Gray Faith Study- Ch 1: Gray Beginnings
The Gray Faith Online Study is finally here!! I’ve been waiting for this and I’m so excited to share these free resources with you. Please feel free to share this material with someone, use it to lead your own study offline, or share/comment on the blog to add your voice to the conversation! This chapter is all about digging into YOUR stories and backgrounds, and I’d love to hear whatever you feel comfortable sharing. Check out the video to learn a bit more about the heart of the study and chapter 1.
Happy “Gray Faith-ing”!
Experiment #1:
Write a summary of your own life story- be as brief or detailed as you want. Consider how your childhood laid the foundation for your current identity and beliefs. Allow yourself to dwell on the emotions that arise and give yourself permission to question things that you may have been afraid to question. There’s no right or wrong in this space; you are simply an explorer, searching through your past to find pieces of who you are today. As you write, ask God to begin to show you where your faith might be a bit plastic or built on certain assumptions of the Christianity or faith you grew up with. If you feel comfortable, share your story with a friend or your small group.
Chapter 1 Study Questions:
1. What’s your story? Who are the people and circumstances that most shaped your life and faith?
2. In the first section of chapter one, I talk about how “good Christianity” lied to me. Have you experienced your own assumptions of “good Christianity”? If so, what has made you question those assumptions?
3.Read the parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-32. Which brother do you relate to and why?
4. Whose crazy story have you watched that inspires you to step out in faith yourself?
5: What is your God-given passion beyond your means to produce or create on your own? Whether it’s something you’re still dreaming about or you’re in the middle of living it out, I challenge you to share that dream with someone and let them pray and journey with you.
6.What does it look like to accept brokenness, doubts, and mistakes as part of our journey of faith? Do you believe that as Christians we’ll always have room to grow?
7. Are there any beliefs that you hold in your head that you’ve struggled to experience with your heart? What’s one small step you could take to embrace that belief physically, instead of just mentally?
Bible passages for further study:
Luke 15:11-32 (The Parable of the Prodigal Son); Deuteronomy 6:1-3 (Passing Faith to our Kids); Proverbs 22:6 (Raising Children); Galations 3 (Faith vs. the Law); Matthew 9:13 (Jesus came for sinners); Luke 18:18-35 (Heart vs. Rules)
(All study material in this blog comes directly from the “Gray Faith” book. If you’d like to purchase a copy or ebook, click HERE!)
For me, since my Christianity began later in life, the expectations I inherited as a child about the proper way to behave in the world were not overtly infused with Christianity, (although in historical retrospect, those expectations were largely formed by Christianity.)
Instead, as a young adult, the “Good Christianity” that I was presented with wasn’t about morality much at all, it was almost solely focused on “Belief”. But it was a kind of detached belief, one that only really kicked in on the day of judgement.
This was kind of nifty at first, but it quickly became hollow. It didn’t seem to have anything to say about life on this planet now, (besides making sure everybody is all packed up for the next one.) Jesus was something to worship, not to follow. You would even worship him *because* you don’t have to follow him. (“he died so we don’t have to”). People would often talk about something called “works” as if it were a dangerous thing to get caught up in, the enemy of “faith”.
anyway, i’ve moved on from that now, but just thought I’d get in on your thing you got going on here, and write out a bit about the shade of my “grey beginning”… keep up the good writing. -jon
Thank you for sharing that piece of you, Jon!! I love the way you word things, and the ongoing ways you juxtapose the tension of faith as we’ve “heard” with faith that has actual power and…and incidentally seems a bit more uncomfortable than I once thought. Your line about ” ‘works’ as if it were a dangerous thing to get caught up in, the enemy of ‘faith'” sticks out to me especially. Perhaps you should write the next book, sir. 🙂 Hoping to see you guys Saturday!