The Function of Faith
So how do we maintain spiritual health throughout our lives, in the face of opposition?
Faith
is the key—not an idle or casual faith, the kind Bonheoffer called
“cheap grace,” but faith that is foundational to our existence, our
reason to be. If we are to grow past the point of spiritual
reproduction, we must grow in our experience of Christ through faith.
Faith performs eight basic functions:
- intellectual challenge;
- emotional engagement;
- behavioral reinforcement
- supportive relationships;
- higher authority;
- life interpretation;
- connection to history;
- and a realistic hope.
A
healthy faith system will involve all eight of these functions in a
consistent, interrelated whole. Many people, believer and nonbeliever
alike, derive these eight functions from more than one source. They
may, for example, intellectually accept the doctrines of Christianity,
but receive their emotional engagement from music, sports or
entertainment. They might experience an emotional high, but separate
their faith from their intellectual life, becoming emotionally
Christian, but intellectually brain dead. Or to give another example,
they may seek their community in worldly friendships, while going
through the motions of Christian ritual. When these eight functions are
divided, we become practical polytheists, looking to a pantheon of
worldly gods to cover up the deficiencies in our relationship to the
true God. Sooner or later, however, we will discover we cannot serve
two masters. In a time of crisis, divided faith cannot stand.
Let us look at these eight tasks of faith one by one.
(1)Intellectual challenge.
There is a mistaken assumption that just listening to preaching or
going to Sunday school will give the mature Christian all the spiritual
answers he or she needs. We may have the answers, but the questions
keep coming. If we rely on simplified versions of spiritual answers,
and do not exercise our minds, we will be ill equipped to respond to the
new situations life constantly puts before us.
Not
all Christians are intellectuals, but all Christians are sometimes
expected to justify and rejustify what they know to be true. Every
mature believer should be challenged to understand theological issues
and have a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible. Without these, the
mature believer becomes ineffective in his own self-examination and in
discerning how to counsel others. Most Sunday schools and cell groups
are not intended for this kind of study but for fellowship, worship, and
many other things. Christian churches need to rethink their curricula
when it comes to the needs of mature believers.
(2) Emotional Engagement.
David Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence points out that emotional sensitivity rather than intellectual abilities are the best predictors of success.[22]
Goleman writes that the portion of the brain governing our emotions is
much larger than the portion devoted to reason, that the path from the
intellect to the emotion is like a cow path while the path from the
emotions to the intellect is like a four lane highway.[23]
The heart influences the head more than the head influences the heart.
It does little good to strengthen our faith intellectually unless we
concurrently deepen our passion for God. Just as a relationship between
a husband and wife becomes complacent, so does our relationship with
Christ. We need to be challenged to deepen our emotions toward God,
just as we must with our spouses.
One
only has to read the writings of the great intellectuals of the faith
such as Luther, Calvin, the Puritans, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas
Aquinas to see that these men were as passionate in their writings on
God as the wildest Pentecostal or Charismatic. The deeper our emotional
attachment the greater our intellectual understanding is likely to
become.
(3) Behavioral reinforcement.
Perhaps
the greatest contribution behavioral psychology has given to the world
is to demonstrate the link between action and emotion. We do not just
smile when we are happy; smiling makes us happy. We do not just react
angrily when we are upset; shouting gets us more upset. The things we
do and the rituals we follow reinforce our thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors. The church’s emphasis on the “means of grace” helps us to
deepen and enhance our relationship to God. As James wrote “faith
without works is dead.”[25] Inward faith without outward behavior quickly disappears.
Behavioral
reinforcement of spiritual beliefs take three forms—inner disciplines,
outer rituals, and the practice of a Christian lifestyle.
