Spiritual, but not Religious?

Ayn Rand applauded a culture in which the interests and desires of the individual take precedence over those of the family, group, or community. Frequently, I hear "I am spiritual, but not religious" or "I like Jesus, but not Christianity." Many people who are spiritually searching have had bad experiences with churches. So they want nothing further to do with them. They are interested in a relationship with God, but not if they have to be part of an organization.
I don't know if that's possible. C.S. Lewis was part of a famous circle of friends called the Inklings, which included J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, and also the author Charles Williams, who died unexpectedly after World War II. I his book The Four Loves, Lewis wrote a striking meditation on his death in an essay entitled, "Friendship."

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s [Tolkien’s] reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald. In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah 6:3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have.

 It takes community to know an individual. How much more would this be true of Jesus Christ? Only if I am part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will I ever get to know him and grow into his likeness. 

Faith Underwater

Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own resources and focuses on the all-sufficient resources of God. When I was in my single-digit years, the family used to pile into our VW bug and head to the Jersey shore every Sunday morning. The waves were usually tame, but one day, I lost my footing in the undercurrent. As it pulled me down, I felt like table scraps being sucked into the in-sink-erator disposal. Under the water, I could see nothing, and I didn’t know which way was up. I couldn’t plant my feet on the ground; I was out of control and terrified. In my panic, I wanted to yell, “Help me!” but I was underwater. Suddenly, I felt my dad’s hand grab my shoulder like a magnet and lift me into his embrace. It was the sweetest feeling in the world. I yielded entirely to his strength. I didn’t resist his will; I reveled in it. I thought, “Thank you for your grip. Thank you for finding me. I need you. I love you! You’re great!” In that spirit of yielded affection, there was no room for bragging. Ironically, all of the attention was on me when we returned to our blanket on the beach.

Faith

The way Ayn Rand defines faith makes it sound like a fantasy, a whim, an arbitrary wish that originates in the fancy of a not-so-intelligent person’s imagination. In other words, any reasonably intelligent person would have nothing to do with faith, let alone base their life on it. Grace and faith go together. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. Salvation is costly. We are not able to afford it, even by our most valiant efforts. Even though we have done nothing to deserve it, God’s saves us. If it were our own performance, then we would be center-stage. Instead, God gets the attention and recognition. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.”

Stossel

If you didn't see John Stossel's special two weeks ago, I recommend it. Several people gave me the heads up, but I forgot to mention that he did a whole show on Ayn Rand. Great feedback from the audience! (which means passionate opinions, but not well informed about Rand and her worldview). Here is the link.