Over the past couple of months I've felt nulling feeling of complacement in my Christian life. It just seems that the older that I get and the more that I learn, the more I become less emotional over my faith. Sometimes it is hard for me to discern between over-emotionalism and God's true spirit in a service. I think a lot of the time I'm just being to critical and need to allow God's Holy Spirit work in me and through me. By meditating on all of this lately, this led me to think of a epidemic that has struck our culture: Zombie faith.Obviously I am more guilty of this then anyone. I've been struggling with this line between coviction and mediocricy in my own life. Just like Johnny Cash, I've been walking that line. My questions to any one that is reading this is, where is that line? How much do we allow ourselves to become emotionally involved in a service and how much do we approach it purely intellectually?
I had a really good long talk with a great friend of mine today on the phone and we talked about this very subject. Luckily for me I have friends that are far smarter than myself who bring revelation into my life. We debated over this topic for sometime and synonomously came to the conclusion that if you have a true, real encouter with God, the Creator of Everyting, the Savior of the World, My Fortress, My True Shepherd, then won't you be emotional. Not to downplay the intellectual aspect of our faith, but if you have a true one on one encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, wouldn't there be at least a little bit of emotionalism that would be manifested?
I know too often in my own life, my faith has become that of a zombie's. I go through the movements without even thinking about it. I know what to say and when to say it. I know how to make my prayers sound spiritual. I know how to cite verses and talk theology. One thing I don't always know how to do is to be sincere. This is something I want to accomplish. I want my faith to be real and honest. I want it to be true and vital. I don't want to just go through the emotions. I want my faith to captivate my heart and my mind and envelop all of me. That is my prayer for my own life and I hope you will share in it with me.
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2 comments:
Hey bro. Good stuff. Keep writing. I look forward to reading your thoughts and will comment ocassionally. Later.
This is so true.
I've been in church my entire life (figuratively) and have been a Christian for a long time. "Zombie faith" is something I find myself struggling with more often than not.
It seems like the longer I am a Christian and the more I learn, the more it takes to "move" me. When people say that they feel the Spirit of God among us (like at camp), I will admit I felt a hint of an emotional tug, but I have to wonder if that's just me being human and wanting to conform to the mood of the majority.
I have a tendancy to approach things very intellectually and that somehow keeps me from getting emotionally involved. I see how people are overcome with emotion and the presence of God and I just wish that there was some way that I could get past the "spiritual shell" I seem to have formed and let myself get lost in the moment.
"Zombie faith" is undeniably present in today's society. I know first hand. I think perhaps spending more time in prayer and devotion will aid in getting past this ailment, although I likely won't find out until I try.
Anyway, this was excellently put and I couldn't have described the feeling/scenario better.
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