Feb 5, 2018
Looking deeper at M. Scott Peck's Stages of Faith
M. Scott Peck, Stages of Faith
Stage I: Chaotic, Antisocial
-Antisocial (not caring about community or others, but only own
self-interests).
Stage II: Formal, Institutional, Fundamental
-Faith is part of the person’s life.
-Can imagine this person giving a testimony in church.
-Not only is belief the TRUTH, but the TRUTH is simple.
Stage III: Skeptic, Individual, Questioner
-Life is more gray than previously acknowledged
-There’s struggle here-- questioning what you thought was TRUTH, or
why it was truth.
Stage IV: Mystic, Communal
Community/relationship focused
(see Jesus: Love God & your neighbor)
Mark 12:30-31
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your
soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment
is greater than these.”
John 17:3
And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.
Brandon's interpretation:
I Chaos (Antisocial/Chaotic)
II Boundaries (Institutional/Formal)
III Tension (Skepticism/Questioning)
IV Union (Mystic, Communal)
We talk divorce, sex and love addiction, and how to engage in boundaries in the midst of life events that we can't control.
Christian worldview is about union with God in the midst of suffering.
2 Corinthians 1: 4-6
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.
When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same
comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the
more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even
when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and
salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly
comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we
suffer.
We talk about Rumspringa, an Amish + Mennonite rite of passage for adolescents.
Check out a new favorite podcast: "Stuff Jews Should Know,"
Psalm 91
If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!