Where is faith, when naivete is shunned?
This has been my struggle recently, to understand how can I have faith when my perspectives seem too "informed" or "thought-out" or "calculated" . . . all the things that nullify the need for faith to begin with.
I can remember days of naivete. Days, that honestly I now long for, because they held a belief that God loved my faith, my risk-taking, my willingness to not have it all figured out. God loved my being willing to throw myself on him in pure naive trust. I compare that with now, and I envision God scrutinizing me because I don't have the most balanced, sensitive, well thought perspectives for ministry activities and plans and strategies. Verses now have to be understood in their proper context, and I can't "claim a verse" that isn't saying exactly what it was intending to say. Back in the day, my faith was inspired by verses that were lifted from their context. Yet they spoke something to me, that my soul was desperate to hear . . . things about God loving me and his sovereignty and his desire to bless me and show his goodnesss to me and his desire to use me to fulfill his purposes in this world. That when I joined up with God in what he was doing, that God was pleased.
In honesty, I wonder if I've now become too worldly, too fleshly, too logical, too knowledgeable and analytical to be able to place my faith in something that in a "faith moment" might seem ridiculous according to the criteria described above.
Isn't naivete connected with faith. Unless you come to me like a child you won't inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
I perceive such a far cry from that in the wisdom of our Christian culture. It's about doing your best to not offend, to work from within a system that is corrupt and failing, to not cause waves.
In my naivete, much of my faith used to carry battle imagery. It wasn't always a battle that I understood properly (a battle with the forces of evil in the heavenly realms) but it was a battle that inspired faith and trust in God.
Which is better naivete or "humanly wisdom" that looks down on or shuns the naivete of the young or the zealous?
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Late in responding... It does seem like faith gets harder as we age… I wonder if that is true for me at times because I’m not as angry as I used to be… I used to rely on that anger a lot… the simplicity of the gospel and the world created lots of room for 'Godly' anger about the way things should be and are not…zeal I suppose. That disappointment and longing for change has worn on me over the years of fighting… now I find myself wondering what it means to trust Him for the strength to keep in the fight and to perhaps stay angry, (hating what is evil perhaps)… But how do I maintain that Godly zeal as His child, letting myself be angry about the discrepancy and mourn continually the loss of what is not while clinging to hope in the victories that he brings through redeemed lives and relationships? How do I allow Him to draw me toward him, not killing the deepening longing to be fathered and to be validated in the kingdom work through some sense of reward and accomplishment? At times I feel I might be crushed under my anxiety of the constant saying no or letting go of worldly wisdom and/or what appears on the surface to be safe places of rest? Ours is to some degree a battle of longevity I guess. We are fighting for hope in Him who is the One who sustains us. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts. I love you Neil, keep in the fight, men like Tyler are good reminders of God’s redemption, men like you are as well. By the way… is there a third category to choose? I don’t like being naïve (if naïve means foolish) or worldy? Nor do I want to shoot for either as an aspiration… though I suppose if naïve is simply trust that the Father’s wisdom and strength are greater than my own, than I can live with that… oh wait I guess I have to live with that… ha.
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