Christianity: A Belief System or a Way of Life?

Brian McLaren quotes Dr. Peter Sanger as saying that the reason that Christianity is not more sought after by people in general nowadays is that it presents itself as a belief system rather than a way of life.

In the early days of the church, Christians found themselves in dialogue with Hellenistic philosophers. In an attempt to prevent being swallowed up by Hellenism, Christians became adept at arguing a particular worldview – the Christian worldview. What a person believed became paramount.

In the Protestant Reformation, Luther and others protested against the Roman Catholic Church’s practices and beliefs. The arena of ideas was where this challenge took place (cf. The Age of Enlightenment) and the debate was the classic form of confrontation.

Since that time, Protestants have branched into thousands of offshoots on the basis of belief. What sort of Christian you are is measured in terms of what you believe about certain points of theology.

We have come to the point where we present Christianity as a belief system rather than as a way of life. Our Gospel consists of certain things to believe in order to ensure that we will go to heaven when we die. Dallas Willard pictures a person arriving at the gates of heaven. God unscrews the person’s cranium, peers inside, and, if he can find certain beliefs present, says “Okay, you’re saved.”

We present the Gospel as information rather than news. E.g. the way you respond to news that your house is on fire is much different than the way you respond to a university chemistry lecture on rapid oxidization. The former calls for all-out response; the latter calls for intellectual mastery.

Apologetics has become an exercise in defending the truth claims of Christianity as though we are in a courtroom arguing a case. (E.g. the Case for Christ; the Case for Faith; Evidence that Demands a Verdict)

Yet non-Christians all around us are saying “We don’t particularly care whether or not Christianity is true; if being a Christian means being argumentative, then we want no part of it.”

People are attracted to someone whose life is different, not someone who can win an argument.

There are elements of our faith that we will not understand until we enter into dialog with someone who challenges it.

When we receive Jesus Christ, God enters our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit in order to make a total transformation in the way we live.

There is some confusion about how and when this happens. And there is confusion about the biblical terms used to describe how God does this.

Describe “baptism” of the Holy Spirit.

John’s witness: Verses that talk about Jesus’ water baptism by John and how Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit and fire
- Fire being an image of purification of life, judgment to come, based on deeds, lifestyle? See Luke 3:16
Verses that tell us we are to baptize disciples w. water – e.g. Mt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:47
- Note the close connection between water baptism and baptism with the Holy Spirit – they go hand-in-hand, and occur in connection w. salvation itself.
Verses where we are told that the Holy Spirit is the agent of baptism, placing us into one body. – 1 Cor. 12:13

So on the basis of these verses, we conclude:

That we are baptized with the Holy Spirit when we trust Christ for salvation
That this baptism is attested by the outward rite of water baptism, which should happen soon after salvation
That by virtue of having been baptized with the Holy Spirit, we are united with the church, the Body of Christ – without regard to race, social standing, gender, etc.
That the Holy Spirit’s baptism is intended to bring a radical life change such that it is depicted as a baptism with fire – we now have the fire of God burning in us; a fire that judges and purifies us from our unrighteous thoughts, attitudes and deeds (i.e. chaff)
That the Holy Spirit’s baptism enables us to bear witness to the Good News in a powerful, effective way.