Without the resurrection pointing us to eternal life, Christians will lose hope to persevere to the end and will fail to properly align life’s realities with expectations.
In his new book Forever: Why You Can’t Live Without It, Paul Tripp does a fantastic job of explaining why believers and nonbelievers alike misunderstand what Christianity is all about. There has been a tendency in our culture to pitch Christianity as a means of achieving personal peace and affluence (as Francis Schaeffer often tried to counter).
But Tripp points out that if we were honest, we’d find “thousands of sad, defeated, disappointed, doubting, and soon to be cynical Christians out there.” Why? Because we forget about what Jesus accomplished for His people. As such, many Christians simply go through the motions of faith. The life is gone. Faith doesn’t make much sense. And many believers are left feeling miserable.
According to Tripp, here are signs of a miserable faith:
- – Disappointment with God. Thinking that God has not given us the life that He has promised.-
- – Lack of motivation for ministry. A passion for ministry is not a result of training but comes out of a deep conviction that God is who He says He is.
- – Numbing. When we’re disappointed with our lives, we’ll find ways to escape and self-medicate.
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