Return to Main March Page

This is the first of a two part series on modern faith and how "Christians" are really living. This week we tackle the concept of drive thru faith.

Everyone wants their food and their service faster, who wouldn’t. Nobody wants cold, stale food, if they wanted that they would eat at home . Nobody wants slow, uneffective and inattentive service. If we wanted that we would go to ipowerweb’s support page or their "live chat with tech" page. (all hate mail for the previous two statements goes to frank@team-swap.com) Seriously though, drive thru’s use to be the sole bastion of food establishments, but now there are also drive thru markets, drive thru car maintenance, drive up “fine food” restaurants, and we hear there are even drive through funeral homes in some areas. In more and more areas of life, we expect that we can drive up, get what we want, view what we want, or receive a service, and then be on our way. The problem is that many view church and issues of faith the same way.

For many, church and faith is something you only deal with when things get tough, or when you need something that you can not provide yourself. When things are good, and we are not in need, we just go on like there is no God and He has no opinion or view on how we should live and act. The short of it is that many people run to church when the world run over them, or when the church has something to give they need.

How this happens does vary though. Some start attending church when things get bad in their marriage. They may even go as far as to set up some marriage counciling sessions with the pastor. Either way, when the marriage gets “back on track” or dissolves, they disappear. Some attend church when a close family member dies, then once the pain begins to ease and/or pass they return to their old life - free of faith and church. People show up at church before they marry, attend to meet the requirements to be married at the church, and then leave soon after their nuptials. Some come to the church to aid in raising their children. Once the kids begin to improve the parents either pull themselves and the children back out of church, or start dropping the kids off for church events, but then go elsewhere, or back home, themselves. There is also the trend for parents to stop attending church once their kids get old enough to go to church on their own. Regardless of the path or habit, in the end there is the same result. People rush to church, get what they need and then leave - just like they are ordering lunch.

Faith and a relationship with Christ are not things that can be ordered like a quick lunch. We can not roll up to God’s window and get three orders of support, two orders of encouragement, a small truth, up size our wisdom, and add a side of faith. A relationship with God is not on our terms, but His. We can not order just the parts we want, when we want them, and then just move on. Put another way, a relationship with God is not a smorgasbord, where we just take the parts of the relationship that we want and leave the rest. Gods does not desire to have a relationship like that with us. Having a relationship like that is not what living a life of faith in Christ is.

Merriam- Webster defines Faith as:

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

Notice the consistency, loyalty, sincerity, and the depth and strength of trust and belief that the word faith entails. We can not have a real faith in Christ and have a drive thru “faith” mentality when it comes to our relationship with God and in our service to Him.

Real faith is built over time and it is comes from seeking God and His way day in and day out. That means both when times are good and bad. As we have mentioned before, it is easy/ simple to run to God when things are bad, when we need something, or when darkness surrounds us. That is not faith though, that is desperation and fear. God does not lead His people by those means. God leads via love, support, and encouragement. The people that truly live for Him, those that have real faith, know God’s voice and call both in the good and the bad times.

The good times, ah yeah, the good times. We all love those times. Times when everything is right in our world. The job is good, the family is good, the health is good, the money is good, the house is good, the food is good, etc, etc. Times like that there is nothing that can bring you down. The problem is that many times we are so busy enjoying the good times that we completely ignore the voice of God. We no longer thank Him for our blessings. We no longer praise Him for His love. We no longer look for leadership from the Lord. We take credit for our own success. We praise our own work and the work of other men, not forget the work of Christ on the cross.

These good times are the exact times that we must remind ourselves to remain with God. We have to remind ourselves because it is easy to forget God when we are not focused on survival. We may not think we need God as much in these times, but we need Him just as much, if not more. If we are not careful during these times of grace and goodness, we will quickly turn our lives into ones full of pain and destruction because our actions will become selfish, ego driven, and prideful. That is why it is so important to be consistent and steadfast in our faith and our dependence on God. The good times are not times to forget God. They are times to get closer to Him, and enjoy His love. We can do this in these times because we are not as focused on survival and more focused on growing closer to Him. We can praise Him for the abundance that He has given us, instead beseeching Him for the basics of mere survivals.

Think about it this way, it is impossible to get insurance after the fire has begun consuming your house. In the same way, it is impossible to begin a relationship with God when tough times come and have it instantly become a deep and faithful relationship.

Now that is not to say that God is not listening all the time and is not willing to support and help us. It also does not mean that it takes great faith to survive the tough times. The Bible is clear that great faith is not required -

"Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you can move mountains."

Matthew 17:20

What it does means is that you faith, no matter how small, must be real. For it to be real it must be based on something that is established in your life. For that to happen you have to have already spent time with God. If you have built even a little faith before, then there will be something for you to trust God with when the bad times come. Simply, God can not deepen a relationship that is not established.

During the bad times in our lives any faith that we do have tends to be shaken and upset. In the midst of these times our faith is usually not deepened. The deepening and maturing comes later after we look back and see how God carried us through the low times. If we had no basis of faith to begin with, we are unlikely to mature from faith testing times.

Work on becoming a person that daily builds a consistent and deep relationship with God where your faith will also become deeper and broader deeper each day. That way when the bad times come you will have ample faith to survive them. As well, when the good times are abounding, you will have the faith to continue praising and honoring of God. God desires to spend regular and deep time with you, not just hear from you when you have a quick order and a immediate “needs” lists.