Which
“thorn of worry” is most likely to choke your faith?
a. finances
b. failure
c. family
problems
d. what
others think
e. health
f. fear
of death
g. the
future
(Serendipity
Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1357).
The
most powerful threat to my faith comes down in the end to “what
others think”. All the other possible sources of adversity from
“failure” to “the future” all ultimately have a social
approval component. Even “health” is influenced by this for it
is a desperate situation if you are ill and no one cares. And
finances often falter if our social environment is sterile, callous,
or unrealistic.
Jesus
had a thick skin and could take loads of public criticism. Yet, even
so his ultimate faith is that a harvest of souls was out there and
could be gathered—he had faith that mankind in the end would be
amenable to salvation. Thus, faith in others gave even the Son of
God hope and the drive to keep going.
For
Christians the fear of death itself is greatly subdued by the
knowledge that a grand reunion of our friends and love ones will
transpire after death. And “failure” is declawed if we know that
those dear to us love us still and are willing to buy into our
redemptive rationalizations regarding what otherwise would amount to
an irreparable loss of face.
Now
I intentionally left out of this discussion that Christians are
hunky-dory so long as God loves us even if no one else does. The
hard fact of the matter is that it always matters a great deal what
our human significant others think, period. Hope, faith, and love
clearly do not emerge in a social vacuum.
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