I had a conversation with
a young lady about faith—her faith, a faith that once was and is no more. She
was a very interesting and bright lady—inquisitive, well-read, and suspicious.
She began by telling me that she was a Christian (past tense) and had since
left the faith. Christ was once a part of her confession, but after a long
voyage of not finding sufficient answers for her doubts, she believes that she
had no choice but to follow her own integrity and renounce Christ all together.
I asked her what her problems were and she became very emotional. I represented
Christianity and she was ready to take it all out on me.
Ignorance-pity-shame,
these are all good descriptions of what she thought of Christianity. Primarily
she felt betrayal. She had been betrayed by the Church because they duped her
into a belief not unlike that of the tooth fairy. When she discovered this
betrayal, no one had a valid answer or excuse. So she left. She is now an
unbeliever—a soon-to-be evangelistic
unbeliever.
I have over a dozen books
giving autobiographical sketches of those who once claimed to be Christian, but
now are evangelistic atheists, agnostics, or skeptics, with their goal to
convert or, rather, unconvert others. I have been in contact with many people
who either have already left or are on the verge of leaving. I get emails,
phone calls, and visits from the same.
I believe that it is the
recognition of an extremely serious issue that we are facing today. We are
facing an epidemic in Christianity—an epidemic of unbelief among our own.
Crowding our churches are those who are somewhere in the process of leaving
Christ.
Over
31 million Americans are saying “check please” to the church, and are off
to find answers elsewhere. Jeff Schadt, coordinator
of Youth Transition Network, says thousands of youth fall away from the church
when transitioning from high school to college. He and other youth leaders
estimate that 65-94% of high school students stop attending church after
graduating. From my studies and experience I find that leaving church is many
times the first visible step in
one’s pilgrimage away from Christ.
Why are people leaving
the faith at this epidemic and alarming rate? In my studies, I have found that
the two primary reasons
people leave the faith are 1) intellectual challenges and 2) bad
theology or misplaced beliefs.
The transition process,
focusing first on the intellectual challenges:
Progression: Doubt; Discouragement;
Disillusionment; Apathy; Departure
Step One: Doubt - the
person begins to examine his or her faith more critically by asking questions,
expressing concerns, and becoming transparent with their doubt. This doubt is
not wholesale, but expresses an inner longing to have questions answered and
the intellect satisfied to some degree. Normally this person will inquire of
mentors in the faith, requesting an audience for their doubt.
Step Two:
Discouragement
- the person becomes frustrated because they are not finding the answers. They
ask questions but the answer (or lack thereof) causes them discouragement.
Their church tells them that such questions are “unchristian.” Their Sunday
school teacher says, “I don’t know. You just have to believe.” Others simply
say, “That’s a good question, I have never thought of it before,” and then go
on their way on their own leap-of-faith journey.
Step Three:
Disillusionment
- the person begins to become disillusioned with Christianity in general and
proceeds to doubt much more deeply. They feel betrayed by those who made them
believe the story about Christ. They feel that much of their former faith was
naive since not even their most trusted mentors could (or would) answer basic
questions about the Bible, history, or faith. In their thinking the intellect
has become illegitimized and the church is therefore
an illegitimate contender for their mind.
Step Four: Apathy - the disillusioned Christian
becomes apathetic to finding the answers, believing that the answers don’t
exist. They are firmly on their way to atheism, agnosticism, or pure skepticism
but don’t have the courage to admit it to themselves or others. Many times
those in this stage live as closet unbelievers, believing it is not worth it to
come clean about their departure from the faith. They want a peaceful existence
in their unbelief without creating controversy. Therefore, they are content to
remain closet unbelievers.
Step Five:
Departure –
the young lady I spoke of was somewhere between apathy and departure. At this
stage the fact that they have left the faith has become real to them and they
are willing to announce to the world. Because of their sense of betrayal, they
feel as if it is their duty to become evangelists for the cause of unbelief.
Their goal and mission becomes to unconvert the
converted.
