Rev. Ron Sumners
January 8, 1995
John Lennon was no ordinary musician. He was born into poverty in a working class distinct of England, forsaken in childhood by his father and without the benefit of any higher education, he rose to a position of worldwide popularity and influence. He was honored by the queen of England. His work was discussed in scholarly journals. But the friends who knew him said he was cocky, antiestablishment and satirical. His open involvement in psychedelic drugs, experiments in Eastern Mysticism, and disdain for conventional morality shocked his critics but endeared him to a rebellious generation of young people.
One night on the street in front of his New York apartment, 40 year old John Lennon was shot dead. Within hours editorials, accolades and eulogies began pouring out from the media. Lennon was described as "a brilliant historian and critic of his life and times," "the driving force behind a revolution which shook the world" and "a true creative artist." Acclaimed as "a genuine intellect" and "a champion of peace and personal freedom," he also was seen as "an alien in an incredible and maddening world, trying to fight his way out to sanity."
Lennon's widow announced that there would be no funeral simply a ten-minute period of silence to commemorate his memory and "pray for his soul". At the appointed hour the people gathered; in Liverpool, London, Chicago, Sydney, and around the world. Over 100,000 people, including the mayor gathered in New York's Central Park. There was sadness, anger at the senseless nature" of the death, and expressions of appreciation for Lennon's music. But there was little hope!
John Lennon had once written a song summarizing his beliefs. "I don't believe in magic, the lyrics began, and neither did he believe in the Bible, Religion, Jesus, Buddha, Yoga, Kings or even the Beatles, the group he started. "I just believe in me," he wrote. "That's reality!"
That also could be a doctrinal statement, a concise summary of what millions like Lennon believe today. The era in which we live has been called "one of the most religiously saturated periods in our history." The sale of Bibles and religious literature abounds. Churches tend to be filled with worshipers. Television and radio evangelists have attracted millions of followers to what had been termed "the electronic church." Bible studies and religious discussion groups have sprung up around the world.
But the divorce rate also is increasing. Pornography is selling at a record rate. Crime is up and moral standards are down. Millions claim to believe in God, but in America the present appears to be the most godless era of our history. Even among professing Christians the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Paul seems to have been replaced with worship of ourselves and the quest for personal happiness, pleasure, freedom and possessions.
We want to believe in God's goodness, in God's blessings and in an-afterlife, but life is empty for many people. They exist and sometimes mourn, but without any purpose in the present or hope for the future. They believe only in themselves and claim "that's reality." And often, too late, they find they weren't worth that belief.
A few months before John Lennon's death, a public opinion poll in the United States asked an interesting question: 'Would you say that you have been ''born again' or have had a 'born again' experience, that is, a turning point in your life when you committed yourself to Christ?" A 'yes' answer was given by 35% of those polled. That's a figure which could translate into 50 million Americans who are 18 years of age or older, all claiming to have committed themselves to Christ.
It isn't surprising that a sensitive reporter asked pollster George Gallup why our society isn't better than it is, when so many people claim to have been born again. The pollster's response was revealing. "I suppose if people really, truly believed in the physical resurrection of Christ, more of them would be in Calcutta working with Mother Teresa or on the mission fields or volunteering their time in helping organizations to help people, instead of having three cars, a boat and spending more on fast food restaurants than they contribute to their local church. There is a huge gap between mere belief, and real conviction and practice."
Modem religion appears to be characterized more by "mere belief ' than by "real conviction and practice." Many people have found that it is fashionable to be religious, socially acceptable to be a church member, and even prestigious to be considered "born again." One of the issues in political races for Christians has been which candidate was the "born again-est." When religion is widely tolerated and accepted, however, there is a danger that even sincere believers will slip into a form of Christianity which is convenient and so easy that it might be called "Believism. " I want us to look at some of the disturbing aspects of "Believism" and how it robs us of real joy in our faith and power for our mission.
Believism is not demanding. Several years ago, a world famous psychiatrist named Karl Menninger, wrote a book. The book is entitled, "Whatever became of sin?" Menninger urges us to bring back the old idea of sin. When we pretend that sin and morality do not exist we sink into helplessness. We can't deal with our guilt, can't explain evil, and have not reason to hope for the future.
