Faith of Our Fathers

I grew up in the church, attending every Sunday.  My parents grew up in the church.  Our families have not just attended church, but were leaders in the church.  My faith was handed down to me from my father.  It is a faith in God that has grown deeper over the years and eventually became my own.  But sometimes I still have the thought “what if this isn’t real?”  “What if the Bible is just another book?”  What if this faith of my father is not true?

I have been reading recently of some who grew up as Christians and were teachers and authors of books on living a Christian life that have decided to abandon their Christian faith.  Our nation, the world we live in seems to be moving farther from their beliefs in God and the truth of the Bible.  I recently read a report that show the number of people claiming to be “Christian” is increasing, but at a much slower rate than the population growth, meaning that the percentage of the population that professes to be Christian is decreasing.  So, I wonder, is this faith real, and if it is, why are we loosing Christians every year?

I recently attended a couple of funerals at a local church.  I didn’t know these people.  They needed a sound guy and I was available.  In each of these funerals, they read the Apostles Creed.  All those in attendance read it out loud.  The Apostles’ Creed declares a belief in God the creator and in Jesus Christ as the son of God.  It is a statement of what we believe.  It is the faith of our fathers, handed down in a clear written statement of what we believe.  This is not something we do at our church, but perhaps it is something we should do, at least with my family.  A simple reminder of what we believe.  But I think there is still something missing that is even more important.

Knowing what I believe is important and I think there are a lot of people out there who profess to be followers of Christ who don’t know what they believe.  I think one of the failures of our churches is that we teach our children a lot of neat Bible stories and we talk about the Bible stories in “grown up church”.  Some of our churches have gone to the point that they don’t teach on the “hard teachings” or “controversial” issues (meaning the Biblical teachings that are contrary to popular cultural teachings) on Sunday morning because they don’t want to offend anyone and turn them away.  So we have this new generation of people claiming to follow Christ that are questioning what they believe because we have not done well at taking the next step and teaching why we believe. 

I am thankful for my father and I try to model his example to my kids.  Whenever we came to dad with a question about pretty much anything, especially a spiritual or bible question, he very rarely just gave us an answer.  He almost always responded with another question.  He helped us to work out the answer ourselves, sometimes even arguing the opposite side of what he really believed.  By doing this, he demonstrated an unwavering and deep understanding of his faith, and helped me to build my own faith, and not just the faith of my father.

Knowing “what” is always important and a great first step.  Knowing “why” is even more important.  As we listen to the culture around us proclaiming what they believe is truth and as it sometimes challenges and goes against what I believe, it takes me back to the faith of my father.  Ask questions and challenge every new teaching.  Ask questions and see if it holds true to the teachings of the Bible.  Ask why you do or don’t believe the bible to be true.  Be willing to research and study the opposite of your belief.  This will make your faith your own faith and not just the faith of your father.

My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
²¹ Bind them on your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk, they^[d] will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
²³ For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.
Proverbs 6:20-23

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ²⁰ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 
Deuteronomy 11:18-21