- Jan 25, 2009
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Shalom 
Concerning why I was writing this, I was processing some of the things I've read growing up from the works of C.S Lewis when it comes to our daily walks with the Lord. Lewis is someone whose views I have greatly appreciated, especially as it concerns growth, since he at one point rejected Christianity and became an avowed atheist. And at times, to my knowledge, struggled when coming back to the Lord---but aided others in how to see the Lord in it all. What he noted on how moods change is very big, IMHO. As he said best:
As Lewis said best, "If you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?"
C.S. Lewis said that in England during the 1940s....and how applicable it is for today. For how many people don't actively reject their faith (on intellectual grounds or others), but just gradually wander off? They get distracted. Many times, they stop nurturing their faith through regular worship, much less study. Moreover, they may start mixing in bits and pieces (or large chunks) of other "spiritualities" they've run across, or they may just not think much about spiritual matters at all. ..and they may think of themselves as Christians for a while, but somewhere along the line, they stopped.
That's how it happens often times. ...and as Lewis said, "That is why daily prayers and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life"...and as Lewis said best, "We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this [Christian] belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed."
I'm glad for others who've pointed out the same. One of the authors I grew up with, known as Alan Hirsh, is another one who has done a good job illustrating the point of how many often turn away from the Lord because they fail to realize the concept of growth (as he said here in his book "UnTamed" ). Of course, I disagree with Brother Hirsh on specific points at times, as it concerns the view (from what I've read) that traditional/institutional forms of the Church that were birthed in Christendom are things which are to be moved from. For Allan Hirsch relies on the restorationist meta-narrative that the New Testament church was pure in all things but at one point in history, identified by him as the conversion of Constantine/that era, everything went wrong, and has continued wrong.. That meta-narrative is something I cannot go with fully, even though I do feel there were many things in early Christendom that were not necessarily the ultimate in what the Lord desired ---and one can go either here , here , here or here in his book entitled "The Forgotten Ways" for more on his view/where it has been critiqued---but on many other things, I feel where he has come from 100%.
Something Brother Alan noted about atheism that has struck me heavily is how many turn to it in the claim that they don't find Christianity to be reasonable or "rational"--and yet, if you do enough homework, one will find that what really occurred was that many really didn't find themselves reasonable/rational....for they knew what it was that they were to do, yet couldn't handle seeing the ways that they failed at it. Consequently, what occurred was cognitative dissonance, where they'd disconnected from what was "reality" for them and chose to see the world different. An example Brother Hirsh gave was with a young adult who used to be involved in church and later claimed to the pastor how he was struggling with believing in the concept of God/Theism..and finding more of the arguments against the claims of CHristianity or scripture to be difficult to ignore. In response, the pastor asked "Are you sleeping with your girlfriend?"--to which the young adult was shocked to hear...but replied "Yes." His sin became something so difficult to bear/avoid that it literally caused him to subconsiciously begin to erase the thought of God from his mind---and on the surface, he may've felt that he was simply questioning things/trying to rationally explore...but what was really the case was that he had let himself and the Lord down...and no longer wished to face that.
For more on what Alan said in his story, one can go here.
Of course, not all cases of turning to atheism are based on this----as for many, simply finding logical reasons for believing Christianity or searching for consistency in the Church is why others may struggle for a bit...and for others, seeing how other religions compare to the Faith are reasons why they may explore for sometime as they pursue their quest for truth/truly seeing if there is one way to God.
The reality of science, naturalistic observation and trying to see how that renconciles with faith in the Lord is another reason others struggle.....and for some, growing up in a form of CHristianity where things are highly materialistic/dualistic and wanting to have "rational" answers for all things is part of why they may walk away...only to return when realizing that Christianity was never meant to take away mystery or give answers to ALL aspects of life.
There's also the reality of others who walked away due to feeling that people were simply going through the motions and not truly living out what they claimed to believe.
But all of the reasons behind people turning away from atheism seem to have one theme in common: People did not understand what it meant to be FILLED with the Spirit.
Many have noted how being filled with the Spirit of the Lord daily is central way one can daily be reminded of what it is that they need to do and can be strengthened in their hearts with serving the Lord. For others, it is seen as reading the scriptures alone...but in many Charismatic circles, it is focused on daily having the Holy SPirit fill them in prayer/intercession..others believing it in the form of tongues/prayer languages. There are many differing views on the issue which always make things seem intriguing (as seen here in the ministry of others like John Piper ..John Macarther being another, seen here..or Sam Storms, seen here and here..or Mike Bickle, here)Others feel that being filled with the Spirit is having one's mind renewed by the Holy SPirit, as the proverbial saying is that we all "leak" spiritually...and must be filled daily/growing in the SPirit lest we fall away.
