His
arguments got me wondering about my faith.
As I pondered his theories of culture and religion, and then my reasons
for following the Way of Jesus, I concluded that if I looked at all the
religious & faith options available to me in the world, I am actually not sure I would pick Christianity! How
would I know which one was true? Better to
live by my own rules.
Yet I cannot escape faith and belief. I have tried.
Faith calls to me even in my doubt
and when life makes no sense whatsoever. My most profound encounter with this was when I lead an international
church in Phnom Penh Cambodia in the 1990’s. It was barely post-Khmer Rouge. The church was
comprised mostly of relief and development workers. Every day they worked with
a traumatized people. Their MAIN issue week
in and week out was: “How could God have
endured and allowed the pain and horror that the Khmer Rouge inflicted on these
people? Where was God?”. Christian
platitudes from a pastor were not helpful in those moments. I had to wrestle down the ‘why’ of my faith
to its purest essence.
It’s such a messed up world isn’t it? A hard one in which to maintain faith &
hope in anything. Evil threatens to
break the dike built by human good and decency. The dike has so many holes in it there’s
not enough of us to plug them. So, why
should I believe in a God who lets this world get so messed up? Why would I
choose to plug the holes in the dike? Why not just pull away from it all and
let it be?
So I ask myself, and you, “What
or who, keeps you in the game of following Jesus”?
The only answer I have is that faith as a gift.
If it came down to being dependent on creating and sustaining personal
reasons to remain engaged as a Christian, I would have given up long ago. I have endured too much personal pain and
have seen too much evil in my lifetime for that formula to keep me in the game.
The gift of faith does not and cannot come from within. Someone gives it.
If you and I have faith in Jesus it is because that
is God’s gift. It is a deep, often unexplainable confidence that
keeps my eyes focused on God in the face of so much that rails against even the
existence of a God. The Bible says that without faith, we can’t please God. It’s also made clear we can’t work our way to
God, therefore He gives us the faith we need to come close to Him. And sometimes, like the manna the Israelites
had to collect each morning, we too have to pick up our faith, enough for each
day.
This is both a humbling and an astounding mystery, so
counter-intuitive to the quid-pro-quo economy of the human mind. We have what
we have been given. No effort. No status produced this. Why some get the gift and others don’t is also a mystery, and will remain so because
since it’s a gift, it’s up to the Giver.
If this gift of faith is an undeserved grace, is there any reason then to bother engaging this faith with the world? Any reason for 'evangelism'? Any purpose in passing on the faith?
YES
Faith
being a gift of God releases us from
trying to convince others to take the gift.
It’s not ours to give.
We are released from placing heavy ‘save the world’ burdens on ourselves and are freed instead to
live according to our faith in a way that “will make the teaching of God our
Saviour attractive” (Titus 2:10). Hebrews 11:6
says that without faith we can’t possibly connect to God - and that to even receive
faith you need to believe that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to
those who are open to seek after Him.
So the BIG question is whether there is anything to convince
others of a reason to believe that God even exists. What would make the teaching of God our
Saviour attractive?
· You can create the most articulate argument
for God and belief, but if LOVE, the very essence of God is not evident, how
will anyone even believe there is a gift-giving God? However if a person sees and feels love, belief in a
God is perhaps possible. If the thought of a God who loves is possible,
then seeking after that God is
possible, and then the gift of faith
is possible.
Faith is not in your control. It’s a gift of God.
Love however, is in your control. It’s a gift you can give.
Hi Harvey,
ReplyDeleteI too read this book since my daughter-in-law was reading it. I appreciate your comments and realize that, even with her, who has been a committed Christian but is struggling with faith, that love is the only possibility for connection and support that I can give.
What are you doing now? I am in transition from pastoring/teaching and wondering what my next ministry assignment might be.
God bless, Mel Hoskyn