Being a God Botherer

I think it might be an Aussie term. I first heard it when I was in Highschool. It’s one of those insults that really doesn’t make sense. Am I a God botherer because I bother God or because I bother you about God? hmmm… well there is a sense in which God delights in being bothered and we are encouraged to bother him. So let me, bother you, with this video about bothering God

 

In being a christian is it mere “faith” we need?

I received a question on Formspring recently that is worthwhile sharing more widely. Here is my answer.

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Firstly, faith is God’s gift to us – it’s not something we conjure up on our own.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God ~ Ephesians 2:8

Faith is an expression, on our part, that God has made us spiritually alive. This is why the size or amount of our faith is irrelevant – because it comes from God, our ability to believe isn’t what saves us or makes us a Christian. (NB: Jesus use of “little” faith is describing the inadequate quality of man-made belief as opposed to the greatness of God given faith.)

The faith God gives us is a powerful transforming thing. “Mere” faith that is nothing more than an intellectual agreement, is not Biblical faith. Sometimes people talk about having faith as though it is some sort of quality that we develop over time. Thus, we praise and adulate people of “great faith” as though they are somehow more worthy of God’s love and grace. There is a very sinful habit amongst some misguided Christians that a person can believe God more than or better than others – all this amounts to is a false teaching that I can save myself by having more “faith” than you.

(How do I know if I have Biblical faith? – If you have a desire – on any level – to believe God’s Word about Jesus then it is very likely that you do have faith.)

Here’s a quote from a Christian book about the nature of faith as God’s gift versus faith that we somehow come up with on our own.

“The glory of the gospel is that God has declared Christians to be rightly related to him in spite of their sin. But our greatest temptation and mistake is to try to smuggle character into his work of grace. How easily we fall into the trap of assuming that we remain justified only so long as there are grounds in our character for our justification. But Paul’s teaching is that nothing we do ever contributes to our justification. So powerful was his emphasis on this that men accused him of teaching that it did not matter how they lived if God justified them. If God justifies us as we are, what is the point of holiness? There is still a sense in which this is a test of whether we off the world the grace of God in the gospel. Does it make men say: ‘You are offering grace that is so free it doesn’t make any difference how you live’? This was precisely the objection the Pharisees had to Jesus’ teaching!” – Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction, pages 82-83

 

The effect of Pietism in the Chinese church

Andrew Hong explains the effect of pietism and how it’s revealed in a Chinese Church:

This is not actually a very big feature of second generation Chinese, but tends to be more prominent in first generation ministries. And even then the influence of pietism is not uniform: …Yet Chinese pietism still exerts a strong influence on some Chinese – and you can see it in the things that are said:

“They did not worry about money or resources – they simply had faith that God would provide everything they need.”

“Others told him that he was crazy! That he should have a plan, that he should think through resources! But he had faith in God and trusted in him instead.”

“He didn’t have a plan in mind – he simply followed God’s calling.” …

Chinese pietism doesn’t just show itself in what people say, it can also show up in practices common in the Chinese church – practices such as faith missions, and faith promise giving. These look for God’s present involvement apart from the normal means of drawing up budgets, talking to supporters, calculating resources. These are merely the workings of man. Instead, for God to work, he must do so supernaturally, through his spirit.

Be aware that, taken individually, these may all be innocuous. And of course, some of these things can also be seen in non-Chinese Christianity. But taken together, they may indicate the influence of Chinese pietism … Read More

via andrewhong.net

 

What do you really believe?

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. … But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ~ James 2:8-9, 18-19

 

Doubt is Your Friend

I am re-reading Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism“as part of my involvement with on an online reading group. In the introduction, Tim calls readers to re-evaluate the value of doubt.

A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenceless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart sceptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.

Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts – not only their own but their friends’ and neighbours’. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to sceptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong faith, to respect and understand those who doubt.

Related Posts on this Blog:

Why Jesus Only

Tim Keller – The Reason for God

Indignation with Suffering

 

A Matter of Faith

Biblically, faith is a matter of

knowing the facts of the gospel (the person, place and work of Jesus Christ),

welcoming the terms of the gospel (salvation from sin and a new life with God) and

receiving the Christ of the gospel (setting oneself to live as his follower, by self-denial, cross-bearing, and sacrificial service).

—J.I. Packer, Taking Faith Seriously (Anglican Essentials Canada, 2006), p. 5

(from Justin Taylor: Between Two Worlds)