But sin is an unpopular word. It arouses images of hellfire and brimstone sermons. It raises uncomfortable ideas about moral failure, guilt, condemnation and personal responsibility . So, even in many churches, the word "sin" has been replaced with less abrasive terms like "laxity" or "negative thinking".
Throughout this land there are churches pastored by dynamic communicators who avoid references to sin or failure, and who build their popular sermons around inspiring stories of personal triumph and the value of a positive mental attitude. These churches preach a religion which is easy, convenient, and comfortable. The idea of "sin" has vanished and with it, words like "self-discipline", "commitment," "repentance," and "sacrifice" have disappeared from the vocabulary and thinking of many modem worshipers and their leaders. When there is no emphasis on repentance, and little emphasis on holiness and the Word of God, there is no true Faith. Believism reigns instead!
Believism is not costly. Most of us are busy people with limited time and even less money. In self-defense, we have tended to surround ourselves with thick walls of resistance which are most impossible to break down, and are impervious to appeals for funds or requests for nonfinancial help. We become so skillful in spotting appeals for money that we throw away many of the letters unopened. At times we get annoyed when these same letters try to manipulate us with sad stories, pictures of children with bloated stomachs, or the promise of gifts in return for our dollars. It is easy to resist when someone tries to make us feel guilty by reminding us that we have so much but people in the ghettos have so little. When the church has its stewardship Sunday, many Christians prefer to stay away.
If these appeals were for worthless causes we could ignore them easily and throw away the letters without any further thought. Most of the requests which come to our mail boxes however, present important financial needs. If you are like me, you would like to give to all these causes, but this isn't possible. To keep from feeling guilty, we find reasons to ignore them, to criticize them, and to carry on with our accustomed comfortable ways of life.
There is a danger that this kind of thinking can take over our attitudes toward Christianity. How easy it is to find "good" reasons and occasional excuses which allow us to say "no" when there is a request for our time, energies, abilities, or money. How comfortable and appealing it can be to recast Christianity into a self-centered form of philosophy amusement and embarrassment when we see Christians whose beliefs lead them to wear special clothing, shun make-up, grow long beards or refuse to fight in a war. I cannot condone all the way-out things that are done by religious groups, but often we become so adaptable that there is no difference between us and the world.
One reason for this acceptance of worldly standards is that we want non-believers to know that Christians can be stylish, socially acceptable and fun-loving. In our desire to make Christianity attractive we rarely win men and women to Christ. Instead we demonstrate to the non-believer that there is nothing unique about the Christian and before long we find ourselves embracing a socially acceptable but watered down "dull habit" form of Christianity.
Believism is self-centered. According to an old Greek legend, Narcissus was a young man whose rejection of the maiden Echo caused her to die of a broken heart. Nemesis, the god of revenge, punished Narcissus by making him fall in love with his own reflection in the pond.
This story is ancient fantasy, but has given us the word "narcissism," which describes something modem and very real. Narcissism means the love of self. We are fascinated with books or articles about self- fulfillment, self-actualization, and self-assertion. We hate to be inconvenienced :and we have trouble handling anything which delays or interferes with our plans.
This "me-centered" attitude appears to be the guiding philosophy of many people today. It is a religion which says, "I am the center of the Universe. I don't want God telling me what to do. I can meet my own needs and take care of myself. I will determine my own standards of rig and wrong. I will answer only to myself." That philosophy permeates television and movies. It can lead to increasing immorality, drug or alcohol abuse, white collar crime, shoplifting and deception. It undem1ines families and can lead to arguments physical abuse, desertion and divorce. Self-love is a guiding force in the worlds of politics, government, business, athletics, entertainment, education and the professions. And that same philosophy has entered the church.
There is nothing wrong with seeking a church where our needs a met and where we can worship in comfort. But personal fulfillment and comfort often become the dominant themes of our worship services. We hear little about self-sacrifice or self-denial. Instead, testimonies, sermons, and Christian self-help books proclaim the creed that life will be prosperous and personally happy if we pray enough, believe enough, or worship enough. If we are not careful, God becomes a magic genie who exists to satisfy our selfish desires and to bow in response to our personal whims. What in this life concerns you most? How you answer very likely indicates what you worship instead of Jesus Christ. If thoughts of ourselves, our possessions our own fulfillment occupy most of our attention we have begun to worship ourselves. It is a prominent characteristic of Believism.