“I don’t really even care
what you have to say to me, I just don’t believe anymore and there is nothing
anyone can do about it.” How was she a part of the church for so long without the
church engaging her on these issues. Her issues were
numerous, but foundational. She
doubted the resurrection of Christ, the inspiration, inerrancy, and canon of
Scripture, and the historicity of the Christian faith in general. I can’t help
but think, from a human point of view, things might have been different if the
church had legitimized her questions during the doubting phase and truly
engaged her from an intellectual front. But the point of apathy seems to mark a
point of no return.
My life ministry is
committed to one thing: rooting people theologically by presenting the
intellectual viability of the Evangelical faith. While I understand this is not
all there is to the Christian faith, it is an absolute vital part of
discipleship and foundational to everything else. [Francis
Schaeffer dealt with this extensively.
He worked to help “orthodox evangelicalism” become “a thing of strength
and beauty” by: (1) clearly maintaining the full doctrinal position of historic
Christianity; (2) giving honest answers to honest questions; (3) individually
and corporately exhibiting the existence of God. “We have had many Christians’ children who
are honestly confused, coming from many different countries. They find so often that the answers they have
been given simply do not touch the problems which are their problems.” (Appendix B, The
God Who Is There) He was dedicated
to the idea that “knowledge precedes faith…only that faith which believes God
on the basis of knowledge is true faith.”]
Many will go through the
doubt phase. Everyone should ask questions about the faith. If you have not
asked the “How do you know...” questions about the message of the Gospel, this
is not a good thing. We should be challenged to think through these questions
early in the faith. The Church needs to rethink its education program [see The Key to the Bible, sessions 1 & 2 http://pop.eradman.com/]. Expositional preaching, while important, is not
enough. Did you hear that? Expositional preaching does not provide the
discipleship venue that is vital for us to prevent and overcome this epidemic.
We should not fool ourselves into thinking that it does.
The church has been on a
non-intellectual diet for the last century and we are suffering from theological
atrophy. What else do you expect when we have replaced theological discipleship
with a gluttonous promotion of entertainment, numbers, and fast-food
Christianity that can produce nothing more than a veneer of faith seasoned for
departure?
The solution: to reform
our educational program in the church; to lay theological foundations through
critical thinking; the great commission is to make disciples, not simply
converts; pray that God will grant a revival of the mind knowing that without
the power of the Holy Spirit, no amount of intellectual persuasion can change
an antagonistic heart.
Without these, the
epidemic of departure from Christ will only worsen. “The heart will not accept
what the mind rejects.” — Jonathan Edwards
Right Beliefs, Wrong
Reasons ~
C
Michael Patton ~
Sometimes
it is frustrating to introduce yourself to theological issues. Most people who
get deeply involved in theology quickly realize how much they don’t know.
Confident seminary students enter their training thinking that they are going
to breeze their way through as they have their prejudices confirmed by their
soon to be impressed professors. After the first year, their countenance is
soured as their confidence turns into an insecure angel (or devil) on their
shoulder who says, “Who did you think you were presuming God called you into
ministry?” They begin to realize that they came to seminary to find out how
much they did not know! Some get discouraged and leave,
others harden in their categories becoming unable to learn. But the best adjust
their expectations, knowing that an admission of ignorance is a fundamental
foundation to learning.
There is an old dictum to knowledge that
says there are four types of people:
1.
The one who doesn’t know, and doesn’t know that he doesn’t know. He is a
fool–shun him.
2.
The one who doesn’t know, but knows that he doesn’t know. He is a student–help
him learn.
3.
The one who knows, but doesn’t know that he knows. He is an unenlightened
person–enlighten him.
4.
The one who knows and knows that he knows. He is a wise man–follow him.
I would add a fifth:
5.
The one who knows but does not know how he knows. He is naive—deconstruct him.
