Core Affirmations, Part 2

Last time we looked at three of six core affirmations that define our faith and the community surrounding it. Today we go over the remaining three. See what you think!
 
Faith is less belief than trust.
 
Most of us have been taught that faith is belief, and that the more certain (and rigid) one becomes, the stronger one’s faith is.
 
We define faith as trust more than belief.
 
Belief only requires one person (the self) and tends to conform with whatever is convenient or sensible in one’s own head. Trust acknowledges the existence of, and our dependence on, others. We find truth, hope, love, and joy in relationship with others, not just internally. We hold to this even when trust requires us to act or believe in ways that we wouldn’t according to instinct, upbringing, or culture.
 
Belief happens when a person is certain. Faith happens precisely in those moments when we’re uncertain.
 
Learning faith is the same process as learning to trust in something not “us”, then adjusting beliefs, actions, and visions of the world based on that trust and the reality of the other.

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Faith changes how we operate day-to-day.
 
We do not regard our relationship with God as something that happens primarily during a time of worship at a specific locale among specific people. Those places, times, and people help us explore our faith, but they are not the purpose of it. We gather together as a faith community to experience the wave of word and grace which washes us out into our week. We experience the wave in all moments. Its meaning and application will be as different as each of our lives.
 
In response to God’s gift of grace we spend our lives exploring, discussing, loving, searching, and serving. We do not just do these things among a limited group of the like-minded. We do them with each other so we can do them with the people in our daily lives. Our moments together are not holy unto themselves. Our holy moments together make every moment holy.

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We all have a voice and we all have answers. None of us has THE voice or THE answer.
 
This is the same as saying God speaks through all of us, but none of us is God.
 
We come up with wonderful, enriching ways forward in this time and place. We do not claim our ways will be wonderful and enriching for all people, nor for all times and places. When we encounter someone different than we, we celebrate their ability to wonder and enrich as well. In this way, we experience more facets of God than we could on our own.
 
For this reason, we do not just claim that all are welcome among us. We affirm that all are leaders among us. We affirm that each voice matters even when not all voices agree. We acknowledge the joy and potential for goodness in each decision we make. We also remember those we might leave out or disadvantage by our decisions.
 
We care about the voices of those who have been marginalized, told that God is not with them. We uplift those voices especially, as the world has missed out on their vision, hope, and faith.
 
There’s our first attempt at the core six! What things would you add or subtract? Let us know!
 
--Pastor Dave

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