romans road: a faith crisis

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬ - “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

First a confession - you need to know that I am almost a month late submitting this post. 

I wish I wasn’t a busy guy, but I am. And also I over think everything. I’ve been pondering this post from the moment Aziza asked me to write it. But I kept hesitating because I really wanted to find the right words to convey my thoughts on the scripture above, and on Evangelism in general. So I hope you’ll forgive my delay. 

But my delay actually fits into my reflection on the text above. As some of you know, I came to Jesus at four years old and I started reading the Bible at six.

I know, I know - super early. 

I didn’t understand much at first. Psalm 23 & 100 made sense, and I loved the pictures in my children’s Bible. But it wasn’t ‘til I was ten that I really started digging into the text. I was a nerd. I loved looking up the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic and pondering the possibilities of those synonyms on the meaning of scripture. 

Early on, I understood that some scriptures could not be taken literally - but all of it should be looked at seriously. My appreciation for the text carried me into my twenties and the beginnings of my career in college/campus ministry.

I remember the first time someone said to me, “Wow, I thought you were a liberal!” I asked them what led them to make that assumption and they responded: “well, you always focus on the OT prophets when you preach.” I didn’t know that one’s political beliefs could be discerned based on the texts they preached. I thought it was all God’s word - fair game for teaching and helping people follow Jesus. 

Sometime later, a few of my students (who came from strong Christian families) let me know that they were concerned by how little I focused on evangelism and inviting people to make decisions to accept Christ. Again, I was shocked that this was the feedback I was getting. By this point, I was preaching out of Acts and Ephesians - focused on teaching what Jesus-centered community looks like. 

In some respects, I wasn’t sure we were ready to receive new believers in our midst until we realized our role in welcoming folks into community. Regardless, wasn’t it enough that I was preaching scripture? The way I read Paul- as long as I was preaching from scripture and proclaiming Jesus, people would hear it and receive faith. 

I was late to the realization that...WAIT - PAUSE!

Please don’t assume that my early-age encounters with faith and the Bible made me more knowledgeable about either. If anything, I grew up like most kids in Evangelical circles - believing things that I was told without questioning. And like many of those kids I eventually ran into inconsistencies, hypocrisies and power-trips that led to deconstruction of my faith. The only difference may be that I had ‘scriptural receipts’ for it all - actual understandings of the text that made me wonder why Christian leaders would preach one thing and live another. 

The crisis of my faith was more about deciding if I was willing to quietly, but consistently challenge the assumption that one had to take the Bible literally in order to truly follow Jesus. I was late to saying yes to this challenge, as I’m always so late to all things. 

UNPAUSE.

I was late to the realization that the words of Paul in the above scripture should not be taken literally- but seriously. Firstly, if you read the entire passage you’ll find that Paul is actually trying to work out his love and hope for the descendants of Abraham while maintaining his belief that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. I honestly don’t fully understand what Paul is trying to say in chapter 10. But, how we use verse 17 must be in light of and in line with that broader theme. 

Regardless, here’s my takeaway:

Faith does NOT simply come by hearing words; as if the things we do, the institutions we build, and the real-time impact of our witness doesn’t contribute to how someone’s faith begins or grows. And hearing does NOT happen by simply reading scripture in public - generally or specifically about Christ. The transmittal of faith is a work of the Holy Spirit that obviously includes words but also requires and demands so much more from the followers of Jesus.

So, if only liberals preach from the OT Prophets to remind God’s people that what we do in the world affects other’s ability to hear the Gospel, then for the sake of the faith of others I’ll bear that label. And I’ll take every critique about my commitment to evangelism while maintaining that allowing those exploring faith to feel unwelcome in our communities is, in my opinion, a sin against the Holy Spirit. We Christians have used words for a long time to proclaim our faith; and it’s deafening. Let’s allow our actions, from neighborhoods to nations, to speak of our hope in Jesus. This is the message the world is waiting to see...and hear.