Have Christians Lost Faith? Or Never Had It?

I recently attended a seminar suggesting that we are in a cultural shift that has rearranged the faith of many along the following lines:

“Salvation is self-realization and self-fulfillment.”
“Salvation is corporate: people from other religions must be part of it”
“We have an altered view of scripture, the role of Christ, and the nature of heaven and hell.”
“We are open to new ideas and influences.”
“God is a continuing Creator.”
“There is an importance of love, trust, and a sense of adventure.”

These views were attributed to “mainline” ministers and “reflective” lay persons.

I see the plentiful evidence of the above in our culture, but I shudder to think that these “principles” would serve as the bedrock description for anyone who identifies themselves as followers of Christ. For Christian faith, Christ is central. Jesus said…”If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NRSV) Is that revolutionary? Is that a new idea? Is that the basis for a “sense of adventure” in faith? Absolutely…and Jesus said “those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24b NRSV)

While many struggle to consider the nature of salvation in terms of this world’s pain and suffering and collective experience of sin and brokenness…there remains the consistency of God’s call to righteousness in light of his revelation and calling. We are called to understand His provision of grace through faith in Jesus. And regardless of the “system” you think God should have for saving us, Jesus is the Savior. Whoever will know God’s salvation will know it through Him. I won’t reserve God’s privilege to love whom he will, and to save whom he will, in His ways, as He will. But there is nothing in my understanding of God’s revelation that would exclude the provision of His son to be our Savior. Call on Jesus.

An altered view of Scripture is not always unhelpful. But an abandonment of scripture is never good. We may alter our views of certain passages of Scripture when we study it more completely and gain more careful insight into its meaning. We may alter our views when we explore the earlier manuscripts in the original languages. We may alter our views when we relate one passage to others in the larger body of scripture. But to alter our view of scripture, as some have done, by calling upon individuals with neither a premise of faith nor an intention to study from a perspective of openness to the witness of scripture, nor to even adopt a basis of historical interaction with the history of the biblical texts, is to find some who insufferably reject, deny, denigrate, and abuse the context and content of scripture for ends that are certainly not helpful to the community of faith or the extending of the biblical witness. Sadly, some have attributed to such individuals great credibility and in the face of their abuses, welcome and embrace their opinions.

For Christians, there should be a willingness to be discerning in openness to new ideas and influences. Such influences should not prevail upon our consciences to reject our experience of faith or to deny our testimony of faith in Christ. Too many in the church seem so enamored with novelty that they have failed to understand that embracing the new does not mean abandoning the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

God does continue to demonstrate His creative and redemptive influence in all of is creation and that is certainly not foreign to the perspectives offered by both Old and New Testament scripture. Love is central to the comprehension of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and best defined by the love demonstrated by our Lord toward us. Our relationship of faith, while truly “adventurous” in experience and circumstance, does not necessitate a search for a “novel form of God” or a “new definition of salvation” as pronounced by those who share no relationship of faith in God.

It is no wonder that churches are struggling to survive in a climate where ideas about faith have been so distorted. Open minded people would do well to open themselves to the diligent study of scripture and to the revelation of Jesus Christ. It seems terribly sad that the ideas suggested above would be considered as representative of any significant number of Christians, much less Christian leaders.

While Abraham Maslow’s self-actualization concerns were outlined in his writings in the field of psychology, they should not be inferred to supplant or substitute for a relationship of faith. Our “fulfillment” is “in Christ,” not apart from him.
Salvation is received in the context of faith in Christ, and acknowledging Him as Lord.
God has always used time and place and persons to bring forth an awareness of our need of Him and the biblical story gives clear account of that revelation initiated by God toward humankind. We have not been abandoned to our sin or self-made solutions. God has sent a Savior.

Sin and evil may be a bit old fashioned according to “new age thinkers” but the evidence is plentiful that these problems are not so new, and the weakness of this and any generation lies in the absence of faith for so many. God is indeed the creator of hope for our time. He is the deliverer, healer, and authority for this and every generation.

Perhaps I will be among the minority …but count me with those who turn to Christ in faith and trust, acknowledge his death on the cross for my sins, and the sins of the world, and who trust Him in faith as my Lord and Savior. I am not ashamed of that relationship. I am not ashamed of that trust and faith and belief. And I am convinced with every fiber of my being, that He is my light, my Lord, and my salvation. Yes, that’s personal, and when the love of God is experienced in that kind of an abiding, continuing, daily relationship…those who journey there know it. It is an opportunity for all in Christ.