Faith We Need To Lose

And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. Luke 21:8

The only hope that does not disappoint is looking for God to restore all creation in the triumph of love. Our faith that the selfless, longsuffering, and eternally gracious One, who created all things, will restore them, means having no confidence in all other would-be saviors. Jesus warned his disciples about others who would come after him claiming to be the messiah, who would declare that the time had arrived for salvation to be realized in the way they were wanting it. Jesus said do not be fooled and deceived. There is only one Christ, and only he will be All and in all (Colossians 3:11). The glorious end is in the wholeness of all things, when God is All in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).

We ought not to think that Jesus’ words only warned his disciples back then and are not for us as well. He also is not only telling us to be aware of cultish leaders, egotistical and deluded people who make outrageous claims and want their followers to move onto secluded compounds. His cautionary words equally encompass the more typical purported  “saviors” of our time: economic engines of prosperity, political parties, scientific advances, social movements, or the promises of legislative initiatives. How often the hope has been “if only this law, this leader, this implementation of an ideology, this technology, then we will have made a better world.” We need to lose our faith in all these other would-be saviors.

The new heavens and earth will be God’s creation and will not arrive because of votes we cast, laws passed or repealed, economic policies enacted, new and innovative technologies, nor because some charismatic leader promises great things. Though some people hope for a change from the top, from the corridors of power, and others look for a grassroots effort will be the impetus of renewal, only Christ is the source of life. Scrutinize all the institutions, structures, ideologies, and movements large and small, and you will still not find a savior worthy of your faith.

More or less good may be realized in limited ways through any these, but not what will set the world right. Whatever progress we manage to achieve is plagued and twisted by our own weaknesses. We will eventually be disappointed when the movement fails to bring about permanent and substantive change, when the leaders were not what they seemed to be, and when what seemed like a true hope of progress merely switched who was favored and who was disenfranchised.

Am I cynical? Yes, about social movements, grand human plans, leaders making audacious promises, and the strength of nations . . . and I believe you should be too! We ought to be wary of earthly solutions and hopeful only in the person of Christ and his working. Refusing to put our faith in other supposed messiahs, and even in our own efforts, is a virtue. 

Whatever we try to do must be grounded in a belief that beyond, within, over, and transcending all our energies and good intentions is the movement of divine Love, which alone brings real change and newness. We view our own attempts at justice, goodness, reconciliation, and making a better world, as mere shadows and hints of the work which only God can do. Our longing is to join God and trust in God working in Christ to redeem the world, leaven society, and alter the tragic course of human foolishness. 

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14b-15

Jesus announced the coming of God’s Kingdom, which was the world-changing inauguration of God’s ways being done on earth as they are in heaven. In believing his gospel we trust that God himself is doing what none of us can possibly accomplish individually or collectively. And yet, we imitate and enact what we understand to be the ways of God’s reign without the least bit of confidence in our efforts. Instead, we nurture a radical trust that God is bringing a new creation. Jesus is the only true Savior of the world. We have no other faith.