A Hands-On Faith

Had a few conversations with some old friends lately, and the topic invariably drifted to the state of the church, and why we are no longer so keen. Aside from what happened to me, the fact remained that I was already terribly jaded and disillusioned with so much that was going on in church. The disconnectedness I feel towards the church isn’t something purely caused by my being excommunicated. I feel that the church is increasingly becoming detached from the “real world” out there. And that’s really sad.

I recall once lamenting how the institutionalization of the church seemed to have robbed it of its most essential purpose, which was what the believers in the Bible did. They fed the poor, helped the needy, and let everyone know they were Christian by their love.

Today, Christians seem to be defined by their theology instead. Say something theologically if-ish and everyone starts to get uncomfortable. But if someone shares that they’ve never tried their hand at any community volunteering in their whole life, people tend to give a wryly indulgent nod instead. I look at the way the church service is structured, and it seems to revolve around the “experiential” worship, and then the “academic” sermon. Both elements combined take up 90% of the church service time. And both are incredibly inward looking.

The story was once told of a missionary who sailed past a small island, where he spotted a native fisherman. He stopped and shared the gospel with the fisherman. Seeing that he was uneducated and unable to read the Bible, he simply taught the fisherman the Lord’s prayer and told him to pray that every day. Months go by, and when the missionary sailed past the same island, he saw to his astonishment the same fisherman walking on water towards him. When he reached the missionary’s boat, the fisherman said “Father, forgive me for I am a sinner. I forgot the Lord’s Prayer, and could only pray to God using my own words. Can you please teach me the prayer again?” The missionary told him he should just carry on praying in his own words, for God is surely pleased with his prayers.

It’s a really cute story full of clichés, but it does bring up a very real question I’ve always had: If theology is so central to our beliefs, what of the uneducated? Will they never know God? Are they forever deemed as being less spiritual than the theological giants we so revere?

Nietzsche said “they must act more redeemed before I believe in their Redeemer”. Ghandi said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians”. So it seems like a community of theologically sound believers are not likely to sway these 2 historical giants much. You know who might?

Mother Teresa.

I remember reading an article from Time Magazine that said for nearly 50 years, she felt abandoned by God, unable to feel His presence. While in no way equating myself with her, I do confess that I can immediately identify with what she felt. She obviously took the nobler road, whereas I sunk deeper into the abyss of despair. Surely if she was honest with herself, someone who felt so abandoned and rejected by God could not have poured herself into theological diligence with any real conviction. Instead, she devoted her life to doing what Christ commanded. She served the needy, fed the poor, and let the people know she was a believer by her love.

I have no simple solution for the church. But if we started to put less emphasis on bible study and spent more time caring about the state of the people around us, we might finally grasp the heart of God better. And armed with that same heart of God, we might actually be ready to know more about God through the study of His Word. By inverting the order, we seem to have encouraged the Holy Huddle that leaves the whole church increasingly disconnected from the non-believers.

The saddest irony is that when we find evangelism tough, we end up digging deeper into the Word for answers, hoping to be even more “equipped” to share. The solution was actually to stop digging into the Word, and start going out more into the world just to care for the people around us.

I wonder if CS Lewis had written Screwtape Letters today, would he have made the same point as me, or is it just more twisted thoughts on my part.