11/17/16 Steve 20's
At times I tell atheists a secret about us Christians that they are
often surprised I will admit: although we may seem rock-solid in our beliefs,
sometimes we fake it! Many who now
identify as atheists come from strong church-involved backgrounds, but they
have rejected living by faith or belief in God altogether because they don't
want to be phony or hypocritical. A guy
I spoke with named Steve told me about his strong church background but that he
now claims atheism, saying "I really want to believe, but I just have to
admit I really don't."
To people like this, the honesty about their doubts feels more
authentic than pretention about belief.
They see authenticity as being more important than obedience to
God. But both are important. Like all people, Christians have good and bad
days and seasons, times of hope and disappointment, faith and doubt. We want to be authentic, but worry that being
open about our doubts will bring others down or just make us look bad.
I told Steve about the need sometimes to "fake it" as a
Christian. An example might be that sometimes
the Bible seems dead or boring, but we fake it and read it like it’s full of
life. Sometimes our prayers make us feel
foolish, like we are talking to the air, but we decide to fake it and pray as
if God is right there next to us.
Sometimes our praise and worship is far more a sacrifice than a time of
heartfelt joy, but we raise our hearts and hands to the Lord regardless. We act as if we have faith, and then the
faith appears. It's kind of like trying
to fall asleep when we don't feel sleepy.
We lay down and close our eyes as if we are tired, and before we know it
we are sleeping.
Faith, according to Hebrews 11, “is confidence in what we hope for and
assurance about what we do not see."
We might get discouraged by the "confidence" and the
"assurance" part of that definition, thinking we just don't have
it. But what about the part about not
seeing? What if we just don't feel
it? That same chapter in Hebrews also
says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him." Our belief may
not result in feelings of confidence or assurance, but it can result in
persistence and obedience. God will
reward our obedience regardless of how we feel about it. Our disobedience may feed our doubts, but our
obedience will feed our faith.
In telling him all this, I was able to be authentic and obedient at the
same time. We can be honest about our
doubts, but continue on in obedience.
And we can encourage unbelievers to do the same. Many atheists with a church background say
they have never had a "born-again" experience. I believe them. And how can someone yet dead in their sins
come to new life in Christ simply by an act of the will? They can’t.
But they too can fake it. They
can read the Bible like it is true, and pray like they believe someone is
listening, and repent like they are truly sorry. And instead of staying asleep, pretty soon
they will wake up to new life and faith.
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