Biblical Worldview

Do you believe the following?:

1. Absolute moral truth exists.
2. The Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
3. Satan is a real being or force, not merely symbolic.
4. A person cannot earn their way into heaven by trying to be good or do good works.
5. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6. God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

If you believe those six tenants, you have what the Barna Group's poll would describe as having a "Biblical Worldview."

The results may shock you. Only 9% of Americans believe these 6 things.

Read the full article here: http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/21-transformation/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years.

I will comment on a few things that struck me about the article in the next day or so. But, suffice it to say, that I believe that most Americans have a religion, but little faith (as described in the previous two posts).

Faith v Religion, part 2

Now listen young man...

"Thy will be done" -but in fact we are thinking: "Our will be done," and thus this third petition of the Lord's Prayer is first of all a kind of judgment on us, a judgment of our faith.

-Alexander Schmemann, Our Father

It's difficult for me when I read through the church bulletins and often read through their prayer requests. Do it, I dare you. I'm willing to bet that approximately 90%, if not more, are dedicated to some type of sickness, or some type of job search. This drives me crazy.

Do we really have nothing bigger to ask the creator of all things? Is this as big as our prayers will get? I often want to stand up and shout.

Now, don't get me wrong. Sickness and frailty and pain are very hard. People are hurting and in distress; life is hard. Cancer in a family member is terribly difficult. But the question remains: Is this really what the church is about? Our biggest, most important concerns, are our own health and occupation?

Again, I must state that these are important things, but 90% of our prayers?

The quote above made me think about this. Are we really praying, 'Lord, thy will be done' or are we praying 'God, oh magic genie in the sky, make me feel better'? I tend to think the reason all our prayers are for sickness or joblessness is because it is in those things that we have placed our trust and significance and happiness.

I have a really hard time praying for sickness in church because it is rare that I believe the person asking for prayer truly has good intentions. Are you asking me to pray for you for you, or for the glory of God in all things? Do you want to be healthy in order to glorify God and strive to fulfill the Great Commission and His work in your life, or because you don't like hurting?

The difference is subtle, but do you see it?

One, I believe is because prayer for you is a religious act. It's something you're supposed to do. It's in fad. To pray for God's glory to be revealed through your pain and sickness and weakness, now that is a faithful prayer.

Yes, we should ask God for every desire of our heart, and yes, we want to be healthy and have jobs. But let's truly pray 'Thy will be done' and not 'my will be done.'

Faith v Religion

I admit it, church-people sometimes drive me crazy. I have a much harder time loving people that have gone to church their entire lives, than I often do the pot-smoking, social alcoholic freshmen we sometimes work with at Ohio State. I'm not alone; want to guess who the people Jesus was constantly in debates with? The same people that crucified him, the religious people!
The difference is faith vs religion I think. Melissa and I have talked about this for quite some time with a great deal of people. Faith is what makes you move and think and be. It stirs your heart and is the core of who you are. Religion is just something you do. It's a hobby, a part-time thing that has no bearing on your inner-self. We most likely all know some religious people. They love to claim Christian values (usually no smoking/drinking type values which aren't Christian per se, but that's neither here nor there). They love to be seen at church and seen as important people in the church. They love to thump you with the Bible, though they've usually failed to search it for themselves, they're simply passing on information they've heard before. Often they belong to a particular denomination or sub-division within Christianity, and preach it to others, though really they've not researched, explored, or sought out anything other than their particular group.

I hesitate to say this, but they remind me of Muslims a great deal. When Melissa and I spent a year in Central Asia we daily ran into this type of Islam. Not the fanatical, but the kind that was based more on culture and religion than based on faith. They were Islamic because that's what they were raised. They adhered to it because, well, everyone else did. Few people prayed five times a day; fewer still took part in ramadan, the 40 day fast. Very, very randomly would we ever meet someone who desired and planned to journey to Mecca in their life (which is one the five pillars of Islam). Those people I loved interacting with. I would think, "finally, here is someone that is not completely hypocritical in their religious convictions."

Don't be religious. Be faithful. Don't go to church, be it Catholic, Assemblies of God, Methodist, Lutheran or whathaveyou. Go to church because you believe it to be true or you're a lying hypocrit before you even walk in the door. Or go because you're curious to know and explore what they believe. Or if you've stumbled across this blog, talk to me, I'd love to show you some faithful people, and talk of true faith in the risen Christ.

I'm going to post the next couple days on a few things that irk me about religious people and religious churches as opposed to faith-driven people and faith-driven churches.