Believism seeks for pat answers. The book of Job is a sensitive and insightful book about a man under stress. Reeling from the loss of his possessions, family, status, and his health, Job turned to three friends who had come to bring comfort. None of the three listened to Job or really tried to understand his hurt and despair. Each had pat answers which were critical of Job and useless in helping him cope.
We Christians believe that "Christ is the answer" to human needs. But we have never explored what it means to "be in Christ". So, when we encounter intense suffering, ruthless injustice, premature death, immorality in our leaders, or emotional illness and despair in fellow believers, we are often confused and tongue tied. We search for explanations. We decide, for example, that all mental illness results from personal sin or that God must think some people are "really special" since he has chosen to let them suffer so much. When we can't find a rational explanation, we give advice, talk about more pleasant subjects, or quote Bible verses.
Wouldn't it be better to admit that sometimes we don't understand why people suffer? Wouldn't it be more honest to recognize that most of us really don't know what to say when we meet modem Jobs? God hasn't revealed all of his ways to us, (Rom. 11:33) and even if he chose to do so our little minds could never understand completely. Finding pat answers is often a cover for our own insecurities and fears. It is a way to avoid the pain of suffering and the realization that we have limited understanding. Too, often it is the mark of modem religion; Believism.
Believism wants a certainty of success. Nobody likes to fail. We don't put our money into business ventures which probably won't succeed. We rarely enroll in training programs if we don't plan to graduate. We are success oriented people and in general this makes good sense.
But the success mentality which controls our daily lives creeps into our church too. "Reverend Ike" is a flamboyant television evangelist who preaches that God doesn't want anybody to be poor. "Believe in me" he says, "then you will believe in yourself, and you will get rich, like I am rich."
Most forms of this idea are a little more subtle than Reverend Ike's. This same message is proclaimed from some of the most famous pulpits in our land. "God wants you to succeed!" "You can make it." Such proclamations feed what has been called our "Insurance mentality", the view that life must be reliable, predictable and safe.
Please, don't misunderstand me. The Bible does promise inner peace, joy, and an abundant life to those who follow Christ. The Bible is filled with promises which are meant to be taken seriously. But there is no Biblical guarantee that Christians will be wealthy, free of illness or protected from depression. This is the mentality of Believism.
In contrast, Jesus promised that his followers would have tribulation, persecution and rejection even from their own family members. He called on his followers to take up a cross and follow Him. He had no home; his life ended in torture, a mock trial and execution. Are we willing to follow that? Read Hebrews 11, there we find a listing of the great giants of the faith. With God's help they performed incredible feats; but many were mocked, beaten, imprisoned, deserted and murdered.
Could you follow their faith or do you have Believism?
Believism wants entertainment. How many of us want church to be a place where we can be entertained? We go not as worshipers to a sanctuary, but as spectators to an auditorium.
Accustomed to spectacular productions on television, we want our church services to be the same. If the sermon is dull or not spiced with jokes or humor, if the music is second class or if the evening church service isn't interesting, we stay at home or criticize, like drama critics coldly and objectively evaluating a play. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate good music and hope I'm not too boring with my sermons. We must realize, however, that worship involves the adoration of a Holy and Supreme God who wants our praise, confession, and commitment. Caught up in the entertainment mentality of our culture, there is a real danger that we will let our church services degenerate into "Showbiz" performances, built around "superstar" personalities, watched with sharp criticism, and evaluated with applause or silent booing.
What does it mean to be born again? The new birth comes when we yield ourselves completely to Christ and trust Him to forgive our sins and guide our actions. The new birth is an inner spiritual transformation which comes when Christ enters our lives. We don't earn this new status by our efforts or by good works; it is a gift from God bestowed freely on all who ask him for it. It may involve elation but it is more than an emotional high. Those who want to be born again are freely received and brought into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Such people are truly born again, into God's family.
At the beginning, perhaps, this new birth is "mere belief ' but the sincere child of God begins to develop real conviction and commitment. Frequently we are tempted to slip into an easy Believism. But as we let Christ truly take control of our lives then what we'll have is not Believism. But as we let Christ truly take control of our lives then what we'll have is not Believism but a dynamic FAITH!
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