In attacking Christianity, Nietzsche suggested there is no such thing as “faith,” there is only instinct which Christians cover up as “faith.” For instance, a man decides in his own heart what he should do, prays that God will make it so, and then calls this “faith.”
It was an unfortunate experience to read this and realize that Nietzsche, the Christian-hating nihilist, had defined me so well.
So, really, how faithful are we? How much do we “faithfully” rearrange our lives to fall under God’s plan rather than our own instincts? On the other hand, how often do we presume, practically expect, God will join us on our own quest for success, bless all we touch like Midas, and keep us comfy along the way. He’s little more than a Christian’s Dionysus.
Makes it convenient, huh? Especially when we act so ungodly about our failures and never praise Him for accomplishments.
Here’s what I mean by that: I think we best demonstrate our trust in God and our obedience to his guidance in our attitudes, actions, and the kinds of plans we make. This means that we always filter ourselves through the Word of God irrespective of failure and success. We always align ourselves with his character. We always praise Him. We always live in love. We always exude patience. We always remember that we are citizens of a kingdom, a kingdom whose concerns, intentions, and agenda in no way match the frantic busyness of our American Dream consumerism.
I was thinking about all this because I recently stumbled across an old favorite of mine in the scriptures -
Proverbs 19:3
“A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.”
Do you ever feel as though you’re always blaming God for the tragedies and never praising him for the gifts? What if it was ME who made the tragedy by my own folly and a bit of wisdom would have transformed the whole situation (or at least wisdom might have transformed the way I perceived the situation).
Sadly, we so easily drift from God when the sly waters of our lives unmoor us from godliness and redirect our course to some chaotic sea, and only then do we cry out.
Often, when my life has been so cast aside I do return to God, but I return angry, embittered, disillusioned, undone and messy. He, the gracious one, so kindly ties me back together and reminds me that he is the single rock, the single fixed point that never falters.
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September 7, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Josh W
I think nietzche is sometimes dead on in hitting the appeal of a Jesus-less Christianity. As you say, uncomfortably so. I remember about easter time trying to push a set of sound equipment through a door on a trolley, even though it was precarious and dodgy. My prayer? “Please God make this a good idea!” I realised the backwardsness of this and stopped to consider what I should actually do, when someone turned up to help me.
I was reminded that grace pretty much does grease our life, letting us get away with all sorts of self-glorification and other stupidity, but it’s supposed to lead us to repentance!
I was about to write that the tricky thing after that is finding out what God does want you to do, but then I remembered I’m still avoiding the last thing he told me, and got a bit embarrassed! Don’t let yourself forget the specific challenges of God, as well as his general principles.