Recap.
To quickly recap, in Posts 23-27 we dealt with a believer’s loss of faith and reasons commonly given for their loss. These included “The believer becoming mad at or disappointed by God,” and “The believer becoming mad at or disappointed by the Church.”
This week we conclude our series on Losing Faith by examining the Third Objection to God and Christianity, “The believer becoming mad at or disappointed by members of the Faith.” And of the three major reasons given, this is the one that is the most powerful and the most damning. Why should this be and how can this complaint be effectively countered?
Initial Thoughts.
The fact is that while believers’ complaints against God and the Church are very real, both God and the Church are in some aspects, abstracts. God is not visible, and aside from the one incarnation we know of in the personage of Jesus the Christ, He does not manifest physically in our world. Unless one enjoys a personal relationship with God, becoming mad at or disenchanted with Him is to deal with an idea.
The Church is more tangible. But while its services can be experienced, and its physical properties can be visited, it exists, not as a cohesive and physical body, but rather as an amalgam of members’ beliefs, activities, and theological proclamations. It very clearly exists, but at a more theoretical level like a corporation, or a political state. It too can be described as an idea.
The importance of people.
Its members, however, are a different matter altogether. Individual believers can be seen, heard, touched and directly interacted with. And because they do actually exist in our world, they are the most tangible and the most powerful example of and testament to their faith.
One can argue that because He cannot be seen, God does not exist. And it can be argued that because the Church is made up of people’s ideas and actions, it is nothing other than an illusion or corporate delusion foisted upon gullible people who do not possess an adequate ability to discern fact from fiction.
But members who profess their faith, who attend worship services, who write pages and pages of theological material, and who act in innumerable ways in the world at the urgings of their faith cannot so easily be explained away.
It is the believers themselves who represent the most tangible and compelling argument for their faith. And it is the believers themselves who also represent the most powerful argument against their faith. Let’s explore this idea for a bit.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words.
What we say has meaning and can be very powerful. With our words we can teach, we can explain, we can lift, we can express, and we can evoke feelings in others. With words we can make others feel things they might not otherwise feel. Our words can move others to action. Through our words, we can change peoples’ lives. And using our words, we can shape ideas, sometimes for generations to come. Words are one of the most powerful things humans possess.
But, as powerful as words are, there is something much more powerful – actions. Anyone will agree with this fundamental truth about human nature. That is that “Actions speak louder than words.” Nothing we may ever say, and nothing that we may ever write will be as powerful or as convincing as our actions.
We can hear someone espouse an idea time after time assuring us that they are telling us the truth. And, we may believe them because of their logic, their fervor, and the quality of their vocabulary. But all it takes is for them to commit one action that is at variance with the position they have advocated, and their credibility evaporates.
We all know this. How often have we lost our respect for someone because their actions were inconsistent with their rhetoric? Remember the old joke about politicians? “How do you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving!” Other occupations are held in similar low regard because of their propensity to exaggerate or “embellish” the truth.
We may listen to and like what someone says. But it is their actions that we pay the most attention to. Their actions truly express their character and whether they can be trusted.
Christians Acting Badly.
And, unfortunately, Christians are right in there with the worst of them. People have good reason to be skeptical about Christians and what they say they believe.
Christians say, “Thou shalt not kill.” And yet, we started the Crusades and killed hundreds of thousands of people in the process.
Again, Christians say, “Love thy neighbor.” And yet many professed Christians openly practice hatred and bigotry toward minority groups. Pick one: Muslims, Jews, African-Americans, members of the LGBTQ community, Hispanics … really, anyone who is of a different social, economic or ethnic class than “we” are is fair game for our disdain and our feelings of superiority.
And also, Christians say, “Be Charitable.” And we walk right past the guy on the street with his hand out for help. We ignore the plight of the homeless or worse, denigrate people who utilize public assistance programs when they cannot help themselves.
In short, all too often, our words say “Christian,” but our actions speak “Ungodly.” Christians are our own “worst enemy” when our lives (our actions) don’t ‘square’ with our espoused beliefs.
