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March 20 th, 2009 |
Volume 4, Issue 8 |
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If you want to encourage, donations of any amount are appreciated - GH |
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In This Issue
- Think It Through: What is "The Faith"? - Take It To Heart: How Do We "Fall Away" from the Faith? - Take It To The Street: How Do We "Increase in the Faith" to the End? - Beware the Believers, They Are Among Us - a Parody on Richard Dawkins [video] - The Obama Deception, a Conspiracy Theory and Possible Distraction from "The Faith" [video] - Jesus, Canon, and Theology - Can the Bible Be Trusted?, a session from the Jesus in Prime Time Conference [video] - The Curious Case of the Bride of Christ Transforming Into Her Husband's Image Over Time -The End of Faith, a book preview by Sam Harris [video] - Where Do We Go From Here? by former Prime Minister of England and now activist Catholic for Globalization, Tony Blair [video] - Faith in Liberal Democracy, an interview with Nicholas Wolterstorff [video]
Blogs The Coming Evangelical Collapse by Michael Spencer from The Christian Science Monitor Faith Blogging Scoreboard - The Top 50 Christian Blogs from Faith Blogging
News Pray first of all for all men - one article at a time [1 Timothy 2:1]. Read an article and pray in light of it.
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem [Psalm 122:6] - one article at a time. Read an article and pray in light of it. Pray for the Leaders of the World at World Political Leaders (Choose a country pray specifically for the peace of Christ to enter the hearts of the latest leaders in the world today at the bottom of the list of names- 1 Timothy 2:1-8)
Articles
Faith from Baker's Dictionary of Evangelical Theology Orthodox Christianity and Apologetics from Defend Christ A Biblical Guide to Orthodoxy and Heresy by Robert M. Bowman from The Christian Research Institute and The Mountain Retreat Biblical Canon - An excellent overview from Wikipedia of the facts related to the biblical canon in the history of the Church 13 Paradigm Shifts Encountered While Doing Ministry in a Pagan Culture by Donald Miller [.pdf]
Audio
Character Studies from Discipleship Library Abraham and Lot, Faith vs. Fatal Attraction by Tom Nelson [.wma] Faith, Failure and Forks in the Road by Tom Nelson [.wma] Though We Are Faithless by Tom Nelson [.wma]
Book Preview A Guide to Christian Literature on the Internet The Faith by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett
Endorsements for The Faith by Charles Colson [.pdf] Colson the Catechist, A Review of The Faith by Trevin Wax Video See the bottom of this newsletter and other locations for videos throughout related to "The Faith" Former President George W. Bush's Unshaken Faith, an interview with ABC, 12-09-2008 Music
Online Libraries "I know no author who is worthy the honour of being followed absolutely and without reserve." John Newton (1725-1807) Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Evangelical Christian Library
Free Bible Study Software Bible Explorer (with over 200 Free Books)
Folks of Faith
Randy K.Milholland
Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845)
Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations. Beth could not reason upon or explain the faith that gave her courage and patience to give up life, and cheerfully wait for death. Like a confiding child, she asked no questions, but left everything to God and nature, Father and Mother of us all, feeling sure that they, and they only, could teach and strengthen heart and spirit for this life and the life to come. She did not rebuke Jo with saintly speeches, only loved her better for her passionate affection, and clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself. She could not say, "I'm glad to go," for life was very sweet for her. She could only sob out, "I try to be willing," while she held fast to Jo, as the first bitter wave of this great sorrow broke over them together. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, ch. 36
I ground my faith upon God's word, and not upon the church. Jane Grey Emily Dickinson
Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward! Thomas Alva Edison
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. St. Thomas Aquinas
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God Hebrews 12:2
Faith indeed tells what the senses do not tell, but not the contrary of what they see. It is above them and not contrary to them. Blaise Paschal
If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery. John Paul Jones
It is not always granted to the sower to live to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith. Albert Schweitzer
Faith is required of thee, and a sincere life, not loftiness of intellect, nor deepness in the mysteries of God. Thomas A'Kempis
This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus. John Newton
The parents have a right to say that no teacher paid by their money shall rob their children of faith in God and send them back to their homes skeptical, or infidels, or agnostics, or atheists. William Jennings Bryan
"Let God be true but every man a liar" is the language of true faith. A.W. Tozer
The essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. John Piper
Stand straight, walk proud, have a little faith. Garth Brooks
When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith. Abraham Kuyper
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church. Ferdinan Magellan
To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder. Louis L'Amour
In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come. Madeline L'Engle
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. Saint Augustine
Faith is not contrary to reason. Sherwood Eddy
Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time. Oswald Chambers
Faith in God's revelation has nothing to do with an ideology which glorifies the status quo. Karl Barth
To Trust You Is To BelieveSometimes it seems impossible To trust in you my Lord But then again it’s all I have When my backs against the wall The pressures forever mounting up And worsens with little hope Though I pray and leave it with you It’s so hard for me to cope I know, O Lord, you teach us patience Especially at those times You want us to trust completely Though answers are hard to find And there are times it seems as though You have stepped back from us We feel so much alone in our mess Not knowing you’re watching with love You never really leave us Lord Nor forsake us in our need You only want us to trust you And in your word believe You know the circumstances we’re in And know the struggles we face The situation when given to you Can empower our faltering faith For in your word we’re told to give To you all our anxieties And all the worries and fears we have Praying for the needed victory For in due course you will come through To bring the needed relief And through it all we shall develop A stronger and deeper belief © By M.S.Lowndes
Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods. C.S. Lewis
Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Martin Luther
The most pressing question on the problem of faith is whether a man as a civilized being… can believe in the divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for therein rests the whole of our faith. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Does the Gospel I preach and teach have a natural tendency to cause people who hear it to become full-time students of Jesus? Would those who believe it become his apprentices as a natural 'next step'? What can we reasonably expect would result from people actually believing the substance of my message? Dallas Willard
Faith is the divine evidence whereby the spiritual man discerneth God, and the things of God. John Wesley
Faith does not void the law, it establishes it. Whilst the Spirit's work is beyond nature, it is not against it. Matthew Henry
Faith is rest, not toil. It is the giving up all the former weary efforts to do or feel something good, in order to induce God to love and pardon; and the calm reception of the truth so long rejected, that God is not waiting for any such inducements, but loves and pardons of His own goodwill, and is showing that goodwill to any sinner who will come to Him on such a footing, casting away his own poor performances or goodnesses, and relying implicitly upon the free love of Him who so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), "The Everlasting Righteousness"
And why have you not experienced it? Because you have not trusted God for it... believe that God will maintain it. ...that aged saint who, on his ninetieth birthday... -- I mean George Muller. What did he say he believed to be the secret of his happiness, and of all the blessing which God had given him? ...two reasons. The one was that he had been enabled by grace to maintain a good conscience before God day by day; the other was, that he was a lover of God's Word. ...Such a life has two sides-- on the one side, absolute surrender to work what God wants you to do; on the other side, to let God work what He wants to do. Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender
The Mystery of Godliness by Major W. Ian Thomas Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). Godliness is a mystery! Fail to grasp this fact and you will never understand the nature of godliness. God did not create you to have just an ape-like capacity to imitate God. There would be no mystery in that, nor would this lift you morally much above the status of a monkey or a parrot! The capacity to imitate is vested in the one who imitates, and does not derive from, nor necessarily share the motives of the person being imitated, who remains passive and impersonal to the act of imitation. In direct contrast to this, godliness or Godlikeness is the direct and exclusive consequence of God's activity in man. Not the consequence of your capacity to imitate God, but the consequence of God's capacity to reproduce Himself in you! This is the nature of the mystery! Remove the mystery or try to explain it away, and the result must inevitably be disastrous, for you will no longer be anchored to anything absolute; you will be at liberty to choose your own God the object of your own imitation; and your "godliness" will be the measure of your conformity to the object of your choice. The moment you come to realize that only God can make a man godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know God, and to let God be God in and through you, whoever He may be and this will leave you with no margin for picking and choosing for there is only one God, and He is absolute, and He made you expressly for Himself! Major W. Ian Thomas From: The Mystery of Godliness. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1964.
