Beyond Belief

“The word ‘evangelical’ has become almost meaningless this year.”

So said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention,
and I would agree. Like an overripe apple tossed around too many times, it’s gotten squishy, lost its shape, and is fast becoming unrecognizable.

It’s in good company. Not too long ago, the word “religious” was generally and inaccurately assumed to mean “Christian,” and the word “Christian” was generally and more accurately assumed to mean “Bible believing.”

But as more people identifying as “Christian” turned out to be something less than Bible-believing in faith and practice, “Evangelical” became a necessary qualifier, along with “Fundamentalist” and “conservative,” to distinguish between traditionalist Bible believers and more theologically liberal folks.

Now even the category of “Evangelical” is up for grabs, having been broadened to include people claiming a Christian identity but holding to more general, even vague beliefs about salvation, church life, sexuality, and how scripture itself should be approached.

We’ll go on adopting then revising our terms of identification as long as language is flexible, but all of this got me thinking about another word scripture uses in reference to us a number of times: “Believer.”

“Then I Saw His Grace, Now I’m a Believer” (My Boomer readers will get it)

In the New Testament, “believer” was used in reference to people who both believed in Christ and were committed to Him. (Acts 5:14) Their beliefs directed their behavior, and the idea of belief without corresponding action was anathema to New Testament thought. (I Timothy 4:12; James 2:19)

Today, though, a number of people identify themselves as believers despite a glaring contradiction between their professed belief and their conduct. (See, for example, statistics by George Barna, indicating the number of self-identified Christians who espouse un-Biblical beliefs or behaviors while still calling themselves believers.)  This leaves us considering the difference between a believer – one who simply believes the right things – versus a disciple, who believes, of course, but whose life and action goes beyond belief.

I’ve been thinking lately about this, in light of both the differences and similarities between sinners, believers and disciples. It seems to me that a sinner sins; a believer believes; and a disciple realizes he sins (though he strives not to), believes, but also strives to learn and follow. That is, after all, the definition of a disciple: One who learns and follows. Plainly put, then, I cannot accurately call myself a disciple unless I am being regularly taught by Him, and am following Him.

Of Belief, Right Belief, and Right Response

A sinner sins, because that’s his nature. No mystery there, and although I’ve been given a new nature (II Corinthians 5:17) I still retain the flesh – the old, carnal nature (Galatians 5:17) that I will eventually put off once and for all, praise God. So I’m not about to exempt myself from the category of a sinner, in that I do sin, will sin, and hopefully, by God’s grace, will continue overcoming sin.

A believer believes, as does the disciple. If and when there’s a difference between the two, it seems to lie in the effect beliefs have on actions. Belief should generate action, but, as the old song says, ‘taint necessarily so.’ People can and do believe the right things without responding to those beliefs. Just consider the number of people attending Bible believing churches where sound doctrine is faithfully taught, who believe all the right things and do all the wrong ones. It’s a common scandal of modern Christianity, and it’s spreading.

I can understand how it happens, because it’s happened to me. I remember clearly how easy it was 40 years ago to make deliberate compromises – a little flirtation; a second look; a quick glance at porn – while still believing and professing all the right things. I paid a terrible price for those concessions, a price I’m not willing to ever pay again.

You’re not either, I trust. Neither you nor I will ever be OK with accepting vague beliefs, nor with believing the right things but refusing to apply them. We both believe in and follow the Lord Jesus, a pursuit we’re more committed to than ever. So let’s keep the fires burning, both in doctrine AND in practice, and strive to be both disciples and believers in the truest sense today.