"I stood on a
windswept
hill one day"
Considering the vocabulary of conversion
"I stood on a windswept hill one day." This refrain from a powerful sermon preached nearly eight years ago by United Church minis- ter Gervis Black still reverbrates through my mind from time to time. Black was speaking about conversion–a pivotal moment of decision when an individual accepts a particular understanding about the nature of God and the universe, and orders his or her life accordingly.
The image evokes the miracle that occurs each time a spiritual seeker comes to a knowledge of truth.
Christians believe that every person who acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior enjoys eternal favor with the Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. Indeed, embracing this truth–and its implications–is what makes a person a Christian. Throughout the ages countless individuals from every nation and every social and economic station have accepted this truth and had their lives transformed. I am pleased to count myself one of them.
"What if we’re wrong?"
But not everyone holds these truths to be self-evident, and I was surprised (but not displeased) a couple of months ago when my 11-year-old son raised a bedtime question. "Don’t worry about this, dad," he began reassuringly. "You know, we believe in Jesus and God and the Bible and heaven and hell and all that, right?"
"Yes," I replied cautiously.
"Well, I was just wondering...," he trailed off.
"Uh, huh?"
"Lots of people believe something different is true, right?"
"That’s right."
"I was just wondering," he continued tentatively. "What if we’re wrong?"
Believe it or not, I welcomed the question, if only because it echoes some of my own reflections. Faith needs to be acknowledged for what it is–"the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Our best efforts notwithstanding, religious truth cannot be proved like a mathematical formula or confirmed by established scientific criteria. Nor is it hereditary. It must be discovered, embraced and applied anew in each generation. Christian truth is accepted in faith and validated by experience.
Because I am persuaded that Christianity is more reliable than any other belief system, I was happy to see my son start to explore the hillside on his own, beginning to feel for himself the rippling breezes that I pray will continue to billow his quest for ultimate meaning in this life and beyond. I yearn for him to learn for himself the same truths I have come to cherish–to "stand on a windswept hill one day" and know that the creator of heaven and earth loves all the people of this world, and loves him personally.
Jeremy’s query raises the broader question of how Christians ought to go about the business of developing more followers of Christ, a commission issued by Christ himself. And it brings to mind a comment made to me a few years ago by a businessman, an active lay Christian. In a discussion about how North Americans could communicate Christian faith most effectively, he observed that "the market for indoctrination is small; the market for discovery is large."
In our society, the term ‘indoctrination’ carries a ton of unwelcome baggage, while ‘discovery, implies glorious new horizons. Discovery reflects the kindly glow of dawning realization, while indoctrination conjures images of lectures punctuated with a wagging forefinger. Discovery has an aura of self-realization; indoctrination the aspect of conformity. A discoverer’s crucial insight provides clarity, but the indoctrinator’s certainty is rigid dogma.
Now I’ve thought about this enough to realize that indoctrination and discovery are not mutually exclusive approaches to religious understanding. Rather, each suggests a different set of methods, and both can be part of the vocabulary of conversion and spiritual development.
I am all in favor of discovery, but indoctrination is not necessarily such an onerous thing. While discovery seems to imply the joy of learning, indoctrination emphasizes learning the right thing. Discovery makes an individual feel more unique in his or her understanding, but indoctrination locks one in march-step with the wisdom of the ages.
Surrounded
So while it is culturally correct for me to emphasize my son’s freedom of choice in his decision-making about faith, I must also acknowledge that he has been indoctrinated his whole life long. Since he drew his first breath he has been surrounded by Christian people, Christian symbols, Christian teaching and our best efforts to provide an environment of Christian love. Is it possible for someone on a faith journey so prescribed to actually recognize his spiritual transformation?
This is one reason why I am occasionally apprehensive for my children. Too many people who live in such well-mapped spiritual terrain never experience the explorer’s exhilaration and take their own stand on a windswept hill; never know for themselves the joy of salvation that gives life to righteous living. On the other hand, far too many people are wandering the spiritual landscape with faulty directions or no map at all. They never learn what right living is.
Yes, we do need to discover, but the truth we need to discover has already been learned by many before us. The "windswept hill" bespeaks a personal discovery of an eternal faith. Indoctrination offers a lifetime of re-discovery.
Doug
Koop
Editor
