Bumper Sticker Religion
A platitude is a truth reduced to words (a saying) which are true. In and of itself, this isn’t so bad. Platitudes can be pithy, fun, and easy to remember. The problem starts when we mistake the words for the real thing, when the truth becomes truism.
U-Church shies away from easy answers to serious questions. Rather than draw from the well of well-worn Christian mottos or attempt to reduce issues to fill-in-the-blank items, we acknowledge the spiritual poverty of many of our quippy company-lines.
How many Christians would disagree with the statement “Jesus answers prayer”? Yet much of the time, if we dared to admit it, our experience argues very strongly against it. Or how about the maxim “Saved by Grace”? I’m not sure we even know what that means anymore. It’s one thing to agree with a proposition, another entirely to know the truth.
And it’s not enough to inherit the convictions of a previous generation. We must take a hard look at what’s been handed down to us. We must first find out what they are really telling us. Next we must work through to decided if we even believe it or not. If we conclude that we really do, we then must honestly grapple with the implications of our belief. Finally, when we’ve reached that point, we are obligated to insist that we each and collectively conform to that belief. No pretending allowed.
Many times this requires us to go back to our most fundamental doctrines and examine them in hard light. If they’re true, we must rediscover the truth in them. If they’re not, we jettison them without a second glance. We must call things as we see them, not being afraid to find ourselves—for a while, at least—in untenable positions. An honest lack of balance can drive us to the heart of the issues and to the root of the truth. And there we experience, not the truism, but the truth of Jesus’s declaration: Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
No more bumper sticker theology, please. Let’s ask real questions. And search for real answers—if we can find them. This is real life. Why settle for anything but the real thing?