Is it any wonder that a non-believer looks at our dogma, our words, and our lives and cries “foul?”
So, what to do?
So, what is the answer? If we and our lives are such powerful indictments against our own faith, how can we in good conscience expect a non-believer to accept our faith as genuine and ourselves as true Christians? How can we really ask a non-believer to consider becoming a Christian when we are such bad examples of how our own faith is to be lived?
It may seem like an oxymoron, but it is exactly our inability to adhere perfectly to the tenants of our faith that evidences the validity of that faith. The fact that we are flawed examples of Christianity is NOT an indictment against the faith, but rather a validation of one of its most closely-held tenants. That is that, “God loves us, even though we are sinners.” [John 3:16]
You may have heard the phrase, “Get knocked down seven times, get up eight!” I find this phrase expresses perfectly the true strength of the Christian faith.
Becoming a Christian doesn’t make the Christian perfect. It doesn’t render him/her unable to sin or make them immune to its deleterious effects. Becoming a Christian doesn’t imbue the believer with any supernatural knowledge or power.
All that becoming a Christian does is to grant the believer the ability to live life in a more mature, meaningful, and spiritually enlightened way. Becoming a Christian doesn’t change our world. It changes our place in the world. Our perspective changes. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” [2 Corinthians 5:17]
Instead of seeing ourselves as the center of the world, our faith becomes the center of our world. It takes concern for ourselves out of the world and places that responsibility where it belongs, with God the Father. “Trust wholeheartedly in Yahweh, put no faith in your own perceptions;” [Proverbs 3:5]
And when that happens, we are freed to become the people we’d most like to be. By getting the “us” out, and letting Jesus in, we are transformed from the people the world made into the people God wants us to be. We cease to be earth’s children and become God’s children.
Being a Christian does not mean that we have to be perfect. We will still make mistakes. We will still be (at times) petty, selfish, grasping, jealous, mean, spiteful and all the other ugly things that humans can be.
But as Christians, we continually attempt to rise above those lapses into the mire of our worst selves. And although we know that our human nature is such that any victories over our nature will be temporary, we can still try to overcome and be secure in the knowledge that in God’s eyes, the effort is the ‘thing.’ He doesn’t expect us to become perfect in this life. That is the hope and the expectation for what comes next.
But He does expect us to TRY to become so. In the here and now, the journey is more important than the destination. How we negotiate the road on the way is what determines our destination. And our belief is that with His help, guidance, and relationship, the destination is sure.
For Consideration.
So, to the non-believer I pose the following points.
- I may not be able to prove scientifically that God exists. But then, you cannot prove that He doesn’t. In the face of possible personal extinction and termination, I’ve chosen to believe in the possibilities that Christianity offers. [Hebrews:11:1] How about you?
- I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to a non-believer upon their death. They could be correct, and the answer is “nothing.” But, again, I’ve chosen to live a life in hope and expectation rather than one of bleak acceptance. For me, the old joke about what a priest told to an atheist is pertinent. He said, “If you (the atheist) are correct and there is no God, I will have been a fool for 80 years when I die. If, however, there is a God and you choose not to believe in Him, you’ll have been a fool for eternity.” I like my odds.
- Finally, the fact that Christians are unable to keep perfectly to the tenants of our faith does not render that faith worthless or invalid. Rather the struggle to achieve the ideal can give life more meaning, more resonance, and more depth than a life without it would. And the faith is made stronger rather than weaker by the struggle. As Nietzsche said, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” The same is true for faith.
Conclusion.
As I’ve said many times, the purpose of this site is not to convince or to convert a non-believer. It is not my place to tell others what to believe or how to believe. The purpose of this site is to give all who are interested in Christianity the tools, the knowledge and the thought processes they may need to come to their own conclusions regarding their faith. I do hope that the site will provoke positive thought regarding Christianity and help those who are struggling with their faith to come to conclusions that are right for them.
As always, I covet your comments, suggestions and questions.
God’s Blessings on You All.
Richard
January 11, 2019
