An article in Christianity Today points out that “educators lament the ‘nature deficit’ among today’s children, who are more likely to watch the Discovery Channel than discover their own backyard.” And so there are those who have developed an “educational program that gets youth out in the woods and into experiential learning.”
Reading about this human lack or absence of direct experience with nature led me to reflect on something similar happening in Christian devotion. That is, the tendency of many self-professing Christians to be satisfied with a second-hand kind of faith.
I grew up in a Christian home. Because my parents practiced their faith, and my brothers and I tagged along as they did so, I had lulled myself into assuming that my involvement in my parents’ practice of their faith took care of my spiritual condition. I became an active participant in church events and activities. And that was about it. My parents’ faith was a substitute for my personal faith in Christ; and church activity a substitute for Christ’s actual control of my life.
As I grew older, I became interested in knowing more about the faith. I advanced in my understanding of the Bible. I also read books and listened to preachers-teachers. Yet, I now realize that sometimes I can be so influenced by certain writers or teachers that their systematization or presentation of their understanding of Scripture could become a filter that keeps me from engaging the biblical text for myself. The danger is that another person’s understanding of Scripture is given a level of authority that it ends up becoming a substitute for Scripture itself.
Even if I do take the time to personally study Scripture, there also is the challenge of avoiding a purely intellectual faith. True biblical faith involves the use of the intellect to comprehend the truths of God’s Word. However, I can become well versed in the concepts and ideas of Scripture about God, and yet fail to encounter God himself and to hear his voice as he speaks to me—addressing my personal life issues. As a result, the transforming power of the Word of God, energized by the Spirit of God, does not take hold of me.
These are indicators of “devotion deficit.” When there is a lack or absence of direct encounter and interaction with the Lord himself, our Christian devotion may not really be to the Lord himself but only to our ideas and concepts about him. Yet eternal life is all about knowing the only true God, and Jesus whom he has sent (John 17.3).
—Keith Jainga