Selected
Responses to “Faith Meltdown” article
č I LOVED this article.
I thought you were gracious, yet firm in your desire to see people see their
problems for what they really might be. I have long been a proponent of
honest questioning of God. In other words, "Why does God allow
these tragedies" etc. King David asked these tough "why"
questions all the time in Psalms. And yet even then, David's trust was
that even if God didn't answer him the way he thought He should, God was still
God, and was still in control. David did not confuse his disillusionment in
circumstances to undermine his faith in God. Thanks for taking the time to
print this - it was a blessing to me!
č It seems to me as if there are many people treating
religion like a big beauty contest.
They see which one is the prettiest and go with it. I
think there is a false impression in the
Christian subculture that Christianity
is the most genuine and heartwarming religion there is. It's not.
Buddhism is much more beautiful and personally, I think Hinduism is a lot more practical. And so when Christians leave
Christian subculture and encounter
well-adjusted, good, just, noble, genuine Hindus (who don't seem to have a Jesus-shaped hole in their hearts), the rug
is pulled from beneath their
faith. We are not Christian because Christians "do life"
the best. We are Christian because the
incarnate died and rose again. They will not "know we are Christians by our love." They will know we are Christians by proclaiming the name of Christ. In a pluralist
society, simply "living our lives as
our testimony" will no longer serve as an adequate witness.
St Francis' statement,
"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words" may no longer be true in our culture. Is it possible that we can live out the Gospel without words? If it is, then I ask
this: Is it possible for a Buddhist to
"preach the Gospel without words" and accidentally lead people
to Christ?
č This is exactly
where I am -- how did you know? It
is like you write the letter directly to me.
Yet I have never even written to you.
I do read your writing almost every week for mental stimulation. But this one was not for mental
stimulation—it is a life-saver for my dying faith. If I believed in “inspiration” any more I’d say it was
“inspired.” While the article has
not helped me get out of the sea of despair yet it has already helped me
understand where I am and what some of the “factors” are that got me into this
deep water. I have printed it out and
plan to use it as an agenda to discuss with my best friend who is also going
through a similar “meltdown.” Thanks
for talking time tow rite this.
č Brilliant! :) I've printed it out so I
can pass it around.... You've nailed it....every aspect of
"it"!
č Are you really wiling to
say that “the core” is only the Apostle’s Creed? That’s a very small core.
What of all the other things you say you believe? Are you a Wesleyan or not? Are you an Evangelical or not? The Pope and you both believe the same
core—doesn’t that bother you?
č You need to get this
printed in a booklet form. Or at
least give us permission to print it here.
I want to put one in the hand of every student in our college
ministry. You have hit almost every
issue I’ve ever encountered dealing with “thinking Christians” who “read too
much.”
č This is not just a
student or former student crisis.
What is overlooked in your column is how many pastors experience this
crisis of faith while we are pastors. The
challenge for us is to continue preaching, encouraging faith, ministering to
other while we ourselves are doubting.
The problem for me was a Bible school training that never really engaged
the serious issues. The answers I got
were good enough for the age I was. But they did not last and could not
withstand the challenge to my faith that came from ordinary reading of the
Bible (and other books). My problem was
getting easy answers in college.
č Wow. Wish I had
this about a year ago. I’ve actually gone through this process during
the past year. Today, my faith in God is stronger, my heart is more
honest, my devotion to Jesus is deeper and my convictions are sounder than the
first 20 years of post-college life and ministry. The things that I point
to as life-preserving through this passage of time are (1) a personal
discipline of reading Biblical lectionary selections daily whether I felt like
it or not (2) a couple of friends who nurtured my faith in Jesus alone and (3)
a stubborn determination to get the spiritual benefits out of my season of
confusion and doubt, no matter how long it took. Along the way, I had the
whisper of the Spirit that even as my personal longings were being crucified,
the will of Christ was emerging out of all of it. I have no clear
forecast of the future, but I sense that however God wants to use me, whatever
is left will be much more useful to Him than anything that went before.
It’s not that I had no faith before, but faith tested and proven is almost as
distinct as the difference between something in shadow and the same thing in
bright sunlight. Actually what I deconstructed was a false reliance on
the Church to conscientiously behave as a community of grace, redemption and
reconciliation. My “trigger” was an assembly of multiple persons all
vying for self-interest and leaving scores of casualties in the process.
The thing that made it so destructive was the claims of personal
righteousness being made by these same persons even as they behaved in some of
the most vindictive fashion imaginable to anyone who differed with them. After
this journey through the tunnel, I see the church for what it is—and I love it
in spite of how it is not yet what it can be. My illusion is pretty
much gone and in its place is a more sober understanding of both sin and
grace. I really didn’t get that from deep interaction in the church
during this season, but I did linger regularly around the Body. I must
confess that I have a much lower confidence in the politics of religious
organizations but a much higher respect for genuinely spiritual
leadership. And I am personally committed to be that kind of influence
among the Body of Christ. People are people. We’re flawed but
precious in the sight of God, marred but able to reflect the glory of God
because of His kindness and generosity. Thanks for sharing the
article. It’s a very good picture of healthy deconstruction and
rebuilding a “faith that will not shrink, though pressed by every foe; that
will not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe.” I just love that
Charles Wesley, don’t you?
č Absolutely wonderful column. I went through a minor one of these the year
after I finished Bible College. What
you said about being willing to let go of everything but the core is so true
and so liberating. One of the unexpected
side effects for me is that it has opened up the doors to greater fellowship
with people of other denominations because I don't see denominational add-ons
and soapboxes as divisive any more.
Basically I realized you don't have to agree with me to be a Christian
and you don't have to agree with everything I understand the Bible to say on
every issue. If you can agree with most
of the apostles creed (I'll even leave wiggle room on "descended into
hell" because some people would debate that) then you are my brother. As a youth pastor I try to prep my kids for
this meltdown and even encourage it while they are in this community of
faith. I believe that those of us
who work with older teens do them a great disservice when we try to hold the
"illusion" together for them and when we encourage surface acceptance
of beliefs instead of a real, fire tested faith. I think it's important for we who work with the young to brace
them for disappointment with the church and to teach them that while the church
may be the location of our faith it is not the subject. Our faith is in Christ, we follow Christ, we
live like Christ. We not only follow
Christ in the church but often in spite of the church. We try to teach or kids not to place their
faith in the church but to love it. I
think most peoples positive feelings about the church are based more on what
they receive from it and not at all based on what they can contribute and most
importantly what Christ thinks about her.
Like in a marriage, it's not what your spouse does for you that gets you
through the hard times, it's your commitment to them and your understanding of
God's will concerning marriage. We need
to quit trying to "sell" church to people because, the truth is, that
sometimes it's a shoddy product. We
instead need to help people see that the church is a part of Christ's plan and
that to be committed to Him requires a commitment to the church. That being said I'm not into bashing the
church in front of my kids either. I
think we need to model love for the church before our kids and love is patient,
and is never rude, and keeps no record of wrongs, and hopes, and believes, and
endures all things. It's a balancing
act and I think part of it is helping teens to understand that the Church is bigger
than a couple of crotchety baby boomers who insist on having their own way, or
bigger than an entire LBA made up of the above, and bigger than your local
church and bigger that the whole denomination and bigger than North American
Christianity and while Christ himself is probably not particularly attracted to
a selfish LBA or a dead and ignorant local congregation He is madly,
passionately, head over heels in love with the Church.
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