Embracing
the True Light
.
by Martin Steinbereithner
We
have seen the True Light! We
have received the Heavenly
Spirit! We have found the True
Faith! Worshiping the Undivided
Trinity, Who has saved us.
Every
Sunday there is
a line we sing
in the liturgy
in my church,
the words of
which are above.
Many readers
will twitch when
they see them,
they seem so
arrogant, so
self-assured, so
politically
incorrect. How
can anybody
claim to have
found the true
faith, to have
embraced the
true way to
live? This
smacks of
certainty,
monolithic
belief, black
and white
thinking which
many of us
thought we had
left behind.
Isn’t it exactly
this kind of
thinking which
leads to
intolerance,
fundamentalism,
paternalism and
other kinds of
evil and dark
philosophies?
Ever since the
past century
plunged the
world into
totalitarian
regimes we have
shied away from
anything that
smells of
certainty, that
seems to claim
for itself to be
true. The
writings of
Jacques Derrida,
Lyotard and
others have
helped to
articulate our
instinctual
feelings that
what is true for
you should not
necessarily be
true for me; if
it were, then
some of us would
be right and
others wrong,
and that is only
a step away from
oppressing those
who err.
Enlightened
souls have left
such dogmatism
behind, allowing
each other to
believe what we
think best.
What that
raises, however,
are not only
theological or
philosophical
questions. It
puts to us very
bluntly the
question how
long a society
can survive that
has as a logo
the question
mark of
uncertainty?
Martin Luther
King said, “If a
man hasn’t found
something he
will die for, he
isn’t fit to
live.” It
captures the
insight that
convictions,
values held
dear, are what
motivates people
to sacrifice. If
such values
evaporate, then
so does the
ability and
willingness to
sacrifice.
I am struck
how many
people admire
the heroes of
World War II
who stood
up to Nazi
ideology, both
within Germany
(such as
Bonhoeffer) and
outside, such as
Winston
Churchill. But
those acts of
heroism were
dependent on
those people
thinking there
was right and
wrong, and wrong
had to be
opposed.
I now live in a
country where it
is considered
evil to voice
opinions about
the value of
life, the
boundaries of
marriage and the
God-given
purpose of
sexuality. Even
if one has no
intention to
legislate that
such views need
to be
upheld by
the
government, let
alone to try
to
change the
minds of those
who think
differently,
such certainty
is
considered
pernicious
and
opposed to
democratic
values. Even in
Christian
circles the
greatest evil
(according to a
recent Barna
study) is no
longer murder or
adultery, but
the failure to
recycle.
If confronted
with the
question whether
there is
anything worth
fighting and
dying for, many
Westerners would
say “only our
comfort and
ease”. This lack
of conviction
makes our
societies very
easy prey to
those who are on
the other end of
the spectrum,
such as
fundamentalist
Muslims. But
even without
those external
threats, I
believe that it
is impossible to
pass on any kind
of value to a
next generation,
if it is no
longer
politically
correct to
believe in
anything; and
maybe that is
why we prefer
having dogs to
children.
If we look at
history, it was
always those
forces that
shaped a culture
which had
convictions and
confidence; at
its best,
Christianity was
such a force
that changed
empires, not by
power, but by
martyrdom. At
its worst, it
abused of
political power
to shut down
those who
believed
differently. So
I shall dare to
continue singing
that line on
Sundays, hoping
that some of us
maintain our
convictions and
are ready to die
for them.
 Dr.
Martin Steinbereithner
is from Vienna,
Austria. He is a
life-long member of
the Servants
of the Word, a
international
ecumenical missionary
brotherhood of men
living single for the
Lord. He currently
resides in Chelsea,
Michigan (USA). He is
the director of
Communications and
Development for the
Servants of the Word.
Previously he worked
for twenty years in
campus ministry in
North America, Lebanon
and England and for
over the last ten
years with Christian
communities in the
Middle East, Poland,
Russia, Belgium,
Germany, Austria,
France, the UK and
Africa.
Martin holds a
doctorate in
organizational
behavior and
non-profit management.
He is a research
associate of the
Nonprofit Research
Group at the Vienna
University of Business
and Economics and
consults with various
faith-based non-profit
organizations.
Personal
Website:
http://tinostein.blogspot.com/
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