Spiritual Survival Guide
2: Read This If You’re Confused About Faith
ever make a momentous decision like that and not know it? That just doesn’t make sense. The logic seems to be: no conscious decision, no real faith, no real belonging. There are a lot of us who do need to make a decision to commit to Christ and his way—people who clearly need a conscious radical break to experience real life change. For whatever reason, some of us just need to be confronted, led by the hand—or dragged kicking and scream-
each other where we are—respect who we are—and lead each other to Jesus down a path that’s natural for each one of us. We need to be patient and flexible enough to give people a loving but much-needed intervention when that’s called for, as well as giving others enough room to road-test the Christian faith and see that God is real. That’s going to take patience and persistence on everyone’s part. Some people make a dramatic decision and then backslide at some point. That’s okay—we’ve just got to be persistent. Others take a really long time getting over their skepticism. That’s okay, too. There are no short- cuts when it comes to authentic faith. Coming to faith in God involves God changing things. First off, God changes us. And then, through us, God begins to change the world. Jesus calls each one of us to be in the world-changing business. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer, was once trying to lure John Sculley, a top executive with Pepsi Cola, to come and work with him at Apple. He tried all kinds of incentives, but Sculley wasn’t going to take the job. Finally, Jobs looked Sculley in the eye and asked him, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?” Sculley later said that the question knocked the wind out of his sails. It sent his life off in a new direction. He took the job. That’s the kind of question you’re facing as an inmate: Do you want to spend the next few years doing your sentence, or do you want a chance to change the world? Every time you lean on the Holy Spirit and help someone find their God-given purposes for living—you change the world. Every time you help an addicted friend decide to get sober with God’s help—you change the world.
ing—to the moment of decision. Some of us need a clear, conscious radical decision to begin that radical turnaround. Some of us are like people with serious addictions, whose lives are out of control. Some of us need an intervention.
An intervention is like something right out of the Bible. It’s like the murderous Saul get- ting knocked on his rear end by a vision of the risen Jesus. For that great story of intervention (it’s told three times), check out Acts 9:1-9, 22:1-16, and 26:1-18. But for every one of us who needs a faith intervention, there’s another person for whom intervention and confrontation doesn’t quite fit. The world is also full of people who need to come to faith in Christ not in a moment of decision but over a long process. These people start by belonging and experiencing —and then coming to believe. Some people have trouble trusting any kind of authority or any kind of argument. We need to experience for ourselves before we’ll commit. That applies to the Christian faith as well. We need to try it on for size, see if feels right, kick the tires, shop around. For some of us, it’s a process. That means we’ve got to be flexible with each other. We’ve got to meet
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