Is Christianity Boring?
Some feel that to give their lives to Christ is to become part of something that is fixed or static--boring. They have images of old cathedrals, dusty hymnals, and stiff believers. They think of those who live their lives by what they cannot do, rather than what they can.
This is a popular misconception. Genuine Christianity is a growth faith. It is like a beautiful mosaic that begins with a pattern then continues the tessellation adding new colors and images. It is like Jazz music that begins with a note pattern and then plays off of it until you have a masterpiece. Only this masterpiece never ends. It is like a single strand of DNA that, through growth, continues the pattern creating a beautiful plant, animal, or human.
This growth model for Christianity is based on several facts:
1. We worship an infinite God who will never be fully comprehended. How can we totally understand God? How does the finite take hold of the infinite? It cannot. There are dimensions and aspects of our God that we will never fully grasp.
2. The Bible is beyond anyone’s intellectual capacity. Jerome wrote: “The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for a theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom." We can memorize great sections of Scripture and still have much to learn. We can get degrees and study the Bible every day of our lives, and still have much to learn. The Scriptures elucidate theology, anthropology, social science, psychology, history, archaeology, etc. They provide a full understanding of life. Every Bible scholar I have ever known has shared with excitement the things they are still learning. It never ends.
3, The practical living out of our faith means encountering new situations and responding to them in faith. It means learning to listen to the Holy Spirit (a life-long quest), applying the Scripture’s teaching, and exercising faith. Through this lifestyle, we grow in wisdom and show more of Christ.
Some would say that these growth models are not really valid because they take place within a system of thought and practice, a system which has certain uncompromising pillars. We cannot remove the understanding that Jesus is God without leaving Christianity all together. We require certain truths—God’s existence and character, the authority of the Bible, the person and mission of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, etc.—for us to be able to say that we are within true Christianity.
But isn’t this also the case with any other form of thought and practice? Doesn’t each erect its own pillars, its own non-negotiable dictates? Take Jean Paul Sartre, for instance. Whereas his structure of thought, his philosophy, stated that man must never commit to any cause, for to do so is to give up one’s absolute freedom, he himself signed the Algerian Manifesto and later advocated for Communism.[1] This choosing of one system above others (declaring one more moral) showed that he could not live consistently with his own beliefs.
The New Age Movement, something I studied at some length when I was younger, was an attempt at true eclecticism. This movement proclaimed that there were infinite ways to enlightenment (an altered state of consciousness). The point, however, was to become enlightened. Religion, drugs, sensory deprivation, yoga, etc. were all put in place for the purpose of bringing a person to enlightenment (however that was described). But still, simply being able to state the purpose, tells us that there was a structure built around this purpose.
There is no way to live life without a guiding purpose for that life. Even those who say they do not have a belief system are declaring their belief system. Even Atheism and Humanism have manifestos.
Christianity is a belief system with solid truths that are grown into for a lifetime and beyond. It is not restrictive or boring.
[1] How Should We Then Live?, by Francis Schaeffer, pg. 167
Some feel that to give their lives to Christ is to become part of something that is fixed or static--boring. They have images of old cathedrals, dusty hymnals, and stiff believers. They think of those who live their lives by what they cannot do, rather than what they can.
This is a popular misconception. Genuine Christianity is a growth faith. It is like a beautiful mosaic that begins with a pattern then continues the tessellation adding new colors and images. It is like Jazz music that begins with a note pattern and then plays off of it until you have a masterpiece. Only this masterpiece never ends. It is like a single strand of DNA that, through growth, continues the pattern creating a beautiful plant, animal, or human.
This growth model for Christianity is based on several facts:
1. We worship an infinite God who will never be fully comprehended. How can we totally understand God? How does the finite take hold of the infinite? It cannot. There are dimensions and aspects of our God that we will never fully grasp.
2. The Bible is beyond anyone’s intellectual capacity. Jerome wrote: “The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for a theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom." We can memorize great sections of Scripture and still have much to learn. We can get degrees and study the Bible every day of our lives, and still have much to learn. The Scriptures elucidate theology, anthropology, social science, psychology, history, archaeology, etc. They provide a full understanding of life. Every Bible scholar I have ever known has shared with excitement the things they are still learning. It never ends.
3, The practical living out of our faith means encountering new situations and responding to them in faith. It means learning to listen to the Holy Spirit (a life-long quest), applying the Scripture’s teaching, and exercising faith. Through this lifestyle, we grow in wisdom and show more of Christ.
Some would say that these growth models are not really valid because they take place within a system of thought and practice, a system which has certain uncompromising pillars. We cannot remove the understanding that Jesus is God without leaving Christianity all together. We require certain truths—God’s existence and character, the authority of the Bible, the person and mission of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, etc.—for us to be able to say that we are within true Christianity.
But isn’t this also the case with any other form of thought and practice? Doesn’t each erect its own pillars, its own non-negotiable dictates? Take Jean Paul Sartre, for instance. Whereas his structure of thought, his philosophy, stated that man must never commit to any cause, for to do so is to give up one’s absolute freedom, he himself signed the Algerian Manifesto and later advocated for Communism.[1] This choosing of one system above others (declaring one more moral) showed that he could not live consistently with his own beliefs.
The New Age Movement, something I studied at some length when I was younger, was an attempt at true eclecticism. This movement proclaimed that there were infinite ways to enlightenment (an altered state of consciousness). The point, however, was to become enlightened. Religion, drugs, sensory deprivation, yoga, etc. were all put in place for the purpose of bringing a person to enlightenment (however that was described). But still, simply being able to state the purpose, tells us that there was a structure built around this purpose.
There is no way to live life without a guiding purpose for that life. Even those who say they do not have a belief system are declaring their belief system. Even Atheism and Humanism have manifestos.
Christianity is a belief system with solid truths that are grown into for a lifetime and beyond. It is not restrictive or boring.
[1] How Should We Then Live?, by Francis Schaeffer, pg. 167
