Varsity Faith

Varsity Faith is my shorthand way of describing a kind of Christian faith that is thoughtful, humble, intentional, and hopeful. These particular qualities are especially helpful because they are ways of being, rather than stages of accomplishment. That means there isn’t a time when we can put a checkmark next to “thoughtful” and move on to the next thing. All of us will always have room to grow in these areas, even as we see ourselves becoming more thoughtful, humble, intentional, and hopeful along the way.

The open-ended nature of these characteristics matches the observa- tion that our lives are dynamic, not static. Each day offers unique pos- sibilities that call for different responses at different times. Tally sheets and checkmarks won’t help us find our place in what is essentially a nar- rative existence that picks up the past, lives in the present, and looks toward the future. So these four ways of being have an ongoing, partici- patory quality that meets us wherever we are on the journey of faith to point us in the right direction.

Because these qualities are so important, I want to unpack each of them for you in a little more detail:

Being thoughtful could be taken in a couple of ways, but here it means involving ourselves in careful thinking. I have in mind a faith that seeks understanding. This doesn’t mean that everyone should be a scholar; it means that we take a second look, from a different angle, at the stories and actions with which we’ve grown familiar. It’s a reflective approach thatunderstands the power of ideas, and recognizes that truth isn’t determined by the volume of someone’s voice. We ask questions in order to gain understanding and clarity about what is said and what is meant. Thoughtful people are the kind of people who wonder about why things are the way they are, and seek to articulate their views in meaningful ways.

Being humble is about holding a realistic view of our own ability and knowledge, and also giving others the benefit of the doubt. This requires us to admit that we don’t know everything, can’t do everything, and have a limited perspective through which we view the world. God sees things exactly as they are, but we aren’t God. Such a posture of humility can go a long way toward breaking down walls of hostility. It can also motivate a willingness to contribute toward the common good with people who are different from us. Humble people are the kind of people who recognize their own strengths and limitations, and look for the good in others.

Being intentional involves paying attention and applying effort to the private things that make a public difference. It considers not only who I am and who I am becoming, but also who we are and who we are be- coming. Because personal identity and group solidarity are important and fragile, special attention must be given to the development of disci- plines that are necessary to sustain our particular vision and vocation as Christian people. Boundaries must be drawn and goals must be defined because identity and solidarity aren’t formed overnight; they are solidi- fied through a long obedience in the same direction. Intentional people are the kind of people who are committed to doing important work that often goes unnoticed.

Being hopeful describes the conviction that even though the world is presently out of joint, it won’t always be this way. Hope insists that God is willing and working toward another way. Against the dominant agendas that aim to keep everyone quiet and everything orderly, hope- ful people speak words and perform actions that break the silence and disrupt the status quo. Being hopeful is about announcing—in word and deed—that God is always on the move, always on the verge of break- ing loose to transform our world with mercy, freedom, justice, and love. Hopeful people are the kind of people who look back at the stories of God’s mighty acts, and are freshly energized to play a role in the new stories being written today.

Each of these four characteristics can stand alone, but they take on their “varsity” quality when they are fused together with faith. It’s not that being thoughtful, humble, intentional, and hopeful is all there is to being a Christian; it’s that being thoughtful, humble, intentional, and hopeful puts us in a position to maintain and develop our Christian faith as the present opens up to the future.

I will try to demonstrate these qualities throughout this book by addressing different facets of Christian faith and exploring their implications for life in the real world.