Ancient Faith

Of late I have been pondering and considering the question of just what the Christian faith is and isn't. There are many phrases out there today such as "Christianity is a relationship, not a religion" (If you've read any of my previous post you know I have an aversion to this phrase).

Modern Christianity is I believe greatly removed from the Ancient faith of the Apostles and the first 1800 years of the Christian faith. Modern Faith is about Jesus, my friend. Ancient Faith is about God the Father, Son and Spirit. Modern Faith is about the relationship between me and Jesus. Ancient Faith is about the relationship between mankind and the Triune God. Modern Faith is about how I'm a mess but Jesus keeps me going. Ancient Faith is about how we are depraved and Christ regenerates us. The difference is in the question Christ asked the disciples- who do you day Christ is? In Modern Faith, He is a friend, a buddy, a lover- essentially, your celestial psychiatrist. In Ancient Faith, He is God, Christ, Redeemer, Creator and King.

However, the most important difference between Ancient and Modern Faith is in its lack of sacramentality.

This is My Body- The Gospel and the Sacraments
The Modern Church is decidedly unsacramental. The Lord's Supper is rarely celebrated, usually monthly and sometimes even less frequent. Why? Because we just don't find it important enough. Saints of old, when faced with martyrdom, desired to partake of the supper more than anything else. I can  imagine the modern Christian faced wit the same prospect, sitting in a cell listening for one last time their playlist of Chris Tomlin and Hillsong favorites while reading one verse over and over again. When it comes to sacraments, we don't care. We just don't care- communion is too physical, and makes us feel creeplily catholic or something, too churchy (i.e. it will drive seekers away) and too serious. Yes, we want the fun of youth camps and VBS but not the sense of fear and reverence as we approach the table and realize what it means.


The Sacrament of Communion is integral to understanding the Gospel. The gospel, according to I Corinthians 15:3-4 is that Christ died for sins, was buried and was raised again the third day. If you had asked a Christian from before the great awakenings what the gospel is, they would likely answer along the lines of, "God the Son came into the world as a man and was born of a virgin, He died on a Cross, was buried and rose again the third day for redemption. This is the Gospel."
 But what do we modern Christians say the gospel is? "Jesus came so we could have a relationship with God and so that we could get to heaven." Not what Paul says.

The Supper reminds us that the gospel involves death and blood, the agony of nailed torn wrists and the body of God the Son hanging a cross to atone for the sins of his people. The table reminds us that Christianity is not about being pals with God and so we back off, we hide the bread and wine behind crackers and grape juice or try to forget communion even exists rather than approaching that dreadfully serious and sacred meal.


It's the one thing we can't turn into frivolity, the one thing we can't take and plaster over our youth building like a slogan (as we do with countless scriptural verses), it's the one thing we can't make comfortable for "seekers". To be sure, some have brought upon themselves damnation by playing around with the Sacrament, such as using hamburgers and coke. But most conservative, evangelical modern churches won't go there and prefer to leave the Sacrament out altogether.


And this is the single greatest reason the Church in America is dying. We won't eat at the King's Table often enough to receive nourishment, and hence, we are starving ourselves to death. No wonder people are leaving. The world might be offering slop from the dregs of dumpsters but it fills empty bellies for a time. If we want to see our culture repent and return the God, we have to feed them.


We have to return to a frequent participation of the Lord's Supper and a higher view of its place in worship and the life of the Christian.


We need that "Old Time Religion", that Ancient Faith of countless saints who have gone before us.