FAITH by Oswald Chambers "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." Hebrews 11:6 Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the shores where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is actual. "We know that all things work together for good," then no matter what happens, the alchemy of God's providence transfigures the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal line, the whole purpose of God being to see that the ideal faith is made real in His children. For every detail of the common-sense life, there is a revelation fact of God whereby we can prove in practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle which always puts Jesus Christ first - Lord, Thou hast said so and so (e.g., Matthew 6:33), it looks mad, but I am going to venture on Thy word. To turn head faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God brings us into circumstances in order to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we can not have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say - "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Faith is trust or commitment to what you think is true. Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith
Is it faith to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions implicitly to the Church? John Calvin
Forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness of God to work out. I leave in God's hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy. Philip Yancey
Martin Luther described the doctrine of justification by faith as the article of faith that decides whether the church is standing or falling. By this he meant that when this doctrine is understood, believed, and preached, as it was in New-Testament times, the church stands in the grace of God and is alive; but where it is neglected, overlaid, or denied, ... the church falls from grace and its life drains away, leaving it in a state of darkness and death. J.I. Packer
A true faith in Jesus Christ will not suffer us to be idle. No, it is an active, lively, restless principle; it fills the heart, so that it cannot be easy till it is doing something for Jesus Christ. George Whitefield
Where reason cannot wade there faith may swim. Thomas Watson
Faith
Faith is required of thee, and a sincere life, not loftiness of intellect, nor deepness in the mysteries of God. If thou understandest not... the things which are beneath thee, how shalt thou comprehend those which are above thee? Submit thyself unto God, and humble thy sense to faith, and the light of knowledge shall be given thee, as shall be profitable and necessary unto thee. Thomas a'Kempis
O God of earth and altar, Bow down and hear our cry; Our earthly rulers falter, Our people drift and die; The walls of gold entomb us, The swords of scorn divide; Take not Thy thunder from us, But take away our pride. From all that terror teaches, From lies of tongue and pen; From all the easy speeches That comfort cruel men; From sale and profanation Of honor and the sword; From sleep and from damnation, Deliver us, good Lord! Tie in a living tether The prince and priest and thrall; Bind all our lives together, Smite us and save us all; In ire and exultation Aflame with faith, and free, Lift up a living nation, A single sword to Thee. G.K. Chesterton
God is ever seeking to get down to us -- to be the divine man in us. And we are ever saying, "That be far from Thee, Lord!" We are careful, in our unbelief, over the divine dignity, of which He is too grand to think. Better pleasing to God ... is the audacity of Job, who, rushing into His presence, and flinging the door of His presence-chamber to the wall, like a troubled -- it may be angry -- but yet faithful child, calls aloud in the ear of Him whose perfect Fatherhood he has yet to learn, "Am I a sea or a whale, that Thou settest a watch over me?"... The devotion of God to His creatures is perfect; He does not think about Himself, but about them; He wants nothing for Himself, but finds His blessedness in the outgoing of blessedness. Ah! it is a terrible -- shall it be a lonely glory, this? We will draw near with our human response, our abandonment of self in the faith of Jesus. He Lives Himself to us -- shall we not give ourselves to Him? Shall we not give ourselves to each other whom He loves? George MacDonald
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973)
Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg
Michael Crichton (1942 - 2008), Caltech Michelin Lecture, January 17, 2003
George F. Will (1941 - ), Newsweek, July 4, 2005
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939), The Future of an Illusion (1927)
Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)
A man may be a heretic in the truth; and if he believe things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without knowing other reason, though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds becomes his heresy. John Milton
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is true that every day has its own evil, and its good too. But how difficult must life be, especially farther on when the evil of each day increases as far as worldly things go, if it is not strengthened and comforted by faith. And in Christ all worldly things may become better, and, as it were, sanctified. Theo, woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel; if I did not aim at that and possess faith and hope in Christ, it would be bad for me indeed, but now I have some courage. Vincent Van Gogh
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Contending for "The Faith" of Godliness in Christ Tertullian and Chrysostom took different positions as to the canonicity of Jude. Details in Jude connect it to 2 Peter and the apocryphal book of Enoch. Without going into those details, the connection with 2 Peter places the date of authorship around 65-67 A.D. Given this early date, only 30+ years after Jesus' death and resurrection, note that Jude makes it clear that there is a "the faith" that "our common salvation" is built upon. This "the faith" requires that someone fight for it as truth "handed down once for all" to all saints for belief. Jude further helps us understand "the faith" as he continues his context.
"The faith" is a matter of what those who are "godly" believe and what those who are "ungodly" don't believe. "Ungodly" persons were trying to change "the faith" for ungodly reasons. But one thing we do learn here. "The faith" is a matter of "the Grace of God" through the mastery and lordship of "Jesus Christ" to become a godly person. Jude is quite specific in his designation of Jesus Christ as a "Master" and "Lord." The ungodly that had crept in unnoticed were denying the mastery and lordship of Jesus Christ by grace in order to free themselves to pursue licentious liberties of fleshly indulgence. Self-justifications like "Pass the bong, I'm forgiven" and "One toke over the line, sweet Jesus" along with "God created me with these desires. They must be okay in His grace" or "If it is satisfying in the moment, believe in it 'in Jesus name'" were becoming common arguments in face of a Holy Spirit poured out upon all mankind [Acts 2:17]. This Holy Spirit was making people very aware of their sinful lusts and desires - making them feel the need for change and/or helpless to change themselves in any real way. But that was the point of conviction for sin by a "holy" Spirit [John 16:7-11]. God wants to bring people to the end of themselves, and their lusts, so that He can be the Savior from those lusts and desires and not themselves. Neither judging or justifying our desires is the issue any longer. The issue is our common salvation, or deliverance, from our desires through "the faith" relating to God's Son, Jesus Christ.
