A La Carte Faith

A survey of Americans conducted in August of last year by The Barna Group points to an alarming trend. The survey found that, by an overwhelming margin, 74% to 23%, adults agreed that their faith was becoming more important than it used to be as a source for reliable moral guidance. That’s the good news.

The same survey revealed, more ominously, that feelings, emotions, and self-reflection—rather than an information-based exercise like studying the Bible increasingly determine people’s faith. Americans are thus using an a la carte approach that threatens the integrity of the Christian faith.

Americans have always prided themselves on their independent spirits. This perspective is now influencing the nature of their faith. People are, in effect, becoming their own “theologians-in-residence.” Their likes, dislikes, and personal proclivities are the standards by which the content of their faith is determined.

The effect of this trend is often a hodgepodge of contradictory and inconsistent beliefs, drawn from a variety of religious sources, both from historic Christianity as well as other world religions.

If one were dealing with diet and cooking styles, perhaps there would be merit in such an approach. But with the welfare of one’s eternal soul hanging in the balance, truth must trump personal preference. The authority of God the Creator’s revelation, consistently interpreted and applied, must be the standard by which faith is judged.

Faith alone does not save. It is the content of faith that is critical to its efficacy. If you pray to the moon for forgiveness of sin and eternal life, such faith will only lead to despair. Despite the freewheeling nature of religious life in the 21st century, discerning individuals will look to the authority of Scripture, to the faith tried and tested by the historic Christian church for two millenniums. The Creator who revealed Himself in the Bible has guided His followers to discover and protect the truth that leads to eternal life.