Is religion a fool’s game? If religion is folly for the simple minded, I might not want to be seen as zealous or overly committed to religion. If faith in a deity is not a fool’s game and it is real, I don’t want to abandon my belief. Faith is now sunk in the quicksand that exists between belief and unbelief.
The hard part of casual Christianity is how completely and assuredly we convince ourselves that we are not casual about Jesus. We are good at congratulating ourselves for the parts of religious life that we do well. We are also good at ignoring the many times in the day that we do not believe our faith will do us any good. For example, it is possible that we don’t pray because we don’t truly believe that God hears and answers us.
We are independent modern Americans. We pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, try harder, do better. We don’t pray much because we don’t really need God to intervene. Why pray about a headache? All we need is a Tylenol. Why pray about our debt? We can just go find a third job. Why pray about what we will do today? Our calendar is already set. Because we doubt that our faith matters, we set our faith on a shelf and dust it off on high and holy holidays and polish it on the occasions when religious duty requires it.
Symptoms of Casual Christianity
The term “casual Christian” can mean different things to different people. A ministry leader may define a casual Christian as a “Chreaster”, someone who only attends church on Christmas and Easter. Henry Nouwen might define a casual Christian as the person “who never remembers his religion until he is really in a hole”.[1] On the other end of the spectrum is the person who practices religious piety, is very faithful in duty and attendance, and “has an appearance of godliness but denies it’s power” (2 Tim 3:5).
A casual Christian may go to church every Sunday or not at all. Casual Christianity isn’t measured by how religious a person is, but rather by what they believe about Jesus in the average moments of the day. Unbelief mixed with a little bit of belief or a little bit of obedience mixed with disobedience creates in us the “lukewarm” spiritual condition that Jesus warned about (Rev 3: 16).
For the purpose of this article, I will define casual Christianity as any part of my spiritual life where my fear, anxiety, laziness, pride, or lack of focus causes me to behave in a way that is contrary to God’s plan. If I am in control of what I believe or do today and I have intellectual reasons for what I believe and do that is not led by the Spirit, then I am treating Christ and the spiritual life like a casual relationship.
3 symptoms that faith is stuck in the quicksand mixture of belief and unbelief:
1. Service devoid of faith.
An atheist can serve food to the hungry. If I am not intentional about walking in the Spirit, God cannot supernaturally be involved in the lives of others through me.
2. Faith devoid of service.
As James wrote in his letter: “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” (James 2:17).
3. Faith and service devoid of love.
The fruit of the Spirit is love (Gal 5:22). Paul also wrote that if we “have faith that can move a mountain, but have not love”, we are nothing (1 Cor 13:2). Everything that we believe by faith and all of the good deeds that we do with good intentions have no eternal impact without the love of God.
“What is important is faith expressing itself in love” (Gal 5:6).
Other symptoms of casual Christianity:
- Needs God in a pinch but shows no gratitude for God’s daily presence and provision.
- Would write a book to encourage thousands of strangers but neglect to encourage the person next to them on the pew.
- Follows the crowd to where the excitement and inspiration is found but has a shallow understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith.
- Is easily offended in Jesus’ name but has little awareness of the grace, mercy, and love that is found in Christ.
- Needs continual validation from others because the concept of grace and the righteousness of Christ within them is difficult to trust.
What is the antidote to casual Christianity?
Faith and obedience go hand in hand. What I believe determines what I do. If I believe that God hears and answers prayer, I will pray fervently and often. If I believe that the kindness and love of God brings light and healing to others, I will look for ways to share God’s light and love with others. If I believe that the resurrected Lord Jesus is alive and working in the world right now, I will pay attention to where He is working and how I might serve.
Unbelief and disobedience go hand in hand. What I believe determines what I do. If I believe that my choices don’t matter and I can’t do any good in the world, I will live for myself and not ask the involvement of the Holy Spirit. If I believe that God doesn’t hear and answer my prayers, I will struggle to have a consistent prayer life. If I don’t believe that God is by nature loving, kind, and merciful, I may live life burdened by shame and guilt.
A casual Christian makes excuses for their lack of faith. A humble Christian admits their failure to believe and asks for God’s help. A moment of doubt is merely faith struggling to be born. What we decide to do after we doubt is what determines whether we have faith or not.
When we doubt, we should pray “Lord, I believe. Please help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When we pray, we should trust. “God is near to those who call on Him” (Psalm 145:18). When we pray and trust, we can live our day in line with the goodness that God has planned for us.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).
[1] You are the Beloved, Henri Nouwen, The Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust, 2017.
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Copyright @ TA Boland 2023
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