Posted: 07/23/07

My Faith Still Holds

On July 21, 2007, the L.A. Times featured  an article written by its former religion reporter, William Lobdell. Lobdell states that he lost his faith while covering the religion beat. He says he began with belief in Jesus and ended by rejecting all of it. The article is a cautionary tale from beginning to end.

I understand what Lobdell is saying when he describes the constant drip, drip of unbelievable news in the sphere of American religion and its potential toxic effect on the reporter. There are times when the sick, the twisted and perverse, the worldly and the idiotic within the realm that identifies as "Christian" can drive you to believe that this is all there is within Christianity. My entire life has been spent witnessing more than I have wanted to. Growing up with parents in ministry, I heard about church bust-ups, child-molesting pastors, fist fights in the parking lot of churches, and so on and so forth. One church our family attended when I was in high school was down to about 30 people. The gossip and slander of the pastor had gotten so bad that word had it the piano would play by itself at night because evil spirits roamed the sanctuary. You want to talk cynicism? I could write a book.

So what drives me to keep believing in spite of all the ungodly and bizarre things going on in the name of Christianity? Why keep going? Why not walk away from it all and just join the chorus of atheists and agnostics who see the fraud for what it is?

I will tell you what keeps me going. It is the rock solid conviction, rooted in Holy Scripture,  that most of what we see calling itself Christian today is nothing of the sort. It is counterfeit Christianity that is in gross disobedience to the God's Word. I believe that every pervert pastor that secretly molests children, every false teacher, every health and wealth televangelist driving around in his or her limo, every abusive spiritual system is the product of sin and rebellion against God's clear commands. I know this, because I have an unchanging standard by which to study these claims of Christian faith. Secondly, I have seen the real thing. I have seen the genuine article of Christianity and when you have, it is easy to spot the liars.

Where have I seen genuine Christianity? One of the most powerful witnesses I have seen is in the life of my mother, Freda. My mother was converted to Christ at 16 during an evangelistic service in a small, one-room schoolhouse in the Ozarks. From that moment on, her mind and heart were changed. She loved her Bible, she witnessed to her family and she gave her life, in total, to Jesus. With barely enough money to get by, she took a train to Bible school in California because she wanted to learn more of the Scriptures. That's where she met my Dad. For 56 years, she has walked with God. From our earliest years, she taught her children to honor and love the Lord. Every day she could be found in her bedroom with her Bible, praying. We heard her voice many times, through the door, praying through a crisis in my Dad's ministry, praying for us, always praying. I found her prayer notebook occasionally and on more than one occasion, I looked through it. Our names, our neighbors' names, her extended family member's names, and next to them, specific prayer requests with check marks on some of them. God had answered. Other names had no check marks. For them, she was still praying.

Mom has not had an easy life, as no ministry wife does. She served with my Dad, cooking for troubled, inner city boys at the camps sponsored by the ministry, organizing and preparing for the evangelistic youth events, doing bookkeeping, cleaning, whatever Dad needed. She has burn scars on her hands to this day from the grills where she cooked for these kids outdoors at Lifeline Camp for so many years. When Christian radio and TV started, she was right there, praying about it all. Mom always sings. From the time we were little, in the car she, my sister and I would sing in three-part harmony–Because He Lives, Trust and Obey, Great is Thy Faithfulness, and so many more. Her love for the Lord made her sing, and we saw her joy.

Mom is 72 and she never stops praying. Prayer is the voice of faith, and her children have seen a lot of faith! When y brother nearly died at age 38 from kidney failure, she just kept praying. For three years, he was so terribly ill. I watched mom during that time. Would that lifetime of faith end now, with Andy suffering from the horrors of dialysis and everything kidney failure entails? She kept praying. She would grow discouraged at times, only to get back up and pray some more. God answered Mom's prayers and raised my brother up after my sister gave him her kidney. Three years later, Andy continues to keep the Gospel going out over the Christian radio network where he is Chief Engineer. Praise the Lord.

I could tell you so many stories of answered prayer, prevailing prayer on Mom's part, where God intervened in situations in my life. There is no other explanation. The Lord does things according to His own sovereign plan, but He has honored my mother's faith time and time again. She walks with God , and her life shows it. She never stops giving to others. Her life has been one long season of giving and concern for the other person. The Lord Jesus Christ shines from her life.

When you have ever seen a real Christian, all the perverted priests, greedy televangelists, false teachers, and spiritual abuse stay in perspective. They are lying. They are disobeying the Word of God. They don't know Jesus.

The fruit of knowing Jesus comes through in your life. Your priorities change, your entire way of looking at the world changes. Even when you fail at times to behave as a believer, the Lord convicts you, and you are compelled to return to what is right and true, according to God's Word. You care about others. You cease to live for yourself.

I grieve for this reporter at the L.A. Times. I wish that he had been given the true Gospel rather than manipulated by an emotional experience that he thought was being "born again." How sad that he never once mentions studying the Bible to see for himself how God has instructed Christians to live. How tragic this story really is.

It is sobering to realize that we are being watched. Just as I watched my mother, my children watch me. Someone knows that you proclaim Christ and claim to be a follower of Jesus. What are they seeing? When I think of the times I have failed to represent Christ as I should, it shames me. What if we are the only believer to cross paths with someone? What will they see in us? Will they see Christ today in me? If not, why not? Something to think about.

Does your faith still hold today, despite all that's wrong in Laodicea? It isn't easy living in the midst of it all, but don't let the cases of spiritual disobedience and rebellion around you convince you that there is no real Christianity. We serve the living Christ and He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Keep your eyes on Him.

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love.

By Ingrid Schlueter Email: vcyproducer@aol.com Click here for bio and archived articles