When Christianity is marketed as filling our "God-shaped hole", or modified and improved to full our "God-shaped hole", it is no longer true Christianity.
True, real Christianity leaves us with a "heaven-shaped hole" that will never be satisfied until we die and leave this sinful world and our sinful bodies.
It makes me think of syncretism or folk-religion which has always been with us through the history of Christianity. There's the official story of the serious believers and the clergy, and then there's the actual practices of the people. But the evangelicalism I grew up with had a super strong emphasis on a personal faith, which seems to be subordinated to other priorities in these stories, and that does feel new.
Yes to both parts of this. And I think there's much to be said for what Matthew Lee Anderson has called "mediocre Christianity" (e.g. https://twitter.com/mattleeanderson/status/1688663035471097856), but *aiming for* mediocrity--say, by evincing no interest in personal faith and the responsibilities that go with it--strikes me as biblically indefensible.
Philosophically, it is undeniable that some of those new to Christianity may not have accepted wholeheartedly the fulness of the faith. However, where would you like them to go? Whatever their motives, they are in the right place to hear about the faith, meet some fine Christians and continue their journey. Christ is in our midst and I pray they will hear His voice with time.
In many ways I agree, though for me the question remains whether that transition will actually happen (and if this kind of political conversion makes it more or less likely). In some cases, as I wrote, I think the proximity can act as a sort of inoculation, leading people to falsely believe they are already right with God and need not do anything further.
When Christianity is marketed as filling our "God-shaped hole", or modified and improved to full our "God-shaped hole", it is no longer true Christianity.
True, real Christianity leaves us with a "heaven-shaped hole" that will never be satisfied until we die and leave this sinful world and our sinful bodies.
It makes me think of syncretism or folk-religion which has always been with us through the history of Christianity. There's the official story of the serious believers and the clergy, and then there's the actual practices of the people. But the evangelicalism I grew up with had a super strong emphasis on a personal faith, which seems to be subordinated to other priorities in these stories, and that does feel new.
Yes to both parts of this. And I think there's much to be said for what Matthew Lee Anderson has called "mediocre Christianity" (e.g. https://twitter.com/mattleeanderson/status/1688663035471097856), but *aiming for* mediocrity--say, by evincing no interest in personal faith and the responsibilities that go with it--strikes me as biblically indefensible.
Philosophically, it is undeniable that some of those new to Christianity may not have accepted wholeheartedly the fulness of the faith. However, where would you like them to go? Whatever their motives, they are in the right place to hear about the faith, meet some fine Christians and continue their journey. Christ is in our midst and I pray they will hear His voice with time.
In many ways I agree, though for me the question remains whether that transition will actually happen (and if this kind of political conversion makes it more or less likely). In some cases, as I wrote, I think the proximity can act as a sort of inoculation, leading people to falsely believe they are already right with God and need not do anything further.
"Fill the god-shaped hole in your heart with molten iron, then shatter your heart to create an indestructible steel god."