Redefining "Our Common Salvation" from What It Used to Be in the First Century By redefining over time "our common salvation" as a cultural acceptance of Jesus by identification with the "catholic church" [The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox way] rather than a truly spiritual change from within born of God himself in Christ, "the faith" has been denied. Or by defining "the faith" as a "one time" commitment of faith toward Jesus [The Protestant Fundamental/Evangelical way] instead of an "I die daily" [Luke 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:31] commitment to Jesus [Jesus' way and the apostle Paul's way], the church has fallen away from "the faith" of godliness as Jude, Jesus, and Paul describes it in their teachings. Dying to fleshly passions and lusts daily by Grace [which really does forgive and cleanse such passion and lust driven sins in the blood of Jesus] in light of one's faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ by God's Holy Spirit is part of "the faith" upon which "our common salvation" is built. If the "new creation" [2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15] in Christ is not changing me from an ungodly to a godly person over time, it is either not a new creation at all or I am falling away from "the faith" as once delivered by Jesus and his apostles to take away sin through growing godliness by Grace.
Folk Religion "In Jesus' Name" and "Outside Jesus' Name"
With this kind of "folk religion" all you need to ascribe to is a steeple, some stained glass, some pews, a pulpit and a little white paint to be a cultural Christian in your area. Other Christian forms of "folk religion" may take on a more modern look with chairs, a garage band to replace the choir, organ and piano, and a new "less is more" dress code. Folk religion is all about cultural style, outward appearances, and who wants to identify with it. Internal change into the image of Jesus through godliness is optional. Identifying with a particular "Christian" culture is what is most important to the local believers of any one folk religion - whether Catholic, Protestant, denominational, charismatic, emergent, emerging or any other churched sub-culture "in Jesus name." Evangelism that spread in the first century was a "good news about how Jesus can change you into a new person from the inside out by identification with His cross and resurrection and a growing belief in His Word and the power of God's Spirit within." But when this is exchanged for a cultural form of evangelism that says "identify with us 'in the name of Jesus' and you will be one of 'the good ole boys [or "cool ole boys"] for Jesus' like we are," a subtle shift has happened from the Gospel of Jesus to a gospel of the churches. And what do "good ole boys for Jesus" do? They hang out with and relate to other "good ole boys for Jesus" like their folk religion Christian selves. Reaching out beyond one's own "good ole boy for Jesus" culture is not characteristic of folk religions. As I said, these folk religions may be Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal, or some derivative from them. But they are pretty much an island to themselves. Once "the Gospel" has changed from "become like Jesus" to "be like us 'in the name of Jesus'" real evangelism to the lost goes out the window as people seek out and relate to only those like themselves. Folk Religion Down on the Farm This last year I had the privilege of attending a number of times a summer country gospel event held in a renovated chicken coop which now has an indoor public bathroom with a barn wood door, and a stage built with pews running back the length of the enclosure, and a concession stand that charges nothing for free food and drinks. The owner of the farm is a minister in Appalachia and puts on a free country gospel evening of music one Saturday night five months in a row each year at his own expense with donations. And if you get bored you can enjoy the playground for the kids, the paddle boat lake, or the fishing pond just above it. People from miles around this farm come to Catlettsburg, Kentucky, to spend an evening listening to good ole' down home country gospel. This is Appalachian folk religion outside the local church to the max and it was a treat to take part in it and hang with "the good ole boys for Jesus." Attendance by unbelievers is little to none, but believers were hanging with believers in a great community atmosphere.
Legalism "In Jesus Name" We can also fall into a fleshly form of personal salvation where legalistic human works and efforts at change define what it means to be a believer in Jesus ["Don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls who do!" or "Don't think, ask why, or seek explanations, or identify with those who do!"]. Maintaining the "status quo" is everything in a legalistic culture - even if healthy and wholesome changes would improve things. To question the status quo is defined as "disloyal" and possibly "unfaithful," therefore putting you in the "questionable and not to be trusted" category for relationship. Going along without question is a sign of submission, goodness, and for some, easy manipulation. Legalism "in Jesus' name" centers on who is reacting against what as the sign of conservative identity in the flesh. "What must I not do 'in Jesus name?'" is the motive. For the legalist, matching one's personal rules of behavior determines trust, not love, grace, or understanding. "I do not trust you because you are not like me and my standards of measurement" is the prejudgment of all legalistic relationships. This is why you can be a conservative legalist and a liberal legalist. Both have standards by which to withhold love and trust. Therefore, the idea of "compassion for the weak" or "love for your enemies," which Jesus taught [Matthew 5:44-48;Luke 6:27-35], enters the legalist's mind with great difficulty.
Liberalism "In Jesus' Name"
We can also fall into liberal justifications for identifying with the lusts and passions of the world around us so we won't be "judgmental" of anyone in a relativistic and pluralistic world - especially remaining nonjudgmental of our own lusts and desires. In a liberal world people still judge others and themselves. But the judgments revolve around who is "open" and who is not. Where the legalist is given to reactionary judgments and lack of permissions, the liberal is given to reactionary justifications that are permissive. "Who is reacting for what" is the sign of liberal identity in the flesh. "What can I get away with 'in Jesus name'?" is the motive. The images above and below demonstrate how the culture of the Church can move in time back and forward from conservative to liberal as it seeks to find its locus of identity in any one generation or another.
Emergent Diagrams courtesy Michael Patton at Reclaiming the Mind.org and the Parchment and Pen Theology Blog. Go to the Parchment and Pen Blog for a thorough overview of Would the Real Emerger Please Stand Up or download the .pdf here. Syncretism "In Jesus Name" Syncretism is an integration of your faith with other unlike faiths for the sake of accomplishing some kind of unity of "faith" with a faith that doesn't believe what you believe at all. We fall into a "one drop in the ocean" view of Christianity, borrowed from eastern mysticism, where we deny ourselves and what we believe for all the wrong reasons - possibly to prove ourselves truly religious in identification with other faiths around the world instead of identification with Jesus who made faith in himself quite exclusive [John 14:6].
Secularism "In Science's Name" or "In the Name of the Ability to Reason" Denying the rational nature of Christianity is an easy way to dismiss all the rational reasons for believing in Christ revealed in the text of the Bible's Old And New Testaments as well as going contrary to century after century of credible rational faith in what the canons of scripture communicate. If you can believe yourself to be a rational person, then anything disagreeing with you can be arrogantly considered as irrational, can't it? We are clever little reasoning creatures, aren't we? How could millions of rational people throughout time be so stupid and not see it our way? Sadly, assuming that the rationales of scripture and history are wrong just because they disagree with our personal reasoning approach tells us something about ourselves and others. There can be irrational forms of Christianity just as there can be irrational forms of non-Christianity. Reason is like electricity. You can light up a church with it or a brothel. Light is not the issue, it is what the light is pointed at and kept pointed at that is the issue. Reason is what you choose to think about logically. Some people choose to only reason about football. Others choose to reason only about the arts. And still others choose to reason about only the material universe, trying to keep an intelligent God out of the logical picture. You can choose to think about God logically or not think about God logically. Depending on which end of the reasoning you are on, you are like a right math problem or a wrong math problem. A math problem can add up, up to a point, and yet break down at one point in the equation that makes the end conclusion wrong. Reasoning about God or not reasoning about God has its sloppy logic and wrong points along the way like all rational approaches to anything - regardless of what side you are on.
