Articles
Spiritual and Religious Disconnect
It has been reported recently that almost $1 billion has been donated from individuals and organizations from around the world for the rebuilding of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France. The report also noted that, after two years, they have only now completed the cleanup and securing of the site, and can begin the rebuilding, which as yet has no estimated date of completion. Since many around the world equate Christianity with Catholicism, it is important that the structure is returned to its glorious previous condition because, for them, it is a symbol of the church itself and has great significance as a symbol of their religious faith — and of the nation of France.
And in the same week this report was made public, several politicians in France made it known they would be pressing for abortion to be made a constitutional right for all citizens of France. They announced this was an urgent matter and made it law within just days, having passed the amendment earlier this year in the French Senate and National Assembly and despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.
Talk about irony!
I believe these concurrent events merely illustrate the disconnect so many have when it comes to their religion, their actions, and their daily lives. For many, as demonstrated by the aforementioned events, there is no real religious conviction and whatever ‘religion’ they have is merely symbolic or, at best, superficial. Whatever ’faith’ is held is likely either adopted as their own because their family claimed to be adherents, or it is simply their own personal invention — a conglomeration of beliefs from various religions and philosophies, topped off and guided by nothing more than their feelings or societal trends. It is not borne of conviction.
While the French have demonstrated this habit of failing to see true faith has a visible and actual effect on one’s life, it is not a problem exclusive to Europe; here in this country, we have generations of individuals identifying as ‘Christian’ who simultaneously support sinful behavior such as all perversions of sexual immorality, drunkenness, and lying, and seem to have no problem with racial bias, ignoring the poor and oppressed within our society, and defending the most immoral politicians’ behavior — if it is ‘their’ candidate. [They will self-righteously condemn similar behavior in the opposing party’s candidates.] Either we are a nation of hypocrites or there is a major disconnect here, too.
If we genuinely desire to be genuine disciples of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to live up to the title — and start by seeing it more then merely a title. According to God’s inspired word, a disciple is one who is convicted by the message of the gospel and who responds by genuinely repenting of all previous ungodly, worldly behavior that God calls sin, and then making the necessary changes in his or her life to reflect that transformation we so often call a conversion.
The very first disciples did this; after hearing the message of the gospel first preached, it is said they “were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37), and asked the speakers, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They did not merely shed a tear out of a shallow sense of doubt and shame; they sought a solution and a means of being reconciled to God. Peter told them, in response, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38), and it is later said that those “who gladly received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41). But that was not a one-time act, after which they returned to living however they had before!
In his words to some disciples in Rome, Paul reminded them they were to “not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin” as they had done before their conversion, but now were to “present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom. 6:13). As he had asked earlier, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Rom. 6:2). The point he was making was that their lives were to now be visibly changed and different — better, morally speaking — than the one before conversion.
Disciples have an obligation to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and now “live soberly, righteously, and godly” (Titus 2:11, 12); that means we do not engage in ungodliness, yes, but it also means we no longer support it or advocate for it, too. As one who no longer lives in ungodliness, a genuine disciple does not engage in worldliness and ungodliness, and neither does he support it in any way, whether it is by vocal, monetary, or political means and methods. There is simply no example within the Scriptures of disciples who claimed to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ and who simultaneously gave their vocal support for the ungodly acts of men or for ungodly men. In every aspect of the disciple’s life, he should be clear that he lives for Christ and for godliness, and will have no part or toleration for the ungodly.
If anything, disciples should be more like the psalmist, who wrote, “The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure…He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence” (Psa. 101:5, 7). If anything, the genuine disciple should be as Job, who could say, “I delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and plucked the victim from his teeth” (Job 29:12-17).
Jesus once said, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master” (Matt. 10:25), so we have a lifetime responsibility to pattern our lives after His — a man who reached out to and had compassion on the downtrodden, the poor, and the outcasts. He did not mistreat them, nor did He use them as illustrations and pawns for His political purposes. His love and concern for them was genuine, and so must ours be if we are to be like Him.
It also means we abhor unrighteousness, ungodliness, and outright wickedness, too. We do not support it in any way or for any reason — not even if it is supported by ‘our’ political party or ‘our’ politician. Let us heed the admonition of the psalmist when he wrote, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psa. 97:10). Let us hate evil when it is supported by either major political party, when it is supported by the majority within our society, or when it is supported and/or even codified as lawful by our government on any level. Let us clearly and boldly stand for righteousness, and may the world never think or assume we support ungodliness or wickedness at any time or for any reason.
When Paul taught the gospel message, he taught all that they should “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20). Let us prove, by our lives, that we have done works befitting repentance; let our lives show that we stand with righteousness and godliness, and that we condemn and oppose evil in every form.
Let there be no disconnect between the faith we claim to live by and the lives we actually live. — Steven Harper
