I have had a few friends drop me lines about "Christians". They have landed in two categories of questions. The first, is about Christians who "blindly follow" just because they grew up "going to church". The second is about Christians who think "going to church" is all that's required of them to be "good Christians".
What do we do with these questions? What is the nature of faith? How do we know if we're being "good Christians"? Are there outward manifestations of authentic faith in Jesus? Is it just about praying a prayer? Or do we simply attend a worship service on Sunday mornings and call it a day?
Let's begin with the issue of "I grew up going to church" Christian. There are many Christians in the West who have always gone to church. They have been "Christian" for as long as they can remember. My wife used to say that in her mind, "I was American, not Jewish, and so I was a Christian." This is the view of many. They believe in God and go to "church" and that's the depth of their faith. Is this Christianity? Is this all there is?
The Scriptures are clear that a Christian is one who has turned from sin and trusted in Christ for his righteousness to be their own. They are rescued by God through grace by faith. They are declared righteous because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
If one's "Christian"-ness is wrapped up in their church attendance and their heritage then it may not be authentic faith. We must be careful about this though because there is a covenantal aspect to being a part of the body of Christ. There is something about being the children of believers that we cannot look past. These covenantal promises that we find in the Scriptures are powerful examples of God's grace and mercy.
I think part of our evaluation of faith needs to include whether someone is seeking God. Hebrews 11:6 says,
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Faith is the central aspect to drawing near to God. I think that we can rightly ask the question, "Are you drawing near to God? Do you believe that God exists? Do you believe he rewards those who seek him?" These questions can help someone determine where they are in relation to God.
Jesus says in Luke 14,
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Following Jesus is a count the cost kind of thing. Many of us who grew up going to "church" have never counted the cost. We have never made that move from "going to church" to seeking God in faith. To follow Jesus is not a passive endeavor, it is an active one and it is costly. We must count the cost.
What does it mean to count the cost? On the one hand it's being willing to "renounce all that he has" and I think on the other hand it's asking whether or not we have wrestled with whether we have reason for the faith.
So this "lifelong Christian" needs to be challenged to evaluate their life and faith. The danger of growing up in the church is that a person may never evaluate their life and faith and as a result their faith remains shallow and maybe not truly present.
Practically speaking this is where communion and confirmation need to come in to play. The healthy church will engage folks with the process of confirmation and through the sacrament of communion to help them make these evaluations.
0 comments:
Post a Comment