Modern unbelieving secular scientists want to keep the light of reason focused on a material universe without allowing that universe to point to an immaterial universe that can't be seen but can be reasoned. "Don't confuse me with the reasonable facts because I am a rational person" won't fly among truly reasonable people. Intelligent reasoners reason from all the facts, not just the ones that prove one's own fortress philosophy or theology. But irrational people? They love to believe their world is the only world to live in and there is nothing outside that world to either affirm or deny what they want to make their reality. They are "closed systems" circling their wagons and viewing everything outside their circle as a threat to be feared. We have mental hospital wards, university faculties, and churches, full of such supposedly "rational" people. Some of them even have "split rationales" and "multiple rationales" to live by. And some of them call themselves Christians and some do not. Falling Away In Which Direction? Figuratively speaking, if the true cross of Jesus Christ is to be lived out in us at the foot of that cross which is at the top of Calvary's hill, you can fall away from that cross in any number of ways to the North, South, East, or West - tumbling down various trails of unbelief - cultural and personal. The cross stays where it is as we move away from it in our thinking, feelings, and actions over time. This is what it means to deny "the faith." To allow personal desires of our own or others to lead us away from "the faith" once delivered in the cross and resurrection of Christ by God's grace is to fall away from "the faith."
Rationalizing Unbelief in Biblical Manuscripts It really doesn't matter which rationale we choose to fall away to as long as we do not choose a rationale of mind renewed by the Spirit of God through faith in the cross of Jesus Christ and leadership by His Holy Spirit [Romans 12:1-2, 8:14; Ephesians 4:22-24] through faith in reliable manuscripts of scripture from the early church with over a 90% continuity in spite of the many textual variants that exist. This is the beauty of a faith in the Holy Spirit that can guide us into all truth from generation to generation [John 14:17-20, 26; 16:13-14; 1 John 2:20,27]. Jesus has not left us alone, to sort out manuscript issues on our own. Acknowledging weaknesses in manuscript translation and variants between manuscripts is like observing that dad is bald, mom has a moustache, your sister has freckles, your brother has warts, and you have a darker complexion than your neighbor next door. The likenesses between all of these human beings far out way the specific variations between them. The common features among them, as human beings, makes them much more valuable than any focus on the minor differences between them. Manuscripts of the Bible are the same. It is their common continuity, regardless of differences, that make the Bible so valuable. But if you don't want to accept people as they are, you could deny the value of all human beings because of the many minor differences between them handed down through history to us today. In the same way, the written Bible is only a mirror to the living Bible of God's Spirit that guides us into "all truth." You can waste your time focusing on all the manuscript variations - like racists have done through the ages with human being's skin color - or you can enjoy the over 90% likenesses of the manuscripts and be built up by the continuity of the content and how it points to God's love for you through Jesus Christ. But keep in mind, the world without the Holy Spirit, simply can't receive or understand this argument above because they do not believe thay are lacking anything that all true Christians possess [John 14:16-17; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14].
Fighting the Good Fight of "the Faith" Is A Dying Process So we can expect this "contention" against "the faith" throughout the history of the church. People desiring to pursue their own fleshly impulses will try to deny God's grace as it relates to Jesus' mastery and lordship over their lives. The self-deception is in trying to remain master and lord of one's self and still claim to be a "Christ one" at all. "Christ ones" are transforming from within as subjects in a kingdom of God's grace by the power of His Spirit, over time being a new creation not mastered or manipulated by the passions and desires of the flesh any longer [Galatians 2:20; 5:24; 6:14].
[Matthew 27:33-46; Mark 15:25-37; Luke 23:33-46; John 19:18-30; Galatians 2:20, 5:24, 6:14]. Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness as it tries to pull us away from the cross from within and without. This will require dying many deaths to our own sins over a life time, and even dying to the sins done against us by others. Perhaps now you can see how God's grace, mercy and love are very much like a parent's when a child is maturing over time. Mom and Dad have to "put up" with the child's immaturities [i.e., sins against a lifestyle of maturity] until they "grow up" in all aspects into the fullness of maturity which the parents possess [compare Ephesians 4:13]. God's way for every believer is the same - individually by family as well as corporately by church group. The sad reality is that some families and church groups believe they have "arrived" and have no more maturity to attain. This is when stagnation, settling for the way we have always done it, and inertia take hold of the Christian, the Christian family or the Church and a "fall away from the faith" is eminent. We become just like grandma, who is set in her ways and has lost the flexibility and energy of growth and change she had in her younger years. "That's the way I like it and that's the way its going to be." We settle in to stop maturing and become complacent with ourselves and our folk faith which surrounds us. No longer are we giving attention to "the faith" as it personally relates to us in growth and maturity in the power of God through Christ. Now it is about our routines, our habits, our cultural expectations, and keeping ourselves comfortable with "the way us folk like to do it."
To not stand firm in "the faith" is a sign of weakness in us. Individually and corporately. If we are not in a constant state of checking ourselves for more growth in Christ, faith-like substitutes will creep in and "the faith" will not matter as much any longer.
When folk faith [that old time religion] replaces godly faith [that new time creation - 2 Corinthians 3:6, 5:17, Galatians 6:15], we may be "good ole boys and gals in Jesus," but we have forgotten about what it means to have the godliness of Jesus changing us from within over time. We cease to be motivated, or should I say "spirited" by the presence of God within us. We begin to drag, sag and stagnate, falling away from "the faith" that lives right inside of us.
The Grace of Transforming Godliness
salvation and that salvation includes transformational change. False teachers want to bend "the faith" to permit their fleshly desires free expression, as Jude said was happening in the church in his day [Jude 1:4]. God's grace does freely forgive all sins, including those stemming from lustful desires. But "the faith" in Jesus Christ does not freely permit all sins to continue "in the name of Jesus" and His grace. Transformation by Grace is part and parcel of "the faith" in a Jesus Christ who begins the rule of His kingdom over his subjects from within and then expects to become their complete Master and Lord over time "by Grace" along the way. So while "the faith" is a "come as you are" proposition in relationship to God [Romans 5:8-10] through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, it is NOT a "leave as you came" relationship. Growth in godliness is to be the nature of "the faith." And if godliness does not grow out of "the faith," "the faith" is being denied in some way and a false faith concept is being used to replace "the faith" once delivered to all the saints. Other passages of scripture related to "the faith" of the Gospel as a means to godliness support this:
Conformity to Christ through godliness is integrated into "our common salvation" and "the faith" once delivered to all the saints in the first century until now. The legalist and the liberal redefine "godliness" based upon their own self-made rules of relating to God in their flesh - judging others and justifying themselves all along their self-righteous ways. But as the text says above, only "His divine power" gives us everything pertaining to the life of God and a true godliness derived from His power in us. "The faith" of God's elect is according to a knowledge of the truth which empowers and promotes godliness over legalism and/or liberalism. The truly godly are neither judging others in comparison to themselves ["Look at what I am doing that h/she is not doing"] or justifying themselves in comparison with others ["If they are doing it, why can't I do it?"]. But the supposedly "godly" legalists and liberals among us are not of the elect at all. They are literally faking it until they make it in a spiritual blindness and ignorance born of self-sufficiency in the flesh.
