The 7 Pillars of Belief
I have wrestled with an obvious problem faced by the Church in the Western world. The majority of people claim to believe in God, and even claim Christianity as their religion of choice, and yet the statistical differences between those who claim to follow Christ and those who do not are practically indistinguishable. Divorce rates, sexual practices, charitable giving, etc., are not dramatically different, even though one could easily assume that following Jesus would make significant differences in every facet of life. Why is this the case?
This is the question I pursued in my doctoral studies. I found out that many leading authors, church leaders, and theologians were lamenting the same concern, and all pointed to the same basic cause of the problem: the foundation for many self-identified Jesus-followers is either weak or incomplete. They are trying to build the life Jesus promised on an inadequate infrastructure, and are, consequently, not seeing it come to fruition. It makes sense – if your faith foundation is incomplete, it is virtually impossible that you will experience the complete experience you long for.
I want to share with you seven pillars of our belief that, if constructed and maintained, will provide the basis for a great experience of faith, and a mind-blowing, world-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you really want to dig dip, check out Gordon Smith’s Beginning Well – it was very instrumental in helping me understand what the incomplete-complete thing is all about. What follows is a description of the pillars, illustrated by a passage of scripture found in the Gospel of John, with basic take-home points and their respective challenges.
Most of us enter the discussion of faith with some understanding – some pillars have been constructed to some degree. Therefore, expect to feel more “at home” with some components. And, conversely, expect some pillars to be foreign. That’s normal. And it’s also the point – the goal is to gain a more complete foundation for faith so that the fruit of our faith is more complete as well.
Lastly, note that all pillars are created equal, and there is no “starting” place. The order in which the pillars are presented is not meaningful.
The Intellectual Pillar (John 3:1-21)
Jesus was gaining notoriety for being an insightful – even profound – speaker. On one occasion a leading Pharisee named Nicodemus came to see him at night. His reasons for the timing was likely twofold – Jesus was available for a longer discussion, and none of Nicodemus’ contemporaries would see him! Through their discussion, Nicodemus, despite his years of extensive training, discovered he had a great deal to learn about God and Jesus. One big thing he learned that night was that eternal life isn’t just about having an afterlife. Jesus’ words indicated that eternal life is not just a destination, but also a quality of life for all the days of our life leading up to heaven. Another big thing he learned was that being born again meant that a whole new way of life was to be learned and lived in order to experience eternal life, especially the present quality of life.
The take home point from Nicodemus’ exchange with Jesus is that we need to be aware that we don’t know it all, and don’t have it all figured out. No matter how many years we study, there will still be room to grow in our understanding. This is an awesome truth about God – you can’t outlive or outlearn how awesome he is. Would you want it any other way?
The challenge of this pillar is for us to identify how we are growing in this intellectual arena. Are you reading your Bible regularly? Are you just buzzing through it, or really digesting it? Are you reading for understanding or brownie points? The great news is that we live in a time of tremendous resource. Study Bibles are relatively inexpensive. The Internet has many sites for deeper Bible study. The question is, are you willing to move, as Nicodemus did, into greater understanding of God? How?
The Emotional Pillar (John 11:1-44)
Martha and Mary were close friends with Jesus, as was their brother, Lazarus, who became deathly ill. Having see Jesus perform many miracles by this point in his ministry – including healing – they sent a messenger to call for his help. It took a day for the messenger to travel to where Jesus was doing ministry along the banks of the Jordan river, somewhere north of Jerusalem. While the messenger traveled (unbeknownst to him), Lazarus died. Jesus knew this, however, which is why he lingered where he was for two more days before making the daylong journey to Bethany. Upon his arrival, he was informed that Lazarus had been dead four days, which, for Jews, symbolized death’s finality – all hope was gone. Martha and Mary already believed in Jesus deeply. But can you imagine how their confidence level, or their heart-level of knowing increased as they watched Jesus call a dead Lazarus to walk out of his tomb, alive again? Many people put their belief in Jesus that day, based on the emotional experience of seeing Jesus’ action on that day.
The take home point for me is that we are called to not just have an intellectual appreciation of Jesus, but an emotional “knowing” that Jesus is everything he said he is. This kind of knowing requires a relationship with Jesus, engaging him in our present life, in order that he might reveal himself to us, thereby giving us an experiential understanding of who he is.
