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Facing the X-Ray
How shameful it is that an incredibly high percentage of people in our country claims to subscribe to the very same tenets of faith we do. They believe in God, affirm the divinity of Jesus and accept His critical role in “salvation.” They practice prayer with some degree of confidence that it effects change. They hold the Bible in high regard. They see the value of gathering regularly with like-minded people for mutual encouragement and support. They share our alarm over the current situation in our world. How embarrassing to learn that many people — even in this post-Christian, post-modern world — hardly contest what we say stands central to the faith. Yet, even with such seemingly stunning agreement on matters of absolute truth, faith produces little impact on our nation or the world we inhabit. Thus, I hate these surveys. I have come to hate them the way I would hate for my doctor to show me an ominous X-ray exposing grave pathology. Undoubtedly I would at first protest by telling the doctor how well I felt and by pointing to indicators of my still-strong, though perhaps overfed, body. Sooner or later, however, I would have to come to terms with what the X-ray actually revealed. It would not be a pretty picture. So, what’s wrong? Scripture tells the story of God’s creation of the human person in His image. Tragically that story has taken a reckless detour under the influence of powers that seek to undo our world, powers that still menace us in countless ways. But there is hope! God has visited this story — His story — with rescue in mind. In fact, God aims at nothing less than a recreation of human persons and communities after the likeness of the Creator. This is the good news of what God is doing in the world through followers of Christ by the power of His Spirit. God relentlessly works restoration, renewal and recreation. But the X-ray of God’s people in our part of the world makes even the most casual observer wonder. Where are the signs of this great work of God? The church of the 21st century in the West must squarely face the X-ray, acknowledge its poor condition, and take its medicine. We — for the church is people — must trust our Great Physician and submit to radical remedial treatment. The church must yearn for a spiritual re-formation after the likeness of Christ. Dallas Willard asks in his book The Great Omission (Harper San Francisco, 2006), “Where can one find today any group of Christians with an actual plan to teach the people in their group to do everything Jesus said? Indeed, who is sure of the possibility of such a plan?” Willard then insists that “we must find ways that in our current context, can succeed in honestly and thoroughly renovating the inner person so that it bears the identical vision, feelings, and character of Jesus Christ.” The author laments that he does not know of any church that truly aims at this — actually intending to take the story of Scripture seriously — and therefore likely to be seeing positive X-ray results. I don’t know about you, but the poor X-ray image ignites a fire in my bones and a passion in my heart. Not only Scripture — which should be enough — but also our heritage as followers of the Wesley brothers and B. T. Roberts, tells us that we are: a people conforming to the image of Jesus and urgent about helping others love Jesus so deeply that their lives also fall into line with his. This is who we are!
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Some time ago I began to hate those terrible survey figures about what North Americans believe. I hate them because they expose a hard truth about American Christianity. 