Getting Older Ceasing to be a "new creation" by rebirthing, regenerating, renewing, and transforming into something it has never been before, a church dies out from location to location by shear lack of God's presence in its midst. Jesus removes his lamp light as the church ceases to be a true witness to His living Gospel by the Cross and Spirit [Revelation 2:5]. Getting Younger In the second half of the video you see visually what it is for the true body and bride of Christ to transform into something "without spot or wrinkle" by changing into the image of Jesus over time in the power of "the faith" in Christ's cross for the removal of sin and the power of the Holy Spirit for regeneration and renewal into a "new creation." The maturing church, "growing up" into the fullness of Christ over time [Ephesians 4:13] is literally becoming childlike [but not childish, Ephesians 4:14-15] in its faith commitment to Christ and making itself "in the process" ready for entrance into the kingdom of God [Mark 10:13-15]. Now imagine this transformation process in the ebb and flow of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ throughout time, from its inception at Pentecost [Acts 2] to the present as "led or not led" by the Spirit of Jesus through the Words of Jesus revealed to us through His apostles. As the church clings to the power of the cross and resurrection she renews and regenerates herself in God's power. As Christendom "in Jesus' name" falls away from the faith, she hardens her heart against "the faith" in some form of fleshly legalism or liberalism that corrupts the outward purity of the church [perhaps by forceful legalistic violence or neglectful passive liberalities, both of which misrepresent the name of Jesus Christ to the world]. The true church of the elect will be "without spot or wrinkle" as she builds herself up on her most holy faith [Jude 1:20-21] and transforms in purity until the coming of Jesus bodily face to face [1 John 3:2-3]. - GH
The "Form" of Godliness is Not Godliness by The True Faith
Robertson's Word Pictures explains what a person among Christians, who claims to be a Christian, but is not a Christian either by conservative legalism or non-conservative liberalism is like. "Pallis regards it as a Stoical term for education. Lightfoot considers the morphosis as “the rough-sketch, the penciling of the morphe,” the outline or framework, and in 2 Timothy 3:5, “the outline without the substance.” RWP Ungodly so-called Christians can be extremely knowledgeable and well-educated in the rhetoric of Christian conservative and liberal facts and history without being led by God's Spirit in any way, which is the mark of a true Christian [Romans 8:9-10, 14]. Now you can see the danger in allowing Christian faith to become a socially acceptable folk religion, whether Catholic or Protestant, can't you? Outward style [form] defines the supposed local "Christianity" while those who ascribe to it in the folk culture have no real power from God for transforming godliness born of the Spirit at all. Christian folk religions care nothing for the real Gospel of Jesus and walking in intimate godliness on a personal level through genuine authentic transformation and change. Keeping up the traditions and/or trends of the folk faith is all that matters.
There Are Unbelievers Among Us
Jude continues his argument by using an Old Testament correlation. Not everyone who left as Jews from Egypt in the Exodus truly believed in the God of Israel's call to a cultural change in lifestyle and basic personal values now that they had left Egypt behind. Think about it. How many kids are in Church because mom and dad say it is important? How many husbands are in church just to please their wives or wives just to please their husbands? How many business men go to church for business contacts alone? How many pastors are fulfilling their daddy's dream for his little boy? How many boyfriends are going to church just because of that cutie they sit next to wants them there? After the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, it was necessary for God to weed out the unbelievers claiming to be believers from the believers following by faith in true submission to God's liberation purposes for His nation. Jude's point is quite clear, even in the middle of the first century as Christianity was growing under persecution, there were unbelievers among believers trying to change what they really believed into something either legalistic [1 Timothy 1:6-7] in nature or licentious [Jude 1:4].
Why Fake It 'Till They Make It? Why would unbelievers, coming from various cultures into the church, fake their faith and/or mask their unbelief with legalism and liberalism, while remaining unchanged through transforming godliness by the power of the Gospel? Some are looking for a change in life from an old life of corruption through some new form of moral commitment. So they go on what alcoholics know as a "dry-drunk" or in this case, a "dry-corruption," where they keep their lusts and desires under wraps while they learn the church culture and how to speak the folk religion's Christianese that will identify them as true believers when they are not. Wearing a mask of hypocrisy is the root and nature of their lifestyle with a conscience trained in "keeping up appearances." So they, using Jude's terms, "have crept in unnoticed" without any real transforming faith in Jesus Christ at all. Once they learn the "knowledge base" and Christianese of the folk culture, they go on functioning in their flesh as the legalist or liberal in heart they really are. The danger comes as they begin to transform the church body from within to match their ungodly, unredeemed and untransformed lusts and desires - both conservative and liberal ones. For ungodly conservatives, they will begin moving the emphasis of faith toward legalistic styles of behavior primarily through judging the lusts and desires of others in opposition of transforming power of the Holy Spirit through the Cross. Outward appearances are everything to the ungodly conservative. For ungodly liberals, they will begin moving the emphasis of faith toward liberal styles of behavior primarily through justifying the lusts and desires of self and others in opposition to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit through the Cross. Leadership by the Spirit of God is never the motivation of the ungodly conservative or the ungodly liberal. Keeping up appearances while remaining the same and never changing is the foundational motive for both, because they are both hypocrites who deny "the faith" in different ways by a commitment not to change by God's power from within. This change is either through the cross that faces sin in self honestly, and/or the Spirit that washes, regenerates and renews into a more pure vessel for God's will to be done. But ungodly conservatives and liberals resist the Spirit of God's righteousness to establish their own in the flesh.
Falling Away from the Faith Gracelessly - Part 1
Seeking any righteousness of one's own through conservative or liberal rules of behavior is to cut one's self off from Christ. From either side, a personal righteousness is being established in opposition to God's righteous in the cross of Jesus and power of the Holy Spirit. While the world speaks of "falling from grace" as a falling from someone's favor, this is a perversion of Paul's original concept. In Paul's context here, the Galatians were falling from God's Grace by seeking to establish a personal righteousness of their own based upon legalistic works. God's Grace is a dynamic power that changes a person from the inside out. As soon as we begin trying to change ourselves from the outside in we shut down God's Grace in our lives and we have "fallen from grace." It is not God's favor we need at this time for we have that favor at all times in His beloved Son, his death and resurrecting Spirit. God's grace is regained when we cease trying to establish our own righteousness from the left or the right and we return to God's righteousness in Christ by the power of His Spirit in us.
When any Christian, Christian church, Christian organization, Christian parachurch group, or other so-called Christian entity uses legalistic or liberal self-righteousness "in Jesus name," they are hindering other believers from obeying the truth by faith alone in the power of God's Spirit alone. A subtle substitute for God's work of Grace in Christ by the Spirit is being dropped into the living water system of God, poisoning His Grace and changing it into something it is not - something born of the flesh. It is exactly this kind of "fall from Grace" which Paul predicts will happen "in later times."
