lifeasmission

My 2nd Naivety

August 27, 2007

I don’t think I know anyone, student, faculty, or staff person, who more personally embodies the ethos of Fuller Theological Seminary than its president, Richard Mouw. Much like Fuller, and to the great frustration of conservatives and liberals alike, he’s happy to call himself an evangelical, but really can’t be placed on the conservative/liberal spectrum. He holds hard and fast to the core tenants and practices of the Christian faith, but prides himself, as does his school, on humbly receiving and genuinely listening to those of different traditions and persuasions.

I graduated this past December and therefore had the opportunity to participate in the commencement ceremony this past June, but chose to skip it. The only regret I had was missing Mouw’s address. That regret has been remedied by the publishing of the address on iTunes and I offer it to you here.

It’s only about 15 minutes and is well worth your time. However, if you just can’t swing it, I think it is fair to say that his message is summed up in this quote.

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I reflect back on the Christian I was before coming to Fuller, I can honestly say that I would not want to return. It sounds contradictory, but I would say that my faith was naive in an arrogant sort of way. I may have admitted that I had a naive faith, but I would have prided myself on it as though it was better (more childlike) than an informed and overly complex faith. Having spent these last years wrestling through some of those complexities and becoming more informed, I am genuinely excited to move, not backwards toward naivety, but forwards into a different sort of naivety. Whereas my first naivety was marked by existence in the darkness of complexity, I pray that I might find a 2nd naivety in the light of complexity. Thanks Rich for your heart, your leadership, and your commitment to Jesus as the center of the Christian faith.

 

 Rich Mouw 2007 Fuller Commencement Address: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted in: Fuller Seminary, Jesus, evangelical, quotes