Faith in the Flesh

Today over our post-church bagels I read an interesting article in Commentary Magazine that resonated with some experiences I've had at work. The article, entitled Faith in the Flesh, was written by R.R. Reno, a devout Christian and professor of theology at Creighton University. (Unfortunately the online version is subscriber only so I can't link to it here.)

Reno reflects on the complexity of outward faith as his observant Jewish daughter comes of age. Many of his thoughts are raw as he writes of watching his wife and children apply their Jewish faith to their physical bodies -- through circumcision and kosher lifestyles. He wonders at his own Christianity and his ability to apply his faith so tangibly to his life. He wonders if, in the Christian faith, nothing needs to be submitted to God "other than the fine sentiments of the heart."

"My daughter... however, could not eat cheeseburgers, and her friends found this remarkable. Her very mouth was trained and set apart, day by day. And me? Jesus teaches that what goes into the mouth is not important; what matters is what comes out. And yet what came out of my mouth seemed so generic, so easily molded into the progressive platitudes of our age."

Reno's observations got me thinking about a recent exchange with one of my superiors at work, who is Jewish. Over dinner on a business trip we were describing our religious backgrounds, and she told us about the tight community she has through her Jewish temple. Judaism, she pointed out, is based on community and is not focused on proselytizing. This made sense to me, and I told her so. After all, I said, the Jewish people simple are: they are God's chosen people. There is no going out to bring in more chosen people. As Christians, we are also sons and daughters of God, but we each have to ask to become adopted into that family, and we believe that anyone can ask. I understood the silent skepticism at the table. Indeed, Christianity is simple sounding. It is simple, says C.S. Lewis, but it is not easy. Or at least, it's not supposed to be.

Reno asks: "Has modern Christianity rejected the very idea that God's commandments can shape or control how we use our bodies?"

He quotes a passage from a book written by an Orthodox Jewish rabbi during the Holocaust:

"How many noblemen bowed down before the cross in a spirit of abject submission and self-denial, confessed their sins with scalding tears and bitter cries, and in the very same breath, as soon as they left the dim precincts of the cathedral, ordered that innocent people be cruelly slain."

If our Christian faith is as easy as confessing our sins with "scalding tears and bitter cries" and then marching out and proceeding to gratify the desires of our flesh... I cannot blame my Jewish colleague for her skepticism over "simple Christianity."

My Jewish colleagues are marked and known by their outward expressions of faith -- through circumcision and kosher lifestyles. People know they are Jewish because their lives literally look different. Reflecting on this has made "circumcision of the heart" a very interesting analogy. Yes, it sounds nice. But circumcision hurts. It leaves a scar.

And in the end, shouldn't it also make me look different?

-EC