The challenge is to continually develop and foster this kind of relationship. There are at least three ways to do this. First, you can build on the experience of those you meet in the pages of scripture. Place yourself in the stories you read. Imagine what it must have been like. How would you react if you were right there watching Jesus do and say all that he did? A second way is to give God the opportunity to build your own story by conversing with God constantly, daily. When you do this, you will begin to grow in awareness of his interplay in your life. You will sense him leading you, and being an active participant in your life. The more you do this, the more your confidence in him will increase. A third way is to imagine how you will think and behave when you are in heaven, in the full presence of God. Rather than wait until then to think and behave in those ways, begin now. In so doing, you will see your attitude and behavior change, which will also grow your emotional knowing. Remember, though, the commitment is to be in a living relationship with Jesus so that your knowledge of him is more than an intellectual pursuit. How will you develop and maintain this pillar?
The Communal Pillar (John 13:1-17)
Imagine yourself hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at your place, and the guest of honor is Jesus. You would do everything to make sure to honor your special guest. Imagine how you would feel if, after dessert, Jesus asks for a toilet brush and some cleaner for which to tackle your bathroom. You would be horrified, and passionately insist that he do no such thing, right? When Jesus washed his disciples feet, they had a similar reaction as you would have in the scenario above. But Jesus made two things clear to them: if they didn’t let him serve them in this way, they could no longer call themselves his disciples, and that if he served them in this way, they should likewise serve each other. Serving and being served by fellow believers was mandated and modeled by Jesus in this passage.
The take home regarding this passage is related to the importance of community. The reality is that we all long to love and be loved, which cannot happen apart from intimate community. The world is full of shallow relationships, but Jesus calls us to depth. He mandated this level of community because he knew we really wouldn’t learn how to love and be loved without it, that true life change very rarely occurs apart from it, and that the overall witness of his disciples would be exponentially more powerful if it was born out of and proven in their relationship with each other.
The challenge is difficult for many of us. We live in a culture that has been greatly shaped by radical individualism, which tells us that we can do anything and everything all by our lonesome, including a rich Christian life. Jesus states otherwise. If you want to become who you were meant to be, you must place yourself in community. Small groups are the best place for this to take place. Some are task driven, some are doing life together type groups, but all meet regularly and fairly frequently to foster real-deal community. How will you build this pillar into your life so that the life Jesus has for you can be realized?
The Penitential Pillar (John 8:1-11)
Sometimes good, well-meaning people do really stupid things. Jesus was teaching in or around the temple in Jerusalem, when he was interrupted by religious leaders who wanted to get rid of Jesus by discrediting or imprisoning him. They thought they had a fool-proof plan: they brought in a woman just caught in the act of adultery, wearing nothing but a sheet, humiliating her before a crowd of people who just wanted to listen to Jesus teach. In asking Jesus to decide her fate, they thought he would either incriminate himself with Roman authorities, or make himself out to be a teacher who disregarded Jewish law. But they became the fools as Jesus made his famous declaration: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Sin, the Bible teaches, is not just behavior, but attitudes and a nature that is opposed to the way of God. One by one they left, leaving Jesus alone with the guilty woman. Everybody knew she was guilty – a confession was assumed by the context. Jesus told her that he did not condemn her – she was forgiven. But he also told her to leave her life of sin.
The take home is to recognize the important of repentance – coming before God honestly, agreeing with him about the sin in our lives, and receiving his forgiveness. Being in denial about our sin only perpetuates the problematic attitude and behavior. As everyone has heard, the first step really is to admit that you have a problem. God always forgives, which gives us great confidence in asking for his grace. But he doesn’t forgive us in order that we may return to our sin. That would be antithetical to God’s character. He wants to us experience life at its best, which means less and less impacted by our sin nature and our sinful behaviors and attitudes.
The challenge is to be forever humble before God, recognizing that nobody is perfect, including ourselves, and therefore we have no right to judge others, and we have great need of God’s grace if we are to continue to walk with him. As in every healthy relationship, when one party offends the other, some kind of reconciliation is necessary. Since God is never wrong and always holy and blameless, we know that we are always the offending party, and therefore need to come to him in order to maintain a healthy relationship with him. Once graced, we commit to not returning to sin, but strive anew to live his way, which always leads to life at its best. How’s your pillar doing in this regard? When was the last time you prayed to God admitting your mistakes and desire for forgiveness and a new beginning? Do you realize it’s meant to be a constant thing – not so we’ll grovel, but so that we’ll maintain a close relationship with God, which he longs for and we need? What changes do you need to make in order to construct or maintain this pillar?
The Charismatic Pillar
(John 14: 15-17, 26; 15:26-26; 16:7-14)
For a culture that claims to be spiritual, we sure seem to struggle in our understanding of the Holy Spirit! For many of us, God is “out there” somewhere, shows up occasionally, and we’re fine with this somewhat sporadic relationship. It keeps us in the driver’s seat. We can choose to recognize and respond to God whenever we want, if at all. But Jesus described something much more powerful and personal when he spoke of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit which he would impart fully once he ascended to heaven. The Paraclete is a help-mate for all believers. He is the presence Jesus living inside of those who have welcomed him as the one who saves and the one who leads their life. In this way, God continually guides us personally, and compensates for our shortcomings as needed.