Falling Away from the Faith Gracelessly - Part 2
Cultivating a Healthy Belief System as a Believer Note from the passage from the apostle Paul to Timothy a variety of things related to Christian faith that must be taken seriously before you can even begin to "believe" Paul's statements concerning falling away from "the faith." 1. You must believe in "the Spirit" that speaks specifically to the apostles about future activities "in later times." - A common Pneumology [logical belief in the Spirit of God] was held by early believers. 2. You must believe that there is "the faith" that is separate from all other faiths which a person can believe in. - A common Pistology [logical belief in what and why to believe] or "way of belief" was held by early believers. 3. You must believe in "spirits" who can be deceitful "demons" who communicate false teachings. - A common Demonology [logical belief in the spirit world and its activity connected to God] was held by early believers. 4. You must believe in a "God" who has created marriage [logical belief in marital purpose and design] and food [logical belief in the purity of foods as a gift from God] as something in His creation to be enjoyed rather denied for some earthly reason prompted by spiritual forces trying to trick others out of the blessings of God. A common Creator God was believed in by early believers. - A common Theology Proper [logical belief in God as Creator of all things] was held by early Christians. 5. You must believe in a "those" who believe and a "those" who know the truth in opposition to those who do not believe or know truth. A common epistemology, or "way of knowing," was held by early believers with a common belief system as well. 6. You must believe in a "the truth" that others believe in that some others may not believe in. A common "truth" was shared by early believers. Not only did the faith of early believers have a rational character well defined and understood by thinking Christians in Paul's day, he could write a letter shared among churches from place to place in which the hearers could mutually identify with the content intelligently.
Choosing An Intelligent Faith Over A Traditionally Accepted Folk Faith Early Christians, coming out of a Hebrew mindset of "wisdom, knowledge and understanding" as a foundational glue for living [see the books of wisdom in the Old Testament] and a Greco-Roman commitment to learning stemming from the Roman occupied ancient Greeks [see the many passages in New Testament writings giving rational arguments for what and why to believe] meant that Christianity needed to be a strongly rational and thinking oriented faith to survive in the first century. Capitulation to an anti-intellectual rural "folk religion" style of Christianity would make it no different than other rural folk religions that believe in old wives tales, vampires, urban legends, and pop UFO fictions. True Christianity took wisdom and truth beyond the mere rational and made it wholly personal, centering it in a personal God who had revealed His wisdom and truth through an exclusive visible representation of Himself - His virgin born Son, Jesus the Christ, and a personal invisible reception of Himself into every believer, the Holy Spirit of Jesus. Wisdom and truth would now be born of God's Spirit within all who believed in this Son of God who came in the flesh. Intimacy with this God through His Son would shine a light brighter than any Hebrew or Greco-Roman tradition of thought. Intelligent "New Creations" would be walking talking authentic representations of the very faith they said they believed in - a washing, regenerating, renewing transforming change-oriented something they have never been before by God's grace and power alone. Christians would be living letters of the very truth they said they believed in by faith [2 Corinthians 3:2-3]. And to "fall away" from this "light of the World," would be to fall back into the darkness of the ages either through some form of conservative legalism or licentious liberalism [with its rural mythologies, diverse folk religions, and backward superstitions].
Our Common Confession Is Not Us Before we even get to the question of what "The Faith" is, the apostle already assumes that there was a common and intelligent belief structure in the early church period that was not just traditionally assumed, but was commonly "believed in" by all believers. So what was this "common confession" that centralized the faith among all Christians? What was the "north star" of all believers? Interestingly enough, it had absolutely no focus upon how "The Church" was not like its Hebrew traditional forms or how "The Church" was not like its Gentile traditional forms. The common confession of early believers was not about "us" as believers in opposition to "them" as unbelievers at all. The common confession of the early church was not a plethora of books describing how "our way" is not like "their way," focusing the watching world on discussions and debates as to whose way "in Jesus name" was the right way to Jesus. On the contrary, the "common confession" of faith for the early church was about Jesus himself - not the group that was being formed around His name.
Note that the church of the living God is "the pillar and support of the truth," it is not "the truth" itself. The truth is not about the pillar and support of it. The truth is not about that which promotes it, defends it, upholds it, and believes in it. So when any church group begins to make its distinctions from other churches the center of their focus, the focus of faith has now switched from "the truth" to which "pillar and support" is holding it up properly. You can see where this will go. Once the pillars and supports begin comparing themselves amongst themselves, there will be no end to the self-righteous exaltations and establishments that define their support as the pillar of the community over others. Soon the focus will be on "us" against "them" and the church of the living God will now be hanging out shingles like "The First Pillar and Support of Jerusalem, Pennsylvania" or "The Second Pillar and Support of Antioch, Ohio." In time we will have specialty groups growing up like "The First Pillar and Support of the Spirit" who take issue with those at "The First Pillar and Support of the Son" down the street. But they are having their issues with "The First Pillar and Support of The Father" across the street as these young guys coming into town are emerging as "The Porch of Pillars" on the west side who are not "The Porch of Support" which is the new body on the east side. And everyone in town is moving from pillar to pillar and support to support while being leery of the newer emerging groups like "The Basement," "The Foundation," "The Athletic Supporters" [a specialty parachurch group], and even more insidious groups like "Screwed to the Porch" and "The Porch Barrel" [a politically oriented group who want to attach themselves to the political structures of community everywhere in order to "beef them up" for Jesus]. The common confession of the supposed "church of the living God" has now become the confession of our group in comparison with their group. Everyone is taking this so seriously now and the "pillar and support" bandwagon is so fixed in the culture of "church" as church that the common confession of the church is "Look at us, we are the Pillar and Support of the Truth." "We are the truth about 'The Truth' you are looking for."
But everyone forgot something in the process of establishing themselves as pillars and supports year after year and century after century. Many have forgotten what they are pillars to and supporters of over time. Identity with being a "pillar" or a "support" has become such an issue that "the truth" has been neglected, obscured, overlooked, altered, exchanged, tempered, and skewed to the point that "the truth" has come to equal "the pillar and support" that promotes it. The pillars and supports have assumed the role of truth and made themselves the standard of "the truth" in culture and society. "The Faith" has been substituted for the folk faith commonly held in any one culture from place to place "in Jesus' name."
Our Common Confession is The Mystery of Godliness But Paul went on in 1 Timothy beyond a focus on pillars and supports, to define clearly the common confession of "The Faith" and "The Truth" in the early church.
The common confession of the early church was the greatness of the mystery of godliness, Jesus Christ himself. The common confession of the church centered around godliness and what that meant in relation to Jesus Christ. The common confession of the church was about becoming godlike through Christ, not pillar-and-support like through a commitment to the local folk faith "in Jesus name.".
The common confession of the earliest church of the first century was Jesus Christ and all he meant as God's Son in the Flesh, as a resurrected physical body, as a statement to angels concerning God's plan for the ages, as a message to be proclaimed internationally and believed on throughout the world, and as a physical body to be taken up into the glorious presence of God. The common confession of the early church was about Jesus Christ, not the group of people which would uphold Him and support Him through the ages.
