Faith & Life

This week begins a new monthly series on the topic 'Faith & Life'. The purpose of these articles is to show the correlation between 'faith & life'. It's very unfortunate, in my opinion, that for many people, their perception of 'faith' is something that 'religious' people practice once a week when they 'go to church'. Apart from that specific period of time, 'faith' is put on the 'backburner' while 'life is lived'. This is unfortunate because Christianity was never intended to create this dichotomy. So how does 'faith & life' get so disconnected?

The answer to that question is complex and I suppose it could be answered in various ways. For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on one possible answer - people in general tend to find it easier to give attention to the exterior, outer life while neglecting the interior, inner self. Jesus, one day as He was talking to some religious leaders, reprimanded them for honouring God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. The result He said was that their worship was empty. Worship that is empty is a 'faith that has become disconnected from life'! This begs another question: how can we ensure that our worship (faith, spirituality) is not empty?

I think the prophet Micah would answer that question by saying, "He (God) has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." For myself, that gives me a handle on how 'faith' and 'life' feed off each other. Were the religious people in Micah's day practicing this kind of 'spirituality'? No! But were they not 'outwardly' practicing their religion? Yes! But again, in the words of Jesus, their worship was 'empty'! The prophet Isaiah had similar things to say regarding the religious people of his day - Outwardly they were very meticulous in carrying out their external religious responsibilities such as fasting, tithing, offering up sacrifices. What was God's response to their religiosity?
                        "You've 'missed the mark' - your worship is empty"!
What made it empty? Because in regards to their 'life' as lived out in the community, they were self-centered, they exploited people, they quarrelled, they were involved in strife, and they even ended up having fist-fights! So while outwardly they were doing what God had instructed them to do, inwardly they were missing the total point of what faith was all about. God through Isaiah once again told them how 'faith' and 'life' was to piggyback off each other - God reminded them that true spirituality meant to help loose the chains of injustice, set the oppressed free, share food with the hungry and provide shelter for the homeless.

When 'faith' and 'life' are not 'connected' we have all seen how religion itself can become very 'ugly'. And that's one reason why people are often turned off at the 'organized church'. The quality of life that God longs to give His people sadly is often not observed even while His people are worshiping Him in their fixed places of worship!

Is it any wonder then that while people on one hand will tell you that they believe in the existence of a God they are often quick to tell you that they have difficulties with the "ground crew", meaning the 'organized visible church'. It is my understanding that the local 'church' AND our 'families' serve as laboratories where we are given opportunities to 'test and work out' our faith within the context of 'real life'. If in my worship of God I can also treat people with dignity & respect, be compassionate, feed the hungry when opportunities arise and provide shelter for the homeless, then I will have safeguarded my 'faith' against being 'empty'.

So while it is probably true that most people are 'desperately unrehearsed" when it comes to living life with purpose & meaning, the good news is that it doesn't have to remain that way! I find the most welcoming words of Jesus to be, "Come unto Me". Regardless what our current position in life may be, Jesus' invitation remains the same:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
(Matthew 11:28-30 - The Message)

Continued in Part 2