James Fowler, Professor emeritus of Christian Education at Emory University, believes that there are six distinct stages of faith development we humans can experience. According to Professor Fowler we have the ability to move from one stage to the next as our faith grows over time. While stage six faith, is demonstrated by people like Jesus and Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. - folks who understand God as the promise of a unified and unifying future for all beings. Fowler believes that most of us are at a stage three level of faith. Now, stage three faith is not something most of us have ever thought about very deeply.
Fowler says that there is nothing wrong with stage three faith.
In fact, he says that churches work best when most of the members are stage three folks. Both of today's scripture lessons speak to our human desire to know and better understand God. I find it comforting that even people like Moses and John the Baptist actively wanted to know what God looks like. Too Small is the title of a little book written by the Anglican priest J.B. Phillips. That most of us worship a God too small to meet the challenges of modern life.