The First Step Away from "The Faith" as a Common Confession of Jesus Christ Just as the first step of Satan's fall as Lucifer was a turning inward to self and one's personal identity in place of God and His identity over all others, so the first step away from "The Faith" that truly upholds and supports Jesus Christ is a turning to an inward focus on the identity of the Church as pillars and supporters of "the truth" over the "The Truth" itself. Once "our way" becomes the substitute for "The Way" as a focus of faith, it is only a matter of time before the church begins to focus on its pet theologies in comparison to the pet theologies of others more than upon Jesus Christ himself. Once "our way" equals "the way," we make all growth and development subjective and we claim in ourselves to possess "the way" rather than be guided by "The Way" into new perspectives and directions born of God by His Spirit over time. "Our way" crystallizes into "the way" for us and we don't want to change as God leads and circumstances of life tell us transformation will be a more healthy approach. We become frozen in our ideologies and become controlled by fears of falling away over a true faith that the eternal God by His eternal Spirit will keep us standing firm until the end in the face of all unbelief throughout history in the eternal truth of his eternal Son - the faith once delivered to all saints. But as the Church turns in on itself and makes itself the focus of truth, the world watches on as we look into our Bibles and popular culture crying, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, whose the most beautiful pillar and support of them all?" Remember, the world is like God, knowing good and evil [Genesis 3:22] in the flesh, if not spiritually in Christ [1 Corinthians 2:14]. Furthermore, Jesus said that the sons of this world are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light [Luke 16:8]. The world is intelligent and sees right through hypocrisies, in spite of their own [just watch the Comedy Channel's Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert with their quick wit that cuts to the chase for an example]. Just because God's image in man is broken does not mean that it is totally powerless. Men can see the truth even if they won't believe in it.
The Prayers of the Faithful Concerning "The Faith"
The elect of God are not forgotten by God, even if constant prayers do not see His immediate return. Injustices will come toward and upon believers throughout history. It is the believer who must trust that God will bring justice for his persecuted elect upon those who refuse to believe in God's righteousness by faith. But "will he find 'the faith' on the earth" when he comes? The Greek text has the definite article in Jesus' statement. Will Jesus find "the faith" on earth when he comes? This begs the question, "What on earth could drive "the faith" so far underground that even Jesus questions its prominence when he comes and historically fulfills the promises from which believers seem to have fallen away? Could it be that "the faith" has been so obscured by many faiths and a Christian syncretism that is trying to accommodate all of them, that "the faith" is no longer believed in because of its obscurity? We have already seen this obscurity of "the faith" appear in the Roman Church prior to the Reformation when uncovered manuscripts of the New Testament returned the Church to a focus on its founding apostle's words over mere trust in a cultural catholic folk religion that was based upon works of service to the Church over a focus upon the work of Christ on the cross. The very nature of relativism and pluralism is "anti-exclusive-faith" in its nature. If all is relative then there is no one "the faith" to take seriously. If all is pluralistic, then there is no single faith which can be acknowledged as "the faith." And this is exactly the spirit of our age in a postmodern world. Our culture now possesses the character of the times on earth which Jesus alludes to in Luke 18:8. The elect maintain their hearts through faithful prayer and do not fall away from "the faith." But even Jesus acknowledges that "the faith" could become so obscured by various forms of "losing heart" that it will seem to have fallen away altogether.
Gary Hinchman The Obama Deception[The Obama Deception is not representative of positions held by the Mentors Foundation. It appears here as a thought provoker concerning things that can distract from "The Faith" in Jesus Christ, even when they possess elements of truth in them.] Whether you are a Conservative or Liberal in politics, watching conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' documentary on Obama's relationship to the Federal Reserve banking system and A New World Order will no doubt raise an eyebrow. In this video, Jones himself is neither pro-conservative Republican or pro-liberal Democrat. But as a believer in Jesus Christ and the centrality of faith in the Cross, you can see from this video how a well-meaning focus on conspiracies can also distract believers from the Great Commission of Jesus Christ [Matthew 28:19-20]. Furthermore, and in light of the "end times" nature of this video, let me say that when belief in "The Rapture" replaces a focus on The bodily Redemption, The bodily Resurrection, the bodily Reconciliation, The bodily Regeneration, The bodily Renewal and the bodily Return of Jesus Christ for a people walking in God's sanctifying power for godliness, well-meaning believers may have fallen away from our "common confession" concerning "the faith" in their own good intentioned theological ways. If the Corinthians can get hung up on the gift of tongues [1 Corinthians 12-14] and the Galatians can get hung up on a circumcision in the flesh [Galatians 2:12, 5:2-3, 6, 11, 6:15], how many other theological rabbit trails can Christians get hung up on that distract us from the central purpose of the Church - the power of the cross and resurrection of Christ to change lives from within and without. Falling away from "the Faith" may be as simple as falling for a faith in conspiracies and/or pop theologies as we are being caught up in the debate and controversy created over them. But any truth revealed by Alex Jones could also be an impetus to take Jesus' words seriously, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near." And "Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book" [Revelation 1:3; 22:7].
Take It To Heart: How Do We "Fall Away" from "the Faith" in Popular Culture?The Power of Movements To Influence Beliefs in Culture
Note the supreme purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ mentioned by Paul above is to 1) Attain to the unity of "the faith"; 2) Attain to "the knowledge of the Son of God"; 3) "To a mature man"; "To the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." The maturity of change into Christ's image is the purpose of every church according to Paul. And of course, if you are going to adopt and adapt to the image of Jesus in a transformational growth oriented change over time, you have to watch out for all those other teachings that will distract you from your central purpose, right? And that is exactly where Paul is taking his argument in the next verse.
There are "winds of teaching" everywhere. And these winds can blow us off course from our central purpose as believers in Jesus Christ - "to grow up in all aspects into Him." Immature Christians and Christian cultures are hung up on one "wind of teaching" after another that distract them from growing up in Christ. Like children easily distracted by this colorful balloon here and that loud noise there as well as those cool lollipops over there along with that strange clown over there, immature Christians are given to doctrinal and theological hang ups and controversies - just like the immature early church was as well. Rather than maturing in Christ in such a way that the mind is renewed with a discernment that sees through all the various diversions all around, immature childish Christians want to stop at this theological debate over here on their way to that doctrinal hype over there, as they progress on to this new teaching over here. Jumping from one new teaching after another and being "blown away" by every one coming down the pike is the same childish immature pride that manipulates children wanting to get up front first for the free toys, the cookies, the cake, and the entertainment before anyone else does. Mature believers understand that "speaking the truth in love" among each other will cause honest interactions among believers that lead to greater maturity over time as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation illuminates each person over time. So Paul goes on to say what the flow of faith spoken in truth with love will lead to in the body of Christ as a whole.
