Christianity is Still Relevant

In his excellent book 'Disruptive Witness,' author Alan Noble puts forward the idea that in our current distracted electronic age, people settle for categorizing Christian faith as just another aspect of someone's identity.  As if the Gospel can somehow be relegated to a mere preference or personality type.  I personally find this concept of superficial, lukewarm faith to be repugnant, and so I think that Noble has a point.  In an era where people choose their own version of truth, how can they not assume that Jesus only applies to some people, some of the time.  

While inaccurate, I believe that this error in thinking explains much of what is wrong in our world today.  If people only ever come face to face with a representation of the transcendent (and not the real God), then the temptation would certainly exist to place Christ on a shelf somewhere until you actually need him.  The occasional church visit once a month perhaps, and then back to idolizing our sports heroes like LeBron James or Tom Brady.  But now I digress; we return  to the issue at hand.  Let's discuss how to live out an authentic faith, so that those around us cannot help but notice something is different.  Not just another version of truth - but the ultimate truth in fact.  

One of the first things that Alan Noble talks about in the book is the Lord's Supper.  Communion is an activity that requires people to participate in something together as a community of believers, and it forces us to think about the transcendent.  In other words, the act of taking the wafer and juice has very little to do with us, and a whole lot to do with Jesus.  Indeed, it is difficult not to feel some degree of awe, as we remember the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross.  Even the words in Scripture are startling: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:54).  No one else on Earth talks like that, and for many, Communion is more than just a time of remembrance.  It is literally the act of transmuting wine and bread into something supernatural.  

I believe the next thing we must do as authentic Christians is to change our faith from something the world can fit neatly into a category, into something real and relevant.  How do we do that?  I think we start living it out through the overflow of Christian joy from our hearts.  Rather than relegating faith to some sort of private, personal journey, we should share it publicly and boldly.  Instead of praying to God only when we need something, we can start praying daily.  A profound faith should be observable by others, have a transcendent meaning that people can't get elsewhere, and force us to contemplate why our lives matter.  

Now all of this is much easier said than done of course.  And that is why being lukewarm is so tempting (it is comfortable and without risk).  But imagine for a moment if the early disciples didn't take any risks.  Imagine if their brand of faith was "personal and private."  There would be no Christian church today.  Likewise, there may be no church tomorrow if believers aren't alive in Christ.  Personally, I don't really want a church life consisting only of social clubs and potluck dinners - at least not at the cost of an authentic, life-changing faith.  I hope you feel the same.  If not, then it's time to read through the New Testament again.  Were the apostles just virtue signaling, or was it something more?

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