Inner
disciplines include prayer, fasting, Bible study, confessing,
meditating, praising, and silence. Donald Whitner says “God’s people
have always been a spiritual people. . . . I have never known a man or
woman who came to spiritual maturity except through spiritual
discipline.”[27]
Outer
rituals are practiced publicly in God’s house among God’s people. The
early church devised a wide variety of corporate disciplines—morning
prayers, evening prayers, regular times of fasting, the Eucharist,
confession, weekly worship, prayers before meals, family devotions,
liturgy, litanies, and benedictions. They enable us to fulfill the
Scriptural command to “pray without ceasing”—not prayer every moment of
every day, but prayer regularly performed throughout the days, weeks,
and years.
Rituals
and spiritual disciplines though are meaningless without a Christian
lifestyle. A Christian lifestyle is not defined so much by what we do
not do, but by what we do. Refraining from sexual immorality,
intoxicants, gluttony, greed and sloth may fulfill the commandments of
the Old Covenant, but it does not rise to the level of the New. Loving
others, feeding the poor, sharing our faith, showing compassion for our
neighbor and turning the other cheek are the heavier duties that Christ
called His disciples to perform. Ethical Christian behavior is
absolutely necessary for Christian maturity.
(4) Supportive Relationships.
If
there is one overwhelming deficiency in our cybernetic world, it is for
intimate community. We need a community that stirs us each to deeper
spiritual expression. Mature believers need to be with people who can
nourish and encourage them while they in turn encourage others. As
Bonheoffer famously said, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of
community. . . . Let him who cannot be in community beware of being
alone.”[28]
Being
in a church, even serving in a church, is not the same as being in
community. Many of us serve on boards and committees so pointless and
soporific that St. Peter himself would no doubt repeat his weakness at
Gethsemane and once again fall asleep. Churches are often the worst
place to discuss struggles. Even in churches with a well-functioning
small group ministry, only a portion of the church are involved in small
groups.
(5) Life interpretation.
Faith
equips us to interpret our life story. Whether our lives are on an
upward slope or a downward slide depends entirely on which direction is
up or down. Whether our history is the work of a benevolent God working
all things for good or whether it is a random accident determines our
life course in the future.
The
only way to know and interpret our story is to tell that story. We
must put it into words. The simple act of talking or writing about
events helps us to come to terms with them.
In
1 Samuel 7:12, after God routed a Philistine army bent on Israel’s
destruction, the people of Israel erected a stone monument to the
occasion, calling it “Ebenezer”—“thus far has the Lord helped us.” A
testimony is a similar memorial in our hearts, reminding us of the
goodness of God in the past, which He has promised will continue in the
future. Mature believers should be encouraged to remember their
personal past, so they may remain steady in the future.
(6) Connection to history.
The
church that ignores the past also cuts itself off from the present.
The church may be faithful to the Scriptures (which is a product of the
past), but its understanding has become disconnected and disjointed from
the great thinkers of the past. It need not hide from history by
concealing denominational connections, or throwing out every tradition.
Believers need to understand their roots so they can understand where
they belong.
We
stand on the shoulders of giants, Sir Isaac Newton once famously
observed. Connecting to history is a primary task of faith. We need to
understand how we fit into the historic continuum. History assures us
of our place in the universe.
Older
believers are often upset by the rapid change in society. We should
not be—change is a part of life. But if change does not help us
reinterpret the past, it will be involuntary and unwelcome. Taking time
to provide mature believers with a historical perspective will make
change more palatable and manageable.
(7) Unquestioned authority.
For
us to build and maintain a personal world view, we must have some
authority we deem to be true. Faith gives us something to believe and
follow without question or compromise.
The
rapid decline of the mainline church is not due to its unwillingness to
change, but to its denial of its past authority. The church must stand
firm on what it believes, and stick by it.
The
real issue is not authority so much as submission. Christ gave us an
example of voluntary submission. He submitted Himself to the Father
willingly and joyfully. He submitted out of love. Paul submitted
himself to the corrupt authorities of the Roman empire and the Jewish
establishment by choice, not by force. In Romans 13, he encouraged
Christians to submit to the Roman empire out of choice.
