NO MORE “MUSTY” FAITH!

Bonhoeffer, and others, talk about “cheap grace,” by which they usually mean that as believers we must respond to God’s grace-gift by transformed lives and obedience to the will of God. And I concur with much of what is said in this regard.

However – you knew a “however” was coming – what normally happens in churches, sermons, teachings, and discipleship is a series of oughts, shoulds, musts, and have tos. These “musty teachings” are too often phrased in such a way as to imply that if we: (1) don’t do what God wants us to do, (b) do the things God doesn’t want us to do, or (c) aren’t what God wants us to be then He: (1) won’t love us anymore, (2) won’t hear our prayers, (3) will allow us to suffer more and have more problems, (4) will not bless us, and (5) will cause us to question whether we are saved or not. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

I say, we don’t have to do anything!

Rather, when we come to Jesus Christ and acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior, he gives us the Holy Spirit so we will know we don’t have to do anything for Him to love us more and we can’t do anything for Him to love us less. AND, while we don’t “have to” to do anything, we GET TO pray, serve, love, praise, share, and fellowship, etc.

For example, I don’t have to do anything to be a husband or a father, or even a good friend, but I want to! Love for my wife and my kids flows out of me naturally. (Now I know there are a lot of unloving fathers and mothers out there. You may have experienced this in your own childhood, or you may be one?! But that is not the norm.) I have no list of things to do or not do to be a good father/husband. I could even keep such an imaginary list and NOT love my wife or kids, or be a husband or father. That is because being a husband or father or friend is a relationship with the other person.

Faith in God is not agreeing to a set of propositional truths about God. Satan knows more about God than we do and yet is not the recipient of grace nor is he saved. Faith in Jesus Christ (and God the Father and the Holy Spirit) is a living, breathing, active relationship of trust and love. It certainly isn’t “musty.” One cannot be forced to love, nor fulfill a certain set of requirements. Love is freely received and freely given.

And once I find and receive that love from God, my greatest joy comes in loving Him in return by serving Him and loving and serving the rest of His creation.

If you find your faith-life to be too "musty," then try simply listening to the Holy Spirit and being and doing what God leads you to. You may even find Christianity fun and liberating!

What do you think?

Charlie

Atheists and anti-theists take note.

Part 1
I don't believe in love! It doesn't and cannot exist. There is no proof of its existence. It only exists on the level of feelings and we all know how transitory and unreliable those are.

Love is simply another way of talking about "enlightened self interest." In other words we love in order to either be loved or to feel self satisfied, a way of perpetuating our self and our own happiness. Love is nothing more than chemical responses to certain stimuli, which in pre-historic times ensured the survival of the fittest (most desirable?) and of the species.

Part 2
I don't believe in God. He/She/It doesn't and cannot exist. There is no proof of His existence. He only exists on the level of feelings, and those are too unreliable and subjective.

God is a term we use to describe our own self-interest. In other words, we believe in God because we feel satisfied and content and happy when we do, believing that some super-person is looking out for us. God is felt because of certain external stimuli (a majestic sunset or a star filled sky) or internal feelings (love, compassion, desire for community). Belief in God is a remnant of our pre-historic past, designed to answer what we don't know and to see ourselves (humans) as the highest order of life in the universe.

Part 3
I decided that since there are a growing number of atheists and anti-theists in our world, I would seek to show that something normally affirmed by every human being can likewise be dismissed as unprovable.

Does anyone anywhere really believe that love doesn't exist? How can I say that it doesn't? Just look at all the acts of kindness and goodness in the world, all the acts of self-sacrifice by one person on behalf of another, the lengths people go to keep their children safe, etc.

How can I say that love doesn't exist when there is such evidence to the contrary? We know love exists because we see the results.

Gotcha! Don't we also see the results of the existence of God? There is order and structure to the universe - from the cosmos to the atom. There is the ability humans have to think and, yes, to love. There is the enormous variety of species. (Why does the ocean need millions of kinds of fish, each different from the other?) There is the fact that human beings exist with the mental, creative, and emotional capabilities we have. All these and countless more reasons could be listed to "show" the existence of God.

I would suggest that if God doesn't exist then neither does love. And if love doesn't exist, then there is no cause for seeking the meaning to life. All is irrelevant and meaningless, a little like what the Preacher in Ecclesiastes has to say.

Think about it.

Charlie

The tyranny of the minority...

has too often been my experience in the Christian Church over my 60+ years. What do I mean?

Believers who have been Christians for a number of years and active members of the church for most or all of that time come to a certain understanding of the "faith." They become rooted and grounded in the scripture and after a while become more or less closed to change. Their faith relationship to God and Jesus Christ doesn't change or grow. They become content, satisfied, and comfortable in their Christian life. And it is most likely that they surround themselves with like-minded people, including preachers and teachers.

Then someone comes along - maybe a preacher or teacher or just another believer - with a different point of view. Suddenly the comfortable one become uncomfortable. He (or she) has built so much of their faith on things "unchangeable" that any variation to that belief must be wrong and opposed at every step. (Note: I am not speaking of the essentials of the Christian faith, but peripheral beliefs and traditions.) The trouble is, many of his/her fellow members are open to new things and see the changes as positive. These people may eventually become the majority and desire to move forward. But, the minority are having no part of it. Now we have controversy.

The church leaders are in a quandary. They may even be on the side of change, but because of these vocal opponents, they defer any action hoping in time that the whole body can become united in its approach and life. Their reasoning is usually: "Is the change really necessary? and if we act, won't that push some people away and cause disunity?"

The problem with this thinking is that it is generally the older and more experienced members of the church who are the intracktable minority. The very ones who should be open to the Lord and to growth are the very ones who hold on for dear life to non-essentials and in the process prevent others from growing! The tyranny of the minority.

I have been in the Church of Jesus Christ all my life. And the Lord has continually challenged and changed my life and my faith. If you asked me how I have grown/changed in the last 5, 10, or 20 years I would have no trouble responding. I believe if I am not growing (changing?), I am not listening to the Lord or to His word.

But ask one of these minority how they have grown/changed and they will probably say they have the same faith now they had then. Indeed, they may even be proud of the fact that they haven't changed. "Gimme that old time religion!" "It was good enough for Grandpa; its good enough for me!" Is this what Peter had in mind when he said to believers: "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?" (II Peter 3:18) Or Paul, when he said, also to believers: "That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened..." (Eph.1:18) and "That you may be able to comprehend..." (Eph.3:18) and "Not that I have already attained it...but I press on." Phil.3:12)

Many things cause church divisions and splits. I have been involved in two such circumstances. They are unpleasant and ungodly because they divide what should be one, i.e. the body of Christ. Yet, in both situations, there were a minority of people who wouldn't listen to or dialogue with others, but stood frozen in place, refusing to budge. And the issues were not about the gospel or the person and work of Jesus Christ, but about less important matters. When was the last time you heard of a church split over the gospel? How childish are we?

What is God doing in your life? What is God doing in your church's life? He is working, you know. He is seeking to bring His Kingdom to the earth, to show to all the world that Jesus died and rose for them, that He is a God of grace and love, and that in Him we have an eternal future. So as God speaks and moves, we listen and discern His voice through the filter of the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Then we act.

I suggest that if we run into a minority opinion, we dialogue, we listen, and then we move in the direction God is calling. Anything less is to allow the minority to prevent what God wants to do.

What do you think?

Charlie