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“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” –– Ephesians 4:12-13
I am close enough to retirement that any observations of my obsolescence and senescence, seasoned by a hopeless captivity to a moth-eaten worldview, probably contain at least a kernel of truth. I have to laugh when I hear grizzled contemporaries deride the next generation with some form of the well-worn defensive complaint –– I’ve forgotten more than you will ever know. I at least know it is foolish to make that claim. I could only maintain half of that assertion –– I have forgotten more. At that point wisdom calls me to silence. I am regularly astounded by the breadth of knowledge so easily assimilated by youth. My prayer is that they can hold onto the modest self-understanding that all knowledge is partial and no answer is perfect.
This week I heard a most disturbing interview with a video-podcasting influencer who confidently, and often stridently, owns what she sees to be her calling to provide young adult women and mothers with an unapologetically narrow Christian worldview based on a biblical literalism that somehow morphs into a skepticism of empathy, compassion, and faith-based efforts to alleviate suffering among the vulnerable. And it is all wrapped up in an attractive lifestyle brand that celebrates suburban affluence with a hint of Christian nationalism. I have to say that it struck me as the opposite of a lifestyle brand that one might glean from the Gospels. She doesn’t see herself as an influencer, but she is certainly acting and marketing herself like one.
I struggle with the rationale of a Christian influencer, because the influencer says “follow me,” while Jesus says pretty clearly, “Follow me.” Thus, it seems the influencer, in relation to Jesus, winds up at cross purposes rather than being Cross focused. Kenda Creasy Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary observes –– “What the gospel and Pauline views of spiritual maturity have in common is the theme of increasing surrender, not escalating accomplishment. Emptied of self-importance, poured out for others, the church makes room for Christ, whose grace pulses into the world through those who love him.”
You have no need to prove you know everything or that you maintain the ideal template of Christian lifestyle, because you don’t. No one has before you and no one will after you. Life itself remains a mystery, and so there is no topic that comes without a carry-on bag full of question marks. Thus, when we approach scripture, neighbor, and life with humility, knowing our knowledge has barely pierced the outer layer of the skin surrounding the mystery of God, we may just find ourselves on a path to maturity, holding the hand of the Christ who leads us. Let us remember –– “Now I see in a mirror dimly, then I shall see face-to-face.”
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