It
is counter intuitive but nevertheless accurate to say that only
unquestioned authority allows us to freely pursue what is greatest in
life. Scientists cannot do research without believing in empirical
evidence. A high court cannot question the standards of a lower court
without some basis in constitutional law. A grammarian cannot grade
papers unless she regards dictionaries and grammar textbooks as
authoritative. The constitution may need changing and grammar textbooks
may need to be rewritten, but until they are we need them. We could
not function without authoritative standards. A church which does not
speak with authority cannot provide a solid foundation for individual
faith development in its members.
(8) A realistic hope.
The
eighth work of faith is to assure us of a worthwhile future, making the
struggles and privations of this world capable of being borne. Without
positive hope, positive change is not possible. If we cannot expect a
positive outcome for our labors, we will cease to labor.
Hope
does not have to be a positive outcome for us personally. A terrorist
may blow himself up out of hope for seventy virgins in heaven, or he may
do it out of hope of starting a political movement that will usher in a
new Communist state. A philanthropist may give money to be rewarded in
heaven, or to make the future world better. Either way, we do what we
do for hope of something better.
For
Christians to be balanced and healthy spiritually, we must take into
consideration all eight of these works of faith in our lives. As a
church, we must make sure to meet these needs and to equip Christians to
meet these needs for themselves. If we want the church to be healthy,
then believers of all stages—new, young, and old,—must be equipped for a
lifetime of Spiritual growth and development.
Summary
The
track of an individual Christian’s spiritual life is unique, but there
are common stages along the way. Seekers are new believers, who have
just come to trust Jesus. Learners or catechumens are those who are
developing as believers, discovering their spiritual gifts, and
discovering God’s direction for their lives. Mature believers are
Christians who have a sense of God’s vision for their lives, and are
seeking to follow Him in a complicated, challenging world.
Historically
the evangelical church has done a better job with the discipleship of
new believers than they have with maintaining the spiritual health of
mature ones. By treating all believers the same, the church may either
fail to reach new people, or sustain the old ones. Christian
discipleship programs aimed at leading new believers into maturity leave
the mature believer desiring more.
Mature
believers need to be challenged to go deeper into the faith, instead of
repeating the same teachings again and again. This challenge needs to
come through eight aspects of faith—intellectual challenge, emotional
expression, rituals and habits, intimate community, life interpretation,
a connection to history, definite authority, and a realistic hope.
Clearly,
maintaining our spiritual lives in maturity cannot be forced from
without; it must be pursued individually with all zeal. Nevertheless,
the church must provide opportunities for continued spiritual growth,
while not forsaking the lost, or ignoring the discipleship of the
young. The church must have a multi-leveled approach to discipleship.
Though this may be difficult, with God’s grace and the Spirit’s help it
can be done.
[1] I John 2:12-15. All Biblical quotations will be from the NIV unless otherwise noted.)
[2] I John 2:1,2:28, 3:18, 4:4, and 5:21.
[4] (Biblesoft's
New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded
Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
[5] Ibid.
[6] I Cor 3:1-4 NKJV
[7] Strongs, op. cit.
[9] Geoffrey J Cuming Hippolytus: A Text For Students: (Grove Books, LTD.,Bramcote, Nottingham,England,1987), p. 16.
[10] Ibid.
[11] The Confessions of St. Augustine, trans. By E. M. Blaiklock, (Thomas Nelson,Nashville, Tnn.) 1986, pp. 220-221.
[12] Hipplolytus, p 18.
[13] This is the probable beginning of the tradition of Lent.
[14] Hippolytus, op. cit. p. 19.
[15] Ibid.
[17] Adapted from Marks of a Disciple, by Lorne C. Sanny, © 1975 by The Navigators. The complete booklet is available from NavPress at: www.navpress.com
[19] Billygrahambookstore.org
[20] Matthew 28:19-20
[25] James 2:20
[27] Donald Whitner Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Navpress, Colorado Springs, Col.) 1991, p. 17.
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