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John Locke I am not (as if there were any doubt), but I am a great admirer of his thinking especially his reflections on God. Locke desired to know God and to know that God (or perhaps just a god) existed. He wanted to know God with certainty – not just blind acceptance. His works are regarded with great esteem, especially his contribution to philosophy and thoughts regarding government. In addition Locke’s own quest to know God successfully captures the maturing process of faith, or as I will call it the ladder of faith.

Locke’s spiritual search goes something like this (click on the title link for his exact wording). Locke argues first for his own existence as a unique entity separate from another (as in a dream). He then goes on to describe how we know a god exists from a very advanced cosmological argument. After accepting the existence of a god (or perhaps simply a supernatural causative force) he reasons that as man is an intellectual being so too must man’s creator have been intelligent (a twist on the cosmological argument). Locke persuasively states that intelligence must have come from the beginning or it would never have existed.

Here in these three progressions from “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” we see the great journey of faith for all Christ-followers. I do believe in Christ as a part of a Triune God, but before I could believe that I had to first believe in God. But before I could believe in God I had to believe in a god, gods, or causative force. Yet, I couldn’t come to believe this had I not first examined my own self and come to grapple with my own capabilities and inadequacies. Each of these are steps, or rungs on the ladder of faith.

These steps are not necessarily fully completed when we rise above them. We all could wrestle indefinitely as to what is our capacity for knowledge. In this struggle a point is reached when sufficient reason is achieved to move on to the next idea – even though we may return to it. Just as in climbing a ladder our feet and hands are always at different points, supporting, lifting and joining the others.

Perhaps more succinctly stated there are five primary areas one must traverse in order to come to a relational knowledge of Christ. First we must become truth seekers, grappling with the existential questions, “Who am I?,” “What is my purpose?” and “Why am I here?” This I believe leads to a recognition of our own inadequacies causing us to seek greater truth. We become in essence God-seekers, looking for our creator to answer our questions. Thirdly we consider the testimony of nature, the essence of reason and the paths others have chosen. We come to knowledge of God and become God-followers. As we seek further truth regarding the nature and will of God we become Christ-seekers looking for a more complete picture of the divine. We fifthly become Christ-followers when we have evaluated and accepted Christ’s claims as God’s only Son and perfect revelation.

It is true that celebration runs rampant in our culture but it is hardly (if ever) thought of as a spiritual discipline. Celebrations do not normally come across as any type of discipline; there are very few who go into strict training to celebrate. But, Richard Foster in his book, “The Celebration of Discipline” includes “Celebration” as a spiritual discipline. At first this seems rather foreign but upon closer inspection Foster is proved right.

Christians often speak of parties as negative things – for those in the church “partying” is synonymous with promiscuous sex and drunkenness. This need not be the case and when Foster calls us to a “High Holy Party” we should not be afraid. Celebration is a sacred act, for the Christ follower the greatest reason to celebrate exists in Christ. Jesus himself used the “party motif” frequently throughout the gospels. Why have we let it slip away?

One incident in my life stands out above the rest as an example of a sacred party. Almost a year ago we celebrated Bailey’s first birthday. It was as joyous and pure of an occasion as I’ve ever celebrated. Being a newcomer to a small town our circle of friends was limited but the joy Jenny and I shared was too great to keep to ourselves. We had to invite some people; we could not celebrate adequately alone. Some of our family flew in but even that was not enough to celebrate the birth of our first child. So, we invited our new found friends. We joined together for a modest feast of hamburgers and hot dogs, and as we were ready to have the cake I said, “Thank you for coming to share our joy for it was too much to keep to ourselves.”

Overflowing joy, that’s the cause for celebration. Perhaps the discipline is not in celebrating but in rightly celebrating right things. Births, anniversaries, baptisms, these are events that the creator of life and love desires us to celebrate. We make big things out of small ones and light of larger issues. The discipline is in understanding what is worthy of celebration and then celebrating. We would do well to discipline ourselves in celebration. Ours is an age of a great chemical dependency on anti-depressants and a dose of pure joy is needed. We become so overcome with our grief that we share it with our doctor, why not be overcome with joy and share it with our friends. Certainly this will not solve all our emotional maladies but it is a step in the right direction.

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