The Gods of Christianity

Brian Dennis

• Publisher: Elm Hill
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781400326327
• eBook ISBN: 9781400326334
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Personality in Psychology

The fact that surprisingly few Christians actually know and experience the mighty God we preach about, teach about, and sing about is evidenced by the abundance of doubt, worry, and fear that permeate our lives. It is evidenced by the lack of faith and power exemplified in our Churches. It is evidenced by the ordinary lives we live while claiming to be children of the most high God. The resulting inconsistencies between the things we boldly profess and the things we commonly practice have unfortunately become accepted as normal Christian behavior. We no longer expect anything more--not from our own lives, not from the Church, not even from God Himself.

This lack of expectancy, this lack of faith in the faithfulness of God clearly indicates a distinct difference between the God we preach and the God we have personally come to know. It reveals that we do not know the very God we proclaim. We do not know the God of the Bible; for if we knew Him, the Church would indeed be an eminent light shining in the darkness, a city set on a hill, an indelible force against which the powers of this present evil world could not prevail.

The God we do know, however, the God with whom so many Christians have become familiar, unfortunately, allows us to live comfortably in the weakness of our complacency and blatant disbelief. We live far below the high calling that Christ has placed upon His Church. We walk in ways that deny the very power and authority that belong to the children of God. We do not live by faith. Sadly, we have learned to live in such a way as to where there is no distinguishable difference between the lives of those who claim to know Christ and the lives of those who do not--no distinguishable difference between the Church and the world.

The good news is that the truth remains. The God of the Bible is still there. He can do no other than prove Himself faithful to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness--to those who hear His voice and obey. Yes, to those who would yet have a heart to know Him, He is there to be known. We must first, however, lay aside all notions of the small God we have come to know and we must dare to see Him as He is if we are to rise above the routine of cultural Christianity and walk in the truth of knowing Christ.

The God whom Christians talk about and the God whom Christians talk to are surprisingly different. Surprising in that the differences between them, which are significant and actually quite obvious to the world, have somehow eluded those of us who claim to know Christ, resulting in the tremendous disconnect between the things Christians boldly profess and the things Christians commonly practice. Simply put, we say one thing, live another, and are seemingly oblivious to the resulting inconsistencies this produces in our lives. On the other hand, the world is well aware of our inconsistencies. They hear what we say, they see what we do, they know the difference, and well they should. It is our eyes that are apparently blinded. We are blinded by either the power of true spiritual deception or by the mere weakness of our own willful ignorance. Regardless of the cause, the problem remains; it can neither be denied nor defended.

For example, let us consider even a few of the most basic claims touted by Christians. First of all, we claim to know God. In doing so, obviously, we are not merely expressing a general belief in the existence of God, nor are we limiting our claim specifically to a personal faith in Christ’s atoning work on the cross. But when we claim to know God, we claim to be living our daily lives in an ongoing, moment-by-moment, personal relationship with the eternal God of the universe. We claim to experience His presence and to feel His touch. We claim to walk and talk with Him. We claim to hear His speaking voice, and to be living our lives in obedience to what we hear Him say. Yes, we claim to actually know God, and to relate to Him in the very same manner in which we commonly relate to others.

We claim to have been born of His Spirit, making us His children. As children of God, we claim to be holy, separated, and peculiarly different. We claim an intimate familiarity with our Father, with access to all that He is and does. We claim to walk in His knowledge, His wisdom, and His power. We claim to rely upon and enjoy His provision, abundance, blessing, and favor. We claim to live under His divine guidance and protection. We claim to be living our lives trusting and resting in His infinite love, casting all of our cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for us.

We claim to be followers of Christ, which means that we claim to have denied our very lives, to have laid them down, to have actually died unto ourselves, taken up our crosses, and are purposefully following in His footsteps; for Jesus Himself stipulated this specific requirement of any and all who would come after Him (Luke 9:23).

We claim to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Instead, we claim to have our affections set on things above. We claim to have our hearts focused on things eternal. We claim to be seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We claim that none of our desires compare with the desire that we have for Him, and that the longing of our hearts is devoted to the cause of Christ and His gospel.

