Working out salvation

I got this book from a hometown neighbor, whose granddaughter is mentioned occasionally therein. Strange introduction to a book, but the content was decent, too.

Thesis: as an Episcopalian Christian, converted from Judaism, the author believes Jews do some spiritual practices better than Christians, and we Christians could learn a thing or two from them.

Going through chapters like Sabbath, Fasting, Candles, Prayer, Aging and Weddings, I quickly picked up on the main motif: Jews have solid, long-lasting, external practices to bolster their faith; Christians don't do as much of this.

Now this is something I've been pondering for a while - the chicken vs the egg: do external practices foster internal faith or just pride? Does inner faith always result in outward action? I've regained an appreciation for the external practices over the years, which is probably why I didn't put down this trendy, blud-state kind of book right away, but stuck with it.

Trendy, blue-state? you ask, as the eyebrows raise... Yes, when the author states that the most important thing to her groom about their wedding was "somehow creating community at the wedding," that's a pretty good clue. To speak of creating community is an oxymoron, but some are so self-consciously fixated on this they end up saying strange things. Anyway, that's off the point.

Is dependence on externals hazardous to your faith? It can be. "According to the Talmud, the Jew who wears phylacteries on his arm and fringed tzitzit on his garments and affixes a mezuzah to his door, 'is sure not to sin because he has so many reminders of God...'" This is jsut a naive misunderstanding of the depths to which sin can penetrate our souls. So this can be overdone to a fault.

But there IS something resulting from external practices that Christians need. I think the two areas of deepest need are boldness and accountability. And the author hits both very well at the end, talking about mezuzahs (read the book, if you don't know). Her friend Molly encourages her to hang a quote from Psalm 121 on her front door. She hesitates out of shame, and becomes righteously ashamed of her shame.

And the sign invites accountability - something many Christians don't even seem to comprehend. The sign, "tells you that I am... trying to be a Christian, and in telling that yo you, I am inviting ou to hold me to it." This is great. Total opposite of the guy who told me once, in an anti-Catholic vein, that Christians don't need to - and shouldn't - confess their sins to each other (see James 5:16). Accountability also shows up only where there is trust: we need to hear and say more often in conversations with other Christians, "I'm not sure I agree with that." Or, "but what about..." and trust the other won't get offended, walk away, or put up walls in the relationship indefinitely.