The take home is that we are called to wake up to a truly spirituality which is difficult for the Western mind to comprehend. We are spiritual beings by design, and God has gifted us with his Spirit to make the life he calls us to a reality.
The challenge is significant, because we are so accustomed to only that part of reality which can be rationally derived. The dimension of the Spirit is completely rational theologically, but it is difficult to qualify in physical terms. Therefore a leap of faith is required whereby we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit. Since he is a person of the trinity, he is a person to invite into our lives. He will make himself known to us, and he will exactly resemble Jesus in character. Have you allowed yourself to even acknowledge the Holy Spirit? How have you developed this pillar of faith that is the breath of life for all that is of God?
The Sacramental Pillar (John 9)
Jesus was walking along, and came upon a man who had been blind since birth. People commonly believed that this kind of blindness indicated sin – on the part of a direct relative, or even on the part of the baby! Jesus made a paste of dirt and his own spittle, put it on the man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Upon washing, the man could see! This caused quite a stir among the religious leaders, for two reasons. First, Jesus did a miracle on the Sabbath, which broke a Jewish law (at least in their interpretation). Secondly, and more importantly, this miracle indicated the forgiveness of sins. They relentlessly interrogated the man. At each encounter, the formerly blind man’s confidence grew stronger. Toward the end of the story, we see the man coming to grips with the person of Jesus. His basic rebuttle to their statement? There was a lot he didn’t know, but, he said, “One thing I do know, I once was blind, but now I see.”
This passage was a primary account referred to in the early church when a person would be baptized. They would state the words of the formerly blind man and be immersed in water as a visual portrayal depicting of the death and resurrection of Jesus, as a symbol of their dying to their old life and being born again to life in Jesus’ name, and as a public statement of their allegiance to Jesus. The Lord’s Supper (also called Communion, Eucharist or Bread and Cup) became symbols of the same proclamation for ongoing disciples. These were mandated by Jesus as sacraments – we are to treat them as sacred acts.
The take home for us today is that we are called to identify ourselves with Jesus accordingly. We are called to be baptized, symbolizing the same thing it has for others for centuries. And we are called to continually remember and recommit to Jesus with Communion. These sacraments reinforce personal commitment, galvanize unity among believers, and proclaim our witness to the world around us.
The challenge is to honor the sacraments. We can very easily find ourselves on auto-pilot when it comes to baptism and communion. Since baptism is also a prerequisite for church membership, some people see it as a hoop to jump through in order to be a member. Sometimes we engage the Eucharist as a necessary tradition, but are frustrated because it tends to elongate the worship service. Have you been baptized? Do realize it is not an option, but a mandate Jesus extends to you? Have you (re)considered the import of the Bread and Cup as a sacred remembrance of what you believe?
The Volitional Pillar (John 21:15-23)
Peter and the disciples had just finished eating breakfast on the shores of the Sea of Galilee when the resurrected Jesus asked him three penetrating, identical questions: do you love me more than these? The “these” he was referring to may have been his fishing gear, his friends, or the love his friends had for Jesus. But when the third round came, Peter became humbly aware of the depth of the question. Not more than a few weeks before, Peter had been asked – three times within a very short timeframe – if he was affiliated with Jesus. Three times in a row, Peter denied knowing Jesus. This was a moment of reinstatement for Peter, a time to be forgiven and challenged anew to follow Jesus. And what was Jesus calling Peter to do? Jesus was basically telling Peter that if he loved him, Jesus would have to be the number one person in his life, that no other allegiance could be higher. That’s what “follow me” means.
The take home is simple: we are called to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, allowing him to truly lead every aspect of our lives. Not all disciples are called to the same task, be all are called to the same level of devotion. Jesus is to hold the reins of our personal health, our relationships, our finances, our vocation, our dreams – everything. He wants this because he wants us to experience abundant life, and he is the only one who knows the way to abundance given the multidimensional, complicated lives we lead.
The challenge is to not only agree to his leadership, but to actually follow his direction. We must get to a foundational place and decide if we can really trust Jesus with how we should live our life. Until we make that decision, we’ll resist him all the way. Once we’ve made the decision to trust his leadership, then we must allow him to make his ways known to us in order that we may follow. The Bible, other Christians, and the Holy Spirit are the primary ways he clues us in to the new life he wants us to live. In order to construct and maintain this pillar, you must ask yourself if you have really allowed yourself to be “born again”, or if you’ve settled for a Christian façade overlaying your life. If you want to know and experience the life Jesus offers – which is salvation – give your primary allegiance to him.
