make himself known. In the harmony of nature, we see the nature of God. In Jesus Christ we see God seeking to restore a relationship with us as his children. In the beginning we see God walking and talking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The whole revelation of scripture is the account of God’s pursuing and pleading that we (as his creation) would return to an intimate relationship with Him. The innate longing of our heart, is the voice of God within, calling us to come to him as his children. He is seeking to live in union with us in the joy, pain, triumphs, and defeats of life.

Now it gets pointedly personal. Is your heart strangely warmed by the presence of God? I sort of believe in altar calls. Sort of … because I have seen preachers in my formative years harangue and manipulate guilt ridden Christians to walk to the front of the church as a validation of their oratory prowess. I believe in altar calls because; when God speaks it is good to respond.

The warmth of a genuine personal relationship with a benevolent God is your deepest need. A cold clinical faith system will not bring the strength and courage you need in the cataclysms of life. A sweet loving Jesus is adequate to get you by when they snicker at your born again profession. But when the storms really start to rattle and roll your ship on the sea of life; you will need the very presence of the all mighty God of the universe. The good news of the gospel is that: God was in Christ reconciling the world unto him”. In the crises of life – live your faith – stay close to God. He truly does love you and in him you live and move and have your being. As the catechism says: “The chief end of man is love God and enjoy him forever”.