When Jesus has to honestly communicate the truth to his disciples when their fears were controlling them more than their faith in Him [Matthew 6:30, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8], Jesus is causing them to experientially, in the moment, "grow up in Him." So when Paul has to confront Peter, a pillar of the church, with the truth in love concerning hypocrisy with the Gospel [Galatians 2], Peter continues to experientially "grow up in Christ" with the loving confrontation concerning truth from a fellow believer. When academic "truth spoken in love" over the scriptures and church tradition through the 14th to 16th century led to a Reformation refocusing of the Church from its traditions back to scripture and the words of the Savior and his apostles, reforming Christians were causing "the growth of the body for the building itself up in love." That reformation radicals 'in the flesh" and on both sides [Catholic and Protestant], were willing to use violence to deny the very faith they thought they were protecting, this did not stop Reformation leaders who spoke the truth in love to build up the Church's focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone over church tradition. Young believers in our era have challenged their elders with their hypocrisies and non-biblical traditions for the sake of reaching missionally to a new generation with a totally different worldview. Where this new generation has spoken "the truth in love" [and not arrogant judgmentalism just like their fathers], the Church of Jesus has been fitted and held together by what every joint supplies in every generation where the Church needs to come back to a focus on "the Faith" and what maturity in that faith means - a growth in godliness that fits that generation as the body of Christ continues to mature overall throughout time. So the flow of thought and belief in popular culture and how that influences "the Faith" in space and time is very important. If we lose our focus on the "Big Picture" while chasing doctrinal rabbit trails blowing "every wind of teaching" at us, we can easily fall away from "The Faith" by going with the flow of movements in any generation that is falling away from "the Faith" using its own rational strategies and false assumptions to do so. In one generation it may be Marxism. In another modernism or postmodernism. And in another generation democracy itself [with the capitalistic greed that can go with it] or a form of socialism can dominate the cultural pattern. And within the church it might be doctrinal hang ups of "the gift of tongues" or "signs and wonders," or "free Grace versus Lordship salvation" or "traditional music verses contemporary music" or 'traditional church versus emerging church." Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of this world (in and outside the church) Will grow strangely dim In light of His glory and grace. One generation falls away from the faith following a "new wave" of teaching about evolution because scientific study has not progressed enough yet to show that there might be an intelligent designer in the details of the universe after all. Another generation falls away from the faith following that new "anti-faith" doctrine of secular science and technology alone. Another generation falls away from the faith by syncretizing their faith with others "for a good cause" and losing sight of what they believe in the process. And still another generation falls away from the faith as crises in the world around religious positioning cause a reaction against all faiths as apparently irrational and valueless for us today. The mature Christian, from age to age and generation to generation, needs to remember that their faith is being tested in the heat of the moments throughout history and this is nothing new since the founding of "The Faith" at the cross of Jesus Christ when it would be discovered whether Jesus himself would endure to the end or not [Hebrews 12:1-3]. The ebb and flow of thought and belief in popular culture will exist until Jesus Christ returns. The question is this. Will true believers be able to swim strongly in the currents of change and not drown in the undertow as they are tempted to stop breathing deeply from the oxygen tank of the Spirit and become disoriented by the turbulences of the times concerning which way is up to the Light? The Flow of Thought and Belief in Popular Culture The flow of thought and beliefs in culture can be diagrammed according the chart below. I thank Nicholas Pollard for the diagram presented in his article "Where Do I Start?" at Bethinking.org. You can see how presuppositions of faith are carried into the popular culture from the halls of academia, to the educational system, through the media and thus changing over time the very faith structure of the popular culture as a whole. I have given five examples of this that need to be seen within the context of the diagram itself.
Diagram courtesy of Nicolas Pollard's article "Where Do I Start?" at Bethinking.org 1. From Analysis of Popular Culture to Academia: Let's Analyze and Think About Things Based Upon Our Presuppositions [Basic Assumptions for Thinking] Example 1: Analyze in Academia the culture as a material world only and assume [presuppose] faith contradicts reason in the study of the material universe - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 2: Analyze in Academia the Culture of Faith as "non-Science" and assume [presuppose] faith is in opposition to a "rational" worldview, therefore implying, "Faith is Irrational" - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 3: Analyze in Academia the Culture of Faith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] an InterFaith as a "rational" worldview for Global Peace and Unity - i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 4: Analyze in Academia the Culture of InterFaith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] all opposition to InterFaith As "irrational" and worthy of intellectual, emotional, practical rejection in society for the sake of Global Peace and Unity -- i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 5: Analyze in Academia global fundamentalist terrorism and conclude that all forms of religious terrorism show that faith in religious answers is shallow and meaningless compared to secular options and unbelieving intellectual reasoning's - i.e., fall away from "the faith." 2. From Academia To Education: Let's Teach it As Theory, Possibly Fact Example 1: Teach in Education the culture as a material world only and assume [presuppose] faith contradicts reason in the study of the material universe - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 2: Teach in Education the Culture of Faith as "non-Science" and assume [presuppose] faith is in opposition to a "rational" worldview, therefore implying, "Faith is Irrational" - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 3: Teach in Education the Culture of Faith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] an InterFaith as a "rational" worldview for Global Peace and Unity - i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 4: Teach in Education the Culture of InterFaith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] all opposition to InterFaith As "irrational" and worthy of intellectual, emotional, practical rejection in society for the sake of Global Peace and Unity -- i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 5: Teach in Education in light of global fundamentalist terrorism and conclude that all forms of religious terrorism show that faith in religious answers is shallow and meaningless compared to secular options and unbelieving intellectual reasoning's - i.e., fall away from "the faith." 3. From Education to Media: Let's Report It As Theory, Possibly Fact Example 1: Report through Media the culture as a material world only and assume [presuppose] faith contradicts reason in the study of the material universe - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 2: Report through Media the Culture of Faith as "non-Science" and assume [presuppose] faith is in opposition to a "rational" worldview, therefore implying, "Faith is Irrational" - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 3: Report through Media the Culture of Faith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] an InterFaith as a "rational" worldview for Global Peace and Unity - i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 4: Report through Media the Culture of InterFaith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] all opposition to InterFaith As "irrational" and worthy of intellectual, emotional, practical rejection in society for the sake of Global Peace and Unity -- i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 5: Report through Media in light of global fundamentalist terrorism and conclude that all forms of religious terrorism show that faith in religious answers is shallow and meaningless compared to secular options and unbelieving intellectual reasoning's - i.e., fall away from "the faith." 4. From Media to Popular Culture: Let's Accept It As Theoretical Fact Example 1: Shape the Popular Culture as a material world only and assume [presuppose] faith contradicts reason in the study of the material universe - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 2: Shape the Popular Culture of Faith as "non-Science" and assume [presuppose] faith is in opposition to a "rational" worldview, therefore implying, "Faith is Irrational" - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Example 3: Shape the Popular Culture of InterFaith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] an InterFaith as a "rational" worldview for Global Peace and Unity - i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 4: Shape the Popular Culture of InterFaith as a "Global Necessity " and assume [presuppose] all opposition to InterFaith as "irrational" and worthy of intellectual, emotional, practical rejection in society for the sake of Global Peace and Unity -- i.e., fall away from "the faith" in identification with many faiths. Example 5: Shape the Popular Culture in light of global fundamentalist terrorism and conclude that all forms of religious terrorism show that faith in religious answers is shallow and meaningless compared to secular options and unbelieving intellectual reasoning's - i.e., fall away from "the faith." Let me list for you below the order in Examples Four and Five so you can see the pattern of Analyze in Academia, Teach in Education, Report in Media, and Shape the Popular Culture. With this pattern, almost any topic could be used to shift the popular faith focus of culture. Christians need to be aware of this Big Picture of "shape-shifting" in culture so they do not get lost in the details of popular debate over issues. The American idea of a commonly held Judeo-Christian belief structure which dominates all of America is over and has been for many years now. Only in rural America where Christianity is practiced as a folk religion is there a sense of "commonly held beliefs" by "the good ole boys and girls for Jesus." As culture worldwide falls away from "the faith" by falling for many faiths along the way, whether religious or irreligious, God delivers the culture over to itself and the fruits of varying faiths not directed by confidence in His Son, Jesus Christ - or the Spirit He gives to all His children who believe in that Son.
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