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Although faith is generally seen as a religion, since it concerns our relationship with that Absolute called God, that notion does not seem to be very helpful in order to grasp its unique character. Should it then be called a spirituality? Yes, in the sense that it offers a personal and lived-out way of penetrating the meaning of life more deeply. This way, however, is not left to the discretion of each individual; it is not made up of elements that we can take or leave according to our own whims. It is a pilgrimage in the steps of Christ, and it sets the pilgrim necessarily in a relationship to all those who are walking along the same road. Is Christian faith a life in common, then? This definition has the great advantage of corresponding to the life of the early Christians as seen in the New Testament. Still, we must immediately add that this shared life is far from being a simple human sociability; it is rooted in God. It is a sharing in the divine Life, a Life that is Love and thus Life for others. This common life is by nature inclusive, universal; it radiates outward to encompass potentially every human being. In this sense, the boundaries of the Christian community are not defined once and for all; in the final analysis they cannot be distinguished from the entire human family, or even from the whole of creation. In its essence, then, faith in Jesus Christ can be defined as the offer in progress of a universal communion or fellowship in God. First of all, Christian faith, far from being a human undertaking, is essentially an offer or invitation coming from the side of God. This was already true for Israel of old: that nation drew its identity not from geographical or genealogical criteria, but from the free choice of a mysterious and transcendent God. With the coming of Christ Jesus, this quality is even more salient. In him, however unthinkable this may seem, the very Source of life comes to encounter us. If the Christian faith is an offer coming from the side of the Absolute, the role of human beings is essentially to welcome the invitation and to reply to it. It is not up to them to define its contours. And if God calls, through Christ, to a sharing of life, to a communion, then this invitation is addressed to the most personal dimension of human beings; it seeks to awaken freedom in them. For all these reasons, such an offer is at the opposite extreme from every form of constraint. Any attempt to impose it by coercion, whether overt or subtle, is absolutely foreign to its nature. Secondly, the Christian message is an offer in progress, in other words an invitation that is real and not theoretical. Just as Jesus communicated the essence of his message by his life given for us to the point of dying on a cross, disciples turn their own lives into the message they want to get across. Christianity is perhaps unique in that, if it is not to be emptied of its substance, there can be no dichotomy between doctrine and practice. On the contrary, the doctrine is identical to the practice, for in both cases it is a matter of communion with God and among human beings. If Christians do not practice love for others, if the Churches live in mutual indifference or competition, their preaching will inevitably remain a dead letter. —Excerpt from Short Writings from Taizé 3 (Brother John)
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Iako se vjera općenito promatra kao religija, budući da se tiče našega odnosa s Apsolutnim koje nazivamo Bogom, čini se da nam taj izraz baš ne pomaže kako bismo dokučili njen jedinstven karakter. Bi li je se onda trebalo nazvati duhovnošću? Da, u smislu da nudi osoban i proživljen način dubljeg prodiranja u smisao života. Ovaj način, međutim, ne ostaje u skrovitosti svakoga pojedinca; nije sačinjen od elemenata koje možemo uzeti ili ostaviti prema svojim vlastitim sklonostima. To je hodočašće Kristovim stopama i ono hodočasnika nužno stavlja u odnos sa svima onima koji koračaju istim putem. Je li onda kršćanska vjera život u zajedništvu? Ova definicija ima veliku prednost jer korespondira sa životom ranih kršćana kakav vidimo u Novom zavjetu. Ipak, smjesta moramo dodati da je taj zajednički život daleko od obične ljudske društvenosti; on je ukorijenjen u Bogu. To je dijeljenje božanskoga Života, Života koji je Ljubav , dakle Život za druge. Taj zajednički život je po svojoj prirodi uključiv, univerzalan; on zrači prema van kako bi mogao obuhvatiti svakoga čovjeka. U ovom smislu, granice kršćanske zajednice nisu jednom zauvijek definirane; u konačnoj se analizi one ne mogu razgraničiti od čitave ljudske obitelji, ili čak od svega stvorenog. U svojoj biti, dakle, vjera u Isusa Krista može se definirati kao trajna ponuda univerzalnog zajedništva ili zajednice u Bogu. Prije svega, kršćanska vjera, daleko od toga da bude ljudska tvorevina, u svojoj je biti ponuda ili poziv koji dolazi od Boga. To je već vrijedilo za stari Izrael: taj je narod dobio svoj identitet ne po geografskom ili genealoškom kriteriju, nego slobodnim izborom otajstvenog i transcendentnog Boga. Dolaskom Isusa Krista, to je još vidljivije. U njemu, koliko god se to činilo nezamislivim, sam se Izvor života dolazi sastati s nama. Ako je kršćanska vjera ponuda koja dolazi od Apsolutnog, uloga je ljudi, u biti, primiti taj poziv i odgovoriti na njega. Nije na njima da definiraju njegove obrise. A ako Bog poziva, po Kristu, na dijeljenje života, na zajedništvo, taj je poziv upućen najosobnijioj dimenziji ljudskih bića; on nastoji probuditi slobodu u njima. Zbog svih ovih razloga, ovakva je ponuda potpuna suprotnost svakom obliku prisile. Bilo kakav pokušaj da je se nametne silom, bilo to izravno ili suptilno, potpuno je stran njegovoj prirodi. Nadalje, kršćanska je poruka trajna ponuda, drugim riječima poziv koji je stvaran, a ne teoretski. Baš kako je Isus prenosio bit svoje poruke dajući svoj život do smrti na križu, učenici pretvaraju svoje vlastite živote u poruku koju žele prenijeti. Kršćanstvo je jedinstveno možda po tome što, ako ne želi izgubiti svoju bit, ne može razdvajati doktrinu i praksu. Naprotiv, doktrina je identična praksi, jer u oba slučaja govori o zajedništvu s Bogom i zajedništvu među ljudima. Ako kršćani ne prakticiraju ljubav prema drugima, ako Crkve žive u međusobnoj indiferentnosti ili konkurentskom odnosu, njihove će propovijedi neizbježno ostati mrtvo slovo. —Ulomak iz Short Writings from Taizé 3 (brat John)