Someone asked me the other day what it was I loved about the law. That’s a funny question to ask someone who struggled in law school as much as I did. But, the fact is now that I am two years out of law school I can now say that I love the law, and I can actually answer that question:
What I love about the law is how it gives you a deeper, and sometimes wider, understanding of how the world works. Almost everything we do is legally transactional in a way I had never considered or seen before I studied the law. I love that perspective. Furthermore, the “law” in the colloquial sense of the word also lends reflection upon other “law.” For instance, scientific laws are descriptions of the way things are—we can’t change them. How different from human derived “law,” where it is a local, national, or international construct that we choose to live by—or, pay lip service to. There’s agency involved (admittedly in some places more than others). I’m only scratching the surface of these thoughts.
Anyway, in pondering all this, the 5 years of my legal immersion have convinced me: I think that one thing we all long for in the law is clear guidelines that bring justice, to every situation, no exceptions. Unfortunately, it’s neither of those things, or can it ever be. We can participate in the creation and execution of a system that can attempt and even remain on a constant trajectory toward meeting those goals, but we will only ever be able to deliver a shadow of what true justice is in any situation. To be clear: this does not make its pursuit any less important. We are called as humans to never stop pursuing justice. But, honestly in today’s society I keep seeing people blame the system, trying to fix the system, and even perpetuating the (broken) system without ever looking inward. Really, it’s always been this way. This is why the system fails. It’s as frustrating for the observer as it is for those inside the cycle. And we all flip between those roles at any given moment. The law, while I love it, is necessary but…dissatisfying. Something’s missing.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about this in the context of faith. In faith, just like with the law, human nature wants clear guidelines that bring us to the right result. Basically we hate but want rules. This paradox is the underpinnings of all organized religion, and the reason it continues to rise and fall. Just like in the law, though, there’s something missing. It fails to hit the mark. It’s dissatisfying.
I’ve had a few situations come up recently where I’ve been asked for advice. One sticks out in my mind. I was recently asked how to look for a church. “So…what do I look for?” It gave me pause.
The question didn’t sit well with me but I had to think for a second on why. We use this language all the time. “Church shopping” is what we usually call it. We are unabashedly consumer-minded about church, and it unsurprisingly shows up in our language.
I finally responded by musing whether it was the right question to ask. I was only halfway being Socratic, because I don’t fully know myself, but…I don’t think it is. I think the right question to ask is rather “where does God want me?” It’s a completely different approach and one that potentially opens us up to pain, hurt, uncertainty at best. But that’s the point, I think. Church isn’t about the needs we think we have, it’s about the needs God knows we have and He takes us exactly where we need to go, right? He is, quite literally, the Master of the counterintuitive.
That answer then begged the next question, which it was I think ties this all together with the law. My friend of course asked (the Golden question): “how do I know where God wants me?” The longer I live, the more I’m convinced that the answer to that question is the answer to all that dissatisfies.
It’s listening to Him. It’s the Holy Spirit. It’s that part of the Trinity that (most of) the Evangelical church puts on a back burner and replaces with a bunch of formulaic, damaging pseudo-answers. The law is missing love. It’s missing the element that sees all the nuances and knows how to individualize in order to arrive at true justice. In the same way, I often see modern day “faith” walks missing the “Holy Grey” that is the Spirit who knows ALL the nuance, ALL the motives, ALL the dynamics…ALL of everything so that He can lead you right where you need to be. Make no mistake. Listening to God is as difficult as Love, as painful, as trial-and-error, and as humiliating. But that’s the thing that satisfies. There’s no formula for it, there’s no right way to pray, there’s no one way to know you’ve heard God because there’s no one way that He speaks. It’s hard, it’s a relationship, and it takes time to figure out how it works for you. And you’ll fail meanwhile. But that’s not the point.
So yeah, that’s what I love about the law—and I also love what it’s teaching me about how faith works.
What I love about the law is how it gives you a deeper, and sometimes wider, understanding of how the world works. Almost everything we do is legally transactional in a way I had never considered or seen before I studied the law. I love that perspective. Furthermore, the “law” in the colloquial sense of the word also lends reflection upon other “law.” For instance, scientific laws are descriptions of the way things are—we can’t change them. How different from human derived “law,” where it is a local, national, or international construct that we choose to live by—or, pay lip service to. There’s agency involved (admittedly in some places more than others). I’m only scratching the surface of these thoughts.
Anyway, in pondering all this, the 5 years of my legal immersion have convinced me: I think that one thing we all long for in the law is clear guidelines that bring justice, to every situation, no exceptions. Unfortunately, it’s neither of those things, or can it ever be. We can participate in the creation and execution of a system that can attempt and even remain on a constant trajectory toward meeting those goals, but we will only ever be able to deliver a shadow of what true justice is in any situation. To be clear: this does not make its pursuit any less important. We are called as humans to never stop pursuing justice. But, honestly in today’s society I keep seeing people blame the system, trying to fix the system, and even perpetuating the (broken) system without ever looking inward. Really, it’s always been this way. This is why the system fails. It’s as frustrating for the observer as it is for those inside the cycle. And we all flip between those roles at any given moment. The law, while I love it, is necessary but…dissatisfying. Something’s missing.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about this in the context of faith. In faith, just like with the law, human nature wants clear guidelines that bring us to the right result. Basically we hate but want rules. This paradox is the underpinnings of all organized religion, and the reason it continues to rise and fall. Just like in the law, though, there’s something missing. It fails to hit the mark. It’s dissatisfying.
I’ve had a few situations come up recently where I’ve been asked for advice. One sticks out in my mind. I was recently asked how to look for a church. “So…what do I look for?” It gave me pause.
The question didn’t sit well with me but I had to think for a second on why. We use this language all the time. “Church shopping” is what we usually call it. We are unabashedly consumer-minded about church, and it unsurprisingly shows up in our language.
I finally responded by musing whether it was the right question to ask. I was only halfway being Socratic, because I don’t fully know myself, but…I don’t think it is. I think the right question to ask is rather “where does God want me?” It’s a completely different approach and one that potentially opens us up to pain, hurt, uncertainty at best. But that’s the point, I think. Church isn’t about the needs we think we have, it’s about the needs God knows we have and He takes us exactly where we need to go, right? He is, quite literally, the Master of the counterintuitive.
That answer then begged the next question, which it was I think ties this all together with the law. My friend of course asked (the Golden question): “how do I know where God wants me?” The longer I live, the more I’m convinced that the answer to that question is the answer to all that dissatisfies.
It’s listening to Him. It’s the Holy Spirit. It’s that part of the Trinity that (most of) the Evangelical church puts on a back burner and replaces with a bunch of formulaic, damaging pseudo-answers. The law is missing love. It’s missing the element that sees all the nuances and knows how to individualize in order to arrive at true justice. In the same way, I often see modern day “faith” walks missing the “Holy Grey” that is the Spirit who knows ALL the nuance, ALL the motives, ALL the dynamics…ALL of everything so that He can lead you right where you need to be. Make no mistake. Listening to God is as difficult as Love, as painful, as trial-and-error, and as humiliating. But that’s the thing that satisfies. There’s no formula for it, there’s no right way to pray, there’s no one way to know you’ve heard God because there’s no one way that He speaks. It’s hard, it’s a relationship, and it takes time to figure out how it works for you. And you’ll fail meanwhile. But that’s not the point.
So yeah, that’s what I love about the law—and I also love what it’s teaching me about how faith works.
