Within a couple of weeks, three different people (from three different churches) said exactly the same thing: “I’m just not feeling my faith.” The statement was made by:
1. The youth minister at a big church.
While preaching one Sunday, he told the crowd: “Our young people are confiding to me, ‘I’m just not feeling my faith.’”
2. An older, longtime Christian.
He added, “… not feeling God’s presence” and was worried that “maybe God has crossed me off his list.” I said he surely has subconscious ideas and expectations because of his Catholic past. Things like a sense of “earning points” by saying the rosary five times. Or how praying before a “holy” relic would evoke a sense of divine encounter, that such prayer has extra power. Anything along those lines involves something tangible and likely makes the practitioner “feel” forgiven, the Lord’s presence, whatever. We talked just a bit about living in truth regardless of feelings or difficulty.
This friend later thought more about the Catholic influences.
3. A young Christian man, but former occult practitioner.
He was experiencing legit hard times, so of course, there are dark/heavy feelings. I truly sympathized. But I also got him to admit that there were pretty sensational feelings when his previous “spirit guides” had (supposedly) spoken to him or made something happen. And so maybe he thinks Jesus should come to him in a similar way but even more spectacularly—since Jesus is legit.
My guess is—though we didn’t really discuss—that he’s also noticed Christian books/podcasts suggesting supposed secrets to better “access the divine” and “activate God’s presence.” All that could trigger a craving for some kind of experience.
Whoa, huh.
Have you thought (or heard) “not feeling my faith”? If so, use these questions to help you dig down so as not to stay stuck there.
- Strictly speaking, feelings are emotions. What specific emotion am I not feeling? And why is it important?
- Or by “feeling,” do I mean something other than an emotion? (Hold that thought.)
- What do I mean by “faith”? I heard a minister say that because people can mean different things by “faith,” he sometimes substitutes “trust” when the Bible mentions faith. Think about it. Paul told some believers, “Your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). We probably understand that what had become known was the believers’ trust in God and devotion to him. So am I not “feeling” my own trust in God? my devotion to God?
- Of course, some of us may be having doubts about whether the Bible is even true. With the word faith, then, do we mean “my official religion”? That is, “I’m afraid that my religion isn’t even true!” (And why did I start thinking that?) In the case of this wobbly confidence, we need to get reacquainted with the vast evidence for the Bible’s reliability. Check some of the sources on my “Recommended” page.
- Ultimately, when it’s determined what I mean by “I’m not feeling my faith,” I might want to state the issue more accurately—and deal with what’s really going on. Which is…?
- Have I decided God should be doing something for me that he isn’t doing? If so, what? Are there Scriptures that back up my thinking?
- When I’ve decided what I (or my friends) really mean, how about reading up on one of the Bible heroes? Imagine what he was “feeling” when in both good and difficult scenarios. What did his “faith” look like? What did he DO? (For example, look into the life of Joseph or Nehemiah.)
