Sticky Faith
I am especially susceptible to getting songs stuck in my head. If I hear my neighbor whistling as he takes out his trash, that little ditty will lodge itself in my brain for the rest of the day. If my daughter is listening to Taylor Swift (again) as she gets ready for school, the lyrics will pop-up unbidden - “I don’t know about you, I’m feeling 22.” Nearly every Sunday, I leave worship whistling one of the songs we sang together. Most days my spouse finds it endearing, other days he finds things to do outside lest the song sticks in his head, too.
Music has a sticky quality. The song Mrs. Oppermann, my elementary school music teacher, still pops into my head every Halloween, “H – A – double L – O – double U (W) – double E – N, spells Halloween.”
Once a month, a team from Shared Lutheran Ministry visits local care facilities to worship with residents. We make our way from Care Inn to Jefferson Place and then on to Monument Hill. Sometimes, a resident will seem totally disengaged, unable to follow along with the liturgy, but then we’ll start the chorus of a familiar old hymn, and they perk up and sing every lyric verbatim. Those old hymns have imbedded themselves so deeply into their memory that they stick, even when other memories fade.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the sticky quality of faith. Why do some people stay deeply connected to their faith and invested in their church community, while others drift away as their faith fades? As a parent, I hope that my daughters will have a vibrant faith that grows throughout their lives. Passing the faith on to the next generation is central to life together in the church. Which makes me wonder, am I doing right?
In their book “Sticky Faith,” Dr. Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark, explore this topic and provide insight on developing faith that sticks in children, youth and young adults when they leave home, encounter struggles and build new relationships. Powell and Clark say sticky faith is: - Both internal and external - Both personal and communal - Both mature and maturing Sticky faith is part of our inner thoughts and is also externalized in our actions. It celebrates that each individual person is wonderfully made and is also part of a larger community. It reveals spiritual maturity and is always growing.
These elements of faith are learned through observation and action. Clark says, “faith is caught, not taught. How you express and live out your faith may have a greater impact on your son or daughter than anything else.” Children observe the faithful adults in their orbit as they build the foundation of their own faith. But observation is not enough to build sticky faith. Children must actively practice their faith by seeking forgiveness and forgiving others, engaging in community, and actively serving.
It’s a tall order, but it’s worth the effort to pass on a vibrant, growing faith to the next generation. A faith that endures, whatever may come. A faith that sticks.