This
fifth category refers to those who have all the right beliefs for all the wrong
reasons. This is very common in theological circles. I believe that it is
prevalent within Evangelicalism as a creedal confession takes the place of
doctrinal understanding. I know of many people who confess belief in the
doctrine of the Trinity, but really don’t know why they believe in this
doctrine. I know of many people who believe that Christ rose bodily from the
grave, but they could not give you even the most basic defense of their
confession. Both the bodily resurrection of Christ and the doctrine of the
Trinity are good and right beliefs, but if someone cannot justify these
beliefs, do they really believe them? [The
motto of the White Horse Inn weekly program is “know what you believe and why
you believe it.” http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/]
The fidest (defines faith as a blind leap into the dark) would
answer with an unqualified, “Yes.” The evidentialist
(believes that evidence plays a vital role in faith) would say, “Maybe, maybe
not.” I side with the evidentialist. There is a large
chasm between assent to a proposition and being convicted of that proposition.
And there is a fine line between emotional conviction and conviction of the
Holy Spirit. To answer the question, “How do you know that Christ rose from the
grave?” with “I just know that I know!” is both insufficient and sinfully
neglectful of our duty to engage our minds. It creates an unjustified dichotomy
between the mind and the heart.
I
believe it is true that the heart will not
accept what the mind rejects. The one who knows but does not know how he
knows is in great danger of one day losing what he knew. Why, because the
justification for this knowledge is unqualified and insufficient. Creating a
dichotomy between the mind and the heart is a self-defense mechanism for those
who are truly insecure about their faith. They don’t have enough confidence in
their faith to subject it to the scrutiny that the mind demands. For these
people, an introduction of the mind’s interrogation to their beliefs is like
playing the lottery. There is a good chance that it will not survive, so it is
better not to take that chance. They simply “know that they know that they
know.” Or, they know because they have a “burning in their bosom”—that’s enough
for them.
The
problem with this fidestic approach to faith is that,
in the end, everyone can claim this “burning in the bosom.” No one and no
belief system is disqualified from its epistemological methodology. Two people
with completely different belief systems can both have this subjective
confidence with hearts on fire. Both can (and often do) claim that their
conviction is from the Holy Spirit. Yet at least one (and maybe both) is wrong.
I
believe that there is a subjective conviction of the Holy Spirit. But I believe
that the conviction that the Holy Spirit brings is based upon the objective
realities of the truths He represents. These truths are not acquired by a sound
method of meditation or a blind adherence to what mom and dad taught you, but
by wrestling with the issues and coming to your faith on your own. There has to
be a deconstruction process that allows the Holy Spirit to bring about a
conviction that we can truly credit to Him. We don’t have to disassociate His
conviction with our studies. [see
Preface to True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer] It is not an
either/or but a both/and. God brings about conviction through our studies. This
is the medium He uses. Yet unfortunately we often justify our lazy minds by
placing the blame on Him for our intellectual disassociation.
Having
all the right beliefs for all the wrong reasons is not a good thing. The
reasons provide the foundation for our beliefs. If we do not construct a method
of inquiry that has integrity, our beliefs will lack integrity. If our beliefs
lack integrity, how can we truly believe them?
We must learn to
deconstruct our beliefs, but not in the postmodern sense of the term.
Postmodernism seeks to deconstruct without the intention of reconstructing
since that would be self-defeating. We however, deconstruct in faith so that we
can truly believe [see Reading and Discussing Scripture and Teaching in Contradiction at http://pop.eradman.com/] -so that we don’t have a faith of hibernated fear.
Deconstructing in faith reveals that our reasons for holding many beliefs were
not justified. The two processes work together to rebuild our faith upon solid
Scriptural grounds. The beliefs themselves may have been true, but our reasons
for holding them were not. We may not have proper understanding for our faith
at all. So deconstruction in this sense is the very heart of Anselm’s
suggestion. We deconstruct so that when our fortress is rebuilt, it can weather
any trial, internal or external - so that we can [get
a handle on the truth and thus] glorify God by loving Him with all our mind.
I
know that this is difficult for many to hear - the proposition is a fearful
one. We are much more comfortable in our naive existence. But we must graduate
our faith and encourage others to do the same. We must have the right beliefs
for the right reasons. Failure to do so, from a human standpoint, sets people
up for their journey away from Christianity.
From
Easter, 09