1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Christians are a bit strange. The church community is a “peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9) who identify as “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). There are things we do and believe that our non-Christian culture will find weird, insignificant and even offensive. At times, we might feel that about our own beliefs and practices. What should we do when our faith feels silly?
The Greek Apologists
The Christian Church of the second century was heavily persecuted. Having been declared illegal by Rome, the Church endured waves of imperial aggression. False accusations were hurled at the Church to portray them as people who deserved persecution. Just as Nero blamed Christians for the fire in Rome, others added false accusation ranging from simple gossip to sophisticated attacks on the faith and practice of Christians.
What should we do when our faith feels silly?
Christians were portrayed as ignorant people of the lowest social status. The acceptance of women, children and slaves was seen as a repulsive feature that was cited as evidence that only people of the lowest intellect and status would believe the message of Christianity. Pagan Rome claimed that any small amount of good that could be seen in Christians teachings was stolen from Greek Philosophy and then corrupted into a lesser version.
Christians were portrayed as subversive people. They were considered enemies of the state because they do not accept the divinity of Caesar. They were considered atheist because they would not accept other gods. Pagans claimed that many of the difficulties they experienced were caused by Christians who continually offended their gods.
Christians were portrayed as offensive people. The agape meal, which was about pure love, was misrepresented as perverted communal lust. The Lord’s Supper was misrepresented as dark, religious cannibalism. The love for children was misrepresented as incest.
What should we do when our faith feels silly?
In response to the false accusations that fuel persecution, some Christians wrote careful defenses of their faith. These writers are known to history as The Greek Apologists. They didn’t apologize for their faith. They defended the reasonability of Christian faith and practice. They explained the reasons behind the beliefs and practices. They shared an alternative narrative behind the social strangeness of Christians. They published their own critiques of paganism. They boldly declared that being a Christian is not silly.
You are not stupid for believing what we believe as a Christian. You are not less than for living like we live as a Christian.
What should we do when our faith feels silly? We get really clear about why we believe what we believe and why we do what we do.
When we see the spiritual realities behind our beliefs and practices the very things that appeared as silly will be seen as sacred.
Prayer is silly… unless there is a God who hears, cares and acts.
Church attendance is silly… unless there is a spirit filled community to be a part of.
Footwashing is silly… unless it can humble us to live in loving service to others.
Giving tithe and offering is silly… unless there is a cause worth more than material possessions.
Mission trips are silly… unless the work meets a real need and the experience transforms those who serve.
Preaching is silly… unless God uses the foolishness mans words to speak his.
Any time you are tempted to feel that your Christian belief or practice is silly, or irrelevant, or less than, remind yourself of the spiritual reality behind it and the silly becomes sacred.
Don’t try to be a weird Christian. But also, don’t try to not be weird. Don’t make an effort to change your Christianity just because others find it weird. Our beliefs and practices are not silly they are sacred.
4 Reasons the Lord’s Supper is not Silly but Sacred!
The Lord’s Supper is a practice that can easily be seen as silly or even offensive when we loose the significance behind it. Here are four reasons the Lord’s Supper is not sill but sacred!
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
- The Lord’s Supper is sacred because it reminds us of Jesus! When we take the Lord’s Supper it is a reminder of Jesus. Any practice that can direct or attention back to Jesus is a meaningful practice. As you hold the bread and juice, think Jesus! Remember his love, and grace, and example. Do it in remembrance of him.
- The Lord’s Supper is sacred because it invites us into the New Covenant. The Old Covenant had good promises and God kept them all. The New Covenant has better promises and God is keeping them faithfully! He has written the law on our hearts and he has opened to us a deeper connection with God. As you hold the bread and juice, think covenant! Think of a promise making, promise keeping God whose promises for us are extremely good!
- The Lord’s Supper is sacred because of the death of Jesus! When we participate in it we “proclaim the Lord’s death”. The whole illustration of the Lords Supper is graphic. Jesus wants us to associate the bread with his broken body and the juice with his shed blood. The death of Jesus is offensive but appropriate because sin is offensive. The whole thing can seem silly and gross until we see that it’s not about death but life. He died so that we might live(1 Thessalonians 5:10). By his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
In John 6 Jesus has a hard and confusing conversation about him being the bread of life. Here is a piece of it.
John 6:50-60
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
People were confused and offended. Jesus was graphic and clear. The wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23). He paid our wage.
As you hold the bread and juice, think Jesus die so I could live!
4. The Lord’s Supper is sacred because it points us to the Second Coming! Paul says that we do this “until he comes”. Jesus is coming again. He will drink that juice with us again in the kingdom(Matthew 26:29). As you hold the bread and juice, think second coming!
Christian faith and practice is strange, but it’s not silly.