Sometime last year, a biblical scholar who is part of the progressive left wrote a blog post that went viral.
In the post, the scholar bulbously argued why he didn’t believe in God anymore. Instead, he now “trusts” God.
All he was doing was using the word “believe” as a synonym for mental assent.
I read the post and shrugged my shoulders. Then I scratched my head, befuddled as to why the post went viral.
There was nothing profound or earth-shaking in it at all. He was just describing the essence of biblical faith . . . which is trust.
I knew today’s Christianity was shallow . . . but has it moved into the universe of boeotianism?
You don’t believe in God anymore, but now you trust Him?
And that’s some sort of a deep revelation that’s worth spreading?
Cough.
When the New Testament uses the word “believe” and “faith,” it’s not talking about ticking off a list of propositional statements that you’ve given assent to. Instead, it always has in view the concept of committed trust.
To believe in the Lord is to entrust yourself to the Lord.
Mental assent doesn’t demand commitment, allegiance, nor submission. Faith does.
I don’t fault this biblical scholar. His post was fine. But what’s troubling to me is why it was spread so many times. As if this were a new revelation.
Even if people were spreading it in droves because they felt others needed to understand that faith means trust, it still betrays the shallowness of contemporary Christianity.
Found this little ditty about “boeotians”
Well, land o’Goshen
There’s a boeotian
Blank and yet wide-eyed
Quite dimwitted
And yet committed
The fact, to never hide.
Across the ocean
Every boeotian
So smug and filled with pride.
Dull in spirit
Could never hear it
Even if they tried.
Sadly, that post may have “nudged” something in many nominal Christians that seems “a given” to many “believing believers”. There is such a difference between “believing IN God” and “believing God” . . . and, as I believe you have succinctly revealed, one brings with it little commitment and the other commits everything we are and have. I haven’t read the post you reference…..I’m surmising based on your post.
*Sadly, so often the gospel is a call to… or to faith in an event, i.e. the work of the cross… rather than the person of Jesus (and his work).
Sometimes the basic things are the most powerful.
You’re right that it should be a given that to believe Biblically is to trust, but I’m not surprised that it comes as a revelation to many.
Sadly, so often the gospel is a call to a set of beliefs or an invitation to a better life – than a call to a person and that entrustment and allegiance that you mention.
Belief and faith, when it is heard from a self-centred rather than Christ-centred perspective, will inevitably be something other than Biblical trust. Which is why I think works like yours and Devern Fromke’s is so important – so thank you for what you bring to the body of Christ to place Jesus front and centre of the church.
All the best,
Paul
Great thoughts Frank, Seems like many today want to position themselves as one who has evolved beyond the church fathers and claim to have some dramatic revelation that will start another reformation. I agree there is a lot that needs to change. We need to grow deep instead of shallow – but that will require more than just a change of words such as believe to trust.
Amen and amen! But this is a big problem, especially in apologetics/evangelism. Unless we make it clear, most non-Christians see “faith” as either make-believe or simple mental assent. And this is a huge problem when we tell people that simply believing in Jesus is all it requires to become a Christian (John 3:16)!
I see your point, but I think between the aforementioned shallowness, the denominations that seem to major on doctrinal assent and purity, and the devolution of the word ‘believe’in modern usage, it felt like a profound reminder to many of an oft overlooked truth.
It might be ‘well, duh’ type thing, but sometimes we can be pretty ‘duh.’ Like the time when I was young and my friend said she asked the Lord for wisdom on what to do about her kids behavior. I felt like I had been hit by lightening. For all my vaunted faith, I had honestly not thought to do that.
I have long been aware of how we systematically de-personalize God, (that is, don’t think of him as a real person) in the way we think of and relate to Him. So I see what you are referring to as another symptom of that.
Sometimes we forget what a desert most of the Body is stuck in, after we have enjoyed the Canaan land for a long time.
“boeotianism” – Now that’s a word you don’t hear every day or week or year or decade…
😉
Tru dat. A boeotian (rhymes with “the ocean”) is a stupid, dull person. The residents of ancient Boeotia were considered such. So boeotianism is stupidity or ignorance. 🙂
Every day I am more and more amazed at the attitude in the Christian community. It’s like even Christian’s want to change God to suit their values. Man, some days it’s just enough to hang on for dear life. I don’t get how you can trust and not believe. I get it a little bit because some things about God are hard to believe and that’s where trust comes in but I also think knowledge about God changes the way we trust Him. Hope that makes sense.