For anyone interested, I'm curious as to what you feel being "filled with the Spirit" means. Do you feel it is what enables one to avoid falling into the evils of the world that surround us---and do you feel it is inclusive of spiritual disciplines like C.S Lewis described when sharing on what helped him avoid falling into atheism?
Concerning why I was writing this, I was processing some of the things I've read growing up from the works of C.S Lewis when it comes to our daily walks with the Lord. Lewis is someone whose views I have greatly appreciated, especially as it concerns growth, since he at one point rejected Christianity and became an avowed atheist. And at times, to my knowledge, struggled when coming back to the Lord---but aided others in how to see the Lord in it all. What he noted on how moods change is very big, IMHO. As he said best:
Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever your view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods where they get off, you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.
The first step is to recognize the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?
The first step is to recognize the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
As Lewis said best, "If you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?"
C.S. Lewis said that in England during the 1940s....and how applicable it is for today. For how many people don't actively reject their faith (on intellectual grounds or others), but just gradually wander off? They get distracted. Many times, they stop nurturing their faith through regular worship, much less study. Moreover, they may start mixing in bits and pieces (or large chunks) of other "spiritualities" they've run across, or they may just not think much about spiritual matters at all. ..and they may think of themselves as Christians for a while, but somewhere along the line, they stopped.
That's how it happens often times. ...and as Lewis said, "That is why daily prayers and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life"...and as Lewis said best, "We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this [Christian] belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed."
I'm glad for others who've pointed out the same. One of the authors I grew up with, known as Alan Hirsh, is another one who has done a good job illustrating the point of how many often turn away from the Lord because they fail to realize the concept of growth (as he said here in his book "UnTamed" ). Of course, I disagree with Brother Hirsh on specific points at times, as it concerns the view (from what I've read) that traditional/institutional forms of the Church that were birthed in Christendom are things which are to be moved from. For Allan Hirsch relies on the restorationist meta-narrative that the New Testament church was pure in all things but at one point in history, identified by him as the conversion of Constantine/that era, everything went wrong, and has continued wrong.. That meta-narrative is something I cannot go with fully, even though I do feel there were many things in early Christendom that were not necessarily the ultimate in what the Lord desired ---and one can go either here , here , here or here in his book entitled "The Forgotten Ways" for more on his view/where it has been critiqued---but on many other things, I feel where he has come from 100%.
Something Brother Alan noted about atheism that has struck me heavily is how many turn to it in the claim that they don't find Christianity to be reasonable or "rational"--and yet, if you do enough homework, one will find that what really occurred was that many really didn't find themselves reasonable/rational....for they knew what it was that they were to do, yet couldn't handle seeing the ways that they failed at it. Consequently, what occurred was cognitative dissonance, where they'd disconnected from what was "reality" for them and chose to see the world different. An example Brother Hirsh gave was with a young adult who used to be involved in church and later claimed to the pastor how he was struggling with believing in the concept of God/Theism..and finding more of the arguments against the claims of CHristianity or scripture to be difficult to ignore. In response, the pastor asked "Are you sleeping with your girlfriend?"--to which the young adult was shocked to hear...but replied "Yes." His sin became something so difficult to bear/avoid that it literally caused him to subconsiciously begin to erase the thought of God from his mind---and on the surface, he may've felt that he was simply questioning things/trying to rationally explore...but what was really the case was that he had let himself and the Lord down...and no longer wished to face that.
For more on what Alan said in his story, one can go here.
Of course, not all cases of turning to atheism are based on this----as for many, simply finding logical reasons for believing Christianity or searching for consistency in the Church is why others may struggle for a bit...and for others, seeing how other religions compare to the Faith are reasons why they may explore for sometime as they pursue their quest for truth/truly seeing if there is one way to God.
The reality of science, naturalistic observation and trying to see how that renconciles with faith in the Lord is another reason others struggle.....and for some, growing up in a form of CHristianity where things are highly materialistic/dualistic and wanting to have "rational" answers for all things is part of why they may walk away...only to return when realizing that Christianity was never meant to take away mystery or give answers to ALL aspects of life.
There's also the reality of others who walked away due to feeling that people were simply going through the motions and not truly living out what they claimed to believe.
But all of the reasons behind people turning away from atheism seem to have one theme in common: People did not understand what it meant to be FILLED with the Spirit.
For anyone interested, I'm curious as to what you feel being "filled with the Spirit" means. Do you feel it is what enables one to avoid falling into the evils of the world that surround us---and do you feel it is inclusive of spiritual disciplines like C.S Lewis described when sharing on what helped him avoid falling into atheism?