We claim to be believers. As believers, we claim to not doubt, but to actually believe. We claim to believe the Bible. We claim to believe everything God says about Himself, about the world, and about His children. We claim to believe that absolutely nothing will ever be impossible for us. We claim that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. We claim that we can ask anything in His name, and He will do it. We claim the ability to speak to mountains and watch as they are cast into the sea. We claim our prayer of faith will save the sick. We claim the ability to do even greater things than Jesus Himself did, as we remain in the earth as His ambassadors and witnesses, operating in the power and authority of His name to accomplish His will.

Ultimately, we claim to have the very Spirit of Almighty God Himself, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, living in our mortal bodies right here and now, to where it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Hence we proclaim to the world, “If you want to see Jesus…look at me.”

We could certainly continue our list of valiant claims proposed by Christians, and we could do so with a fair amount of confidence that, while many of those claims may sound a bit extreme and perhaps even absurd, most of them I think we will find to be actually quite legitimate. I think it is safe to say that all sincere Christians desire to know and to follow the truth, with the standard of truth resting solely upon scripture. Anyone reading the Bible must admit that it is an extraordinary book. It is the book of heaven and earth. It is the account of angels, demons, and mortal man. It is the story of dreams, visions, and spiritual forces in heavenly realms. It is the tale of giants, dragons, horsemen, and terrifying beasts. It is filled with possibilities. In it, the lame walk, the blind see, and even the dead are raised to life. Men walk on water. Men walk through fire. Men pass through seas on dry land. There is the sound of a mighty rushing wind, unleashed power, and God indwelling man. Water turns to wine, sinners become saints, and at the center of it all is the God whose name is “I AM.” This book of faith is filled with miracles and wonders. It is filled with audacity and extreme. It is truly amazing. Therefore, anyone forming a doctrine based on scripture will inevitably find himself face-to-face with a doctrine that is just as audacious, just as extreme, and just as amazing.

The rest of us, perhaps, need to carefully reexamine the basis of our own personal beliefs. Most of us are guilty of taking the infinite, unchanging, eternal God, whose ways are past finding out; and reducing Him to one who fits comfortably within the confines of our own limited abilities and understanding. We are guilty of taking the God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we are able to ask or even imagine, and limiting Him to the tenets of our socially acceptable doctrines, where everything remains tame, manageable, and safe; unlike those in previous generations of whom the truth testifies that they went forth and preached mightily the message of a risen Savior, the Holy Spirit Himself faithfully working with them, confirming His own word with signs and wonders following (Mark 16:20). Most of our messages today are generally not so bold as to elicit the validation of God’s manifest power and presence. Most of us, in all honesty, must deny even the attempt to carry our faith to the extent that scripture invites, or shall we say, to the extent that scripture demands. In doing so, we have inadvertently drawn an incriminating line between the things we profess and the things we practice.

How far are we willing to carry the claims of scripture? How much of the Bible do we truly believe as it relates to the lives of those of us living in the world today? Is it a spiritual ideal, a religious exaggeration, a mere message to be preached; or is it true that all scripture is God-breathed? Is it true that all scripture—including the scripture that we do not understand, the scripture we purposely ignore, the scripture we willfully omit, even the scripture we outright reject and deny—is inspired by God? Is it infallible, inerrant, and eternal? Dare we agree that it is all profitable for doctrine and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)? Dare we conclude it to be truth, intended by God from the beginning to be experienced by all who believe, according to His own will and purpose?

While we are busy contemplating the troubling consequences of the reality that many of us do not actually believe, nor walk, in much of what we profess, it is vital for the testimony of the Church that all of us who claim to know Christ be made aware of the fact that the world has indeed looked at us. They have heard our claims, they have witnessed the lives that we actually live, and as previously stated, they have been well aware of our inconsistencies for a long, long time. However, instead of calling us out and condemning us for our apparent hypocrisies, the world, surprisingly, continues to look. They co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Content
• The Gods of Christianity
• Back cover