I’m at work today talking to a girl about matters of faith. She asks me if I’m in school and I say I am and she asks my major and I tell her it’s philosophy. (Which is accurate, though I did not mention that I’m learning it at a seminary.) She tells me then that she loves philosophy. I ask her who she’s read and the only name I get is Edgar Cayce.
Do you know that name? He’s the guy who fell asleep and woke up and told people what they needed to cure their conditions. He was your typical new age type who believed in reincarnation and would not be considered an orthodox Christian in any way. (I wouldn’t consider him a philosopher either.)
Then she tells me that she is a Christian. Now this does make me wonder some, especially when we got to other religions and I saw pluralistic leanings. We have more and more people growing up with the name “Christian” with hardly a clue about the Christian worldview and believing in things that contradict it.
Which made me wonder. How can we reach a point where we call ourselves slaves of Christ if we do not know who he is? How can we call him our Lord if we do not know about him? Is it merely that we believe Christianity is only about loving your neighbor as yourself?
We are told in Scripture that we are the bride of Christ. Now I’d like you to consider what it would mean if we were a lady and we only married a man for sexual pleasure. We did not want to know him. All we cared about was what he could do for us. If that is the case, we are treating him based on function only.
Of course, we men are just as guilty. Imagine if you had a girl who had female circumcision so she could not enjoy sexual intercourse. You could though, and you married her simply so you could enjoy the pleasure she brought you but you had no interest in her. You did not care to know her at all. It makes one think of these one-night stands where neither person even knows the other’s name. (Isn’t that romantic? Total disclosure to someone you know nothing about?)
How are we treating Christ any differently though?
Are we in this because of who he is or is it merely ourselves? Do we come to Christ because he gives us feelings of joy, or is it because we know we have violated his standards and we believe that he is the source of eternal life and the Lord of all creation and we need to submit to him.
Don’t get me wrong. There are benefits there. This is the same for sexuality in marriage. The difference is that both parties benefit. My fear though is that we are approaching Christ in a way where it is only about us. Now technically, we can do nothing to benefit Christ. He cannot be improved in anyway. We can treat him as he is though.
Do we call him Lord? What does that mean? Have we really grasped it? He says he is the way, the truth, and the life. Do we agree, or do we hold to pluralistic leanings? He says that all who are on the side of truth listen to him. Do we really listen to him? Are we on the side of truth?
Now some of us might have come for weak reasons. I would consider myself one. However, it is a shame if our faith stays at that level. We are to grow over time and there is not enough Christian growth as people do not know what it means to be a Christian or why they are one. Is it any shock that so many young people lose their faith in college?
The question then is do we really love God or are we merely using him? Persons can be used and that is wrong. It is just as wrong to use God. Of course, we do not hurt him in doing such, but we hurt ourselves instead ironically. The best Christian life is one lived in full obedience to the teachings of Christ.
Why settle for anything less?
Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!
