The Loss of Faith
The Role of Desires in the Movement Towards and Away from God
Everyone has desires, whether it is the desire for professional success, family and personal health, a decent roof over their head, and owning the Powerball Mega-millions winning ticket. Possibly the most common is man's innate desire to love and know God. To know and love God means putting God first. Since the very beginning, mankind has struggled to prioritize the desire for God over the desire for other earthly things. This struggle is becoming increasingly harder for mankind because there are more earthly things that are taking the front seat to God. The last two decades distractions have become the most dangerous enemy of the church. Americans with no religious preference are more prominent today and larger than all other major religious groups except Catholics and Baptists. The Desire to be religious has been blemished.
As a whole, we have drifted away from the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible was once one who was feared. He was one who was held in utmost awe. He was understood to be infinitely greater than man and therefore worthy of our highest reverence. The God of the Bible inspired men to worship with His mighty acts. The God of the Bible blinded men with His glory. The God of the Bible compelled man to hold their tongues in silence lest they speak against His holy name. To swear an oath in the name of God assured that it would be carried out, even to the point of death. However Today, We speak of God as a doted old man. We act as though we do Him a favor by becoming Christians. We have relegated Him to our human-made box and re-image Him in "our" image. We perceive Him as our "genie in a bottle", ever ready to mete out health and prosperity to placate the whimsical desires of our fallen nature. We reduce Him to a celestial psychologist whose only purpose is to enhance our self-image and to boost our human nature.
Human beings are moved by a dense complex of motives,
Everyone has desires, whether it is the desire for professional success, family and personal health, a decent roof over their head, and owning the Powerball Mega-millions winning ticket. Possibly the most common is man's innate desire to love and know God. To know and love God means putting God first. Since the very beginning, mankind has struggled to prioritize the desire for God over the desire for other earthly things. This struggle is becoming increasingly harder for mankind because there are more earthly things that are taking the front seat to God. The last two decades distractions have become the most dangerous enemy of the church. Americans with no religious preference are more prominent today and larger than all other major religious groups except Catholics and Baptists. The Desire to be religious has been blemished.
As a whole, we have drifted away from the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible was once one who was feared. He was one who was held in utmost awe. He was understood to be infinitely greater than man and therefore worthy of our highest reverence. The God of the Bible inspired men to worship with His mighty acts. The God of the Bible blinded men with His glory. The God of the Bible compelled man to hold their tongues in silence lest they speak against His holy name. To swear an oath in the name of God assured that it would be carried out, even to the point of death. However Today, We speak of God as a doted old man. We act as though we do Him a favor by becoming Christians. We have relegated Him to our human-made box and re-image Him in "our" image. We perceive Him as our "genie in a bottle", ever ready to mete out health and prosperity to placate the whimsical desires of our fallen nature. We reduce Him to a celestial psychologist whose only purpose is to enhance our self-image and to boost our human nature.
Human beings are moved by a dense complex of motives,