A Crisis of Faith

 Tony5875

Crisis of Faith

What is a crisis of faith?

Answer: The term crisis of faith usually refers to the point at which a person feels that he or she can no longer serve God or follow Christ. A person going through a crisis of faith is tempted to turn away from all he or she had believed in.   gotquestions.org

 I listened to a podcast today: “Made For This with Jennie Allen.” post #18.  She interviewed a woman who had gone to Africa as a missionary and events occurred that caused her to lose her faith in God.

 Immediately after I heard this story, I listened to Timothy Keller give a sermon, called “Meeting the Real Jesus,” about John the Baptist and Jesus. He read the story of when John was in prison and he sent some of his friends to ask Jesus this question: “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”

 Even though God had showed John by a miracle that Jesus was the Messiah, he now questioned his belief. He had been thrown into prison and knew he could die. Jesus was doing nothing to fight against the Romans or get him out of jail. He even refused when people wanted to make him King of Israel. What kind of Messiah was he?

 Jesus told John’s disciples to go back to John and tell him what they had seen him do that day. He had healed the sick, “The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.  Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”   Matthew 11:5,6

 Jesus was referring to Isaiah 61:1, where it explains the work of the Messiah. And he finished by telling John those are blessed who are not offended by Jesus. John was having a crisis of faith, and that crisis has its root in being offended by God.

 The woman missionary was offended by what God let happen to her. She had thought God would act differently than he did. She started thinking there was no God at all. He wasn’t the kind of God she thought she knew.

 That happened to one of my sisters when she lost her health, her job and had to sell her home and eventually live in a van. Then her dog ran off in the desert and never returned. She was very angry at God. He had given her a horrible life, she felt. She told me, “The only thing he hasn’t taken is my van.”

 We had long talks about this when she came and lived with my husband and I. I also had been through terrible times, but I had studied many books on the subject of God and suffering and why he allows it. Gradually, she came to see that she wanted to go back to God and she did. The day she left our home she said, “I’ve told God he can take my van too if he wants to.” This gave me great joy.

 My crisis of faith came when I was 42. I saw someone I love go through terrible suffering and that was very painful. But it was actually the thought of all the millions who had suffered just like her that made me turn from God. I could not understand and I was offended.

 After a few years of study, I did seem to understand and also, I missed God. At that time in my life it was impossible for me to believe God loved me, but it was a fact that there was nowhere else to go. He was the one with words of eternal life. He was the one who had a book that was awe-inspiring. He was the one who kept saying, “Help the poor and needy. Feed the hungry and love your enemy.”

 I’m now glad I had this crisis of faith because incredibly, my faith is stronger now than ever. I always knew my faith was tiny, but when my grandson died, I saw what God had done to me. I had peace and rested in his arms. When my husband had a stroke, I was filled with peace once again. Learning to trust God in the face of suffering is a fantastic thing, in spite of the confusion and mental pain.

 Many Christians have a crisis of faith during their walk with God. Many of us have the wrong idea of who God is, especially those who are raised in a religious home. We grow up believing what our parents believe, we grow up in a certain church which has its beliefs. And they are all so sure that what they believe is true.

 Sometimes, God will step into our lives to show us what is true or untrue about himself. He wants us to know him as he is. And sometimes he needs to take away all the things we rely on because we haven’t learned to rely on him. He does this because he loves us. Something I finally believe for myself in my old age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Much Should Christians Give?

Photo by:  http://www.flickr.com/people/14214150@N02

I used to wonder why the early church people sold their lands and possessions and divided the money. I wondered, because Christians stopped doing that. Was it because they became selfish? Why don't we do that any longer?

Then I read about what happened to Jewish people who believed in Jesus. They were excommunicated from the church.

"...they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. John 9:23

I went online to Bible Hub to see what excommunication entailed.

Put out of the synagogue - 

 Among the Jews there were two grades of excommunication; the one for lighter offences, of which they mentioned 24 causes; the other for greater offences. The first excluded a man for 30 days from the privilege of entering a synagogue, and from coming nearer to his wife or friends than 4 cubits.

The other was a solemn exclusion forever from the worship of the synagogue, attended with awful maledictions and curses, and an exclusion from all contact with the people. This was called the curse, and so thoroughly excluded the person from all communion whatever with his countrymen, that they were not allowed to sell to him anything, even the necessaries of life (Buxtorf). It is probable that this latter punishment was what they intended to inflict if anyone should confess that Jesus was the Messiah: and it was the fear of this terrible punishment that deterred his parents from expressing their opinion.

Barne's Notes on the Bible: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/john/9.htm

So, the Jews who accepted Christ could not be with their families or friends. They couldn't go to the Synagogue. That probably means they all lost their jobs and businesses. Their relatives would shun them. All they would have left is fellow believers.

Jesus said, "Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys."  Luke 12:33

John the Baptist said, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry."   John 3:11

We Christians, the vast majority, don't do these things.

If a man had a job, could he make do with only one shirt? What would he wear when it gets dirty? This is how I get confused when I read the Bible.

I just prayed and asked God for an answer to this. What came to my mind was two true stories.

Story One:  My mother knew a man at church who started a business. He was giving 10% to the Lord. His business grew and he gave 20%. Then it grew and grew; he is now giving 90% of his money to the Lord and charities.

Story Two: A wealthy woman in India was converted to Christianity. She loved buying the most beautiful saris (dresses). She went to Mother Teresa and asked her if she should stop buying saris. Mother Teresa said, " Buy less expensive saris, and then buy saris for poor women at the same time." I thought that was a good answer.

I think if we own extra land, houses, cars, boats etc. we could sell them and give to the poor. I think we should make our wants few and be happy with a simpler life. But I guess we don't have to sell everything unless the Lord asks us to. And that would mean he wants us to do something for him that is special.

Does Something About God Offend You?

Who is God?

And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?"

John's two disciples found Jesus and said to him, "John the Baptist sent us to ask, 'Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?'"

 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 
So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”   Luke 7:17-23

John the Baptist and the Jewish nation expected a Messiah who would drive out the Romans and make them into a great nation. But Jesus had been preaching for a long time and had not said anything about the Romans. Even though John had heard a voice from heaven when he baptized Jesus, he wondered if he had made a mistake.

God is sometimes not the God we thought he was. We can have what they call a "crisis of faith."  We wonder if we have made a mistake. God doesn't do the things we think he should do. We can become offended by God. 

A lot of believers go through this. I just finished reading, Faith Unraveled, by Rachel Held Evans. She began to question what she had been taught about God. She wasn't sure she wanted a God like that. 

It is good to question our beliefs. There are so many different doctrines in the churches that we can learn wrong things about God. We have to study for ourselves and ask for God to lead us. We can ask him what this or that verse might mean and he will light up our minds.

The doctrine of the Messiah in John's day was mistaken. The verses in the Old Testament about Jesus' second coming were mixed up with the verses of his first coming. 

What was Jesus' advice to John? Look at Jesus, and then judge. Was he acting righteous? Was he fulfilling some of the prophecies? Yes, he was. Then Jesus said something very important, "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me."

Let us not be offended by God or Jesus. Keep searching; never give up. You will find him,... "when you search for him with all your heart."  Jeremiah 291:13