Himself to us as we cry out for Him. Psalm 42 states:
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar.
There may be those times when our faith in the Lord is challenged, when we don't necessarily see His hand or seek His presence. The Psalmist was not hesitant to call out when he was struggling in His faith, which seemed to be quite regularly - what a wonderful example that is to us, because we have the assurance that even when a Christian doubts and has questions, God, in His great love, has understanding in store if a person truly desires, with an open heart, to learn more about our Lord.
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Romans 5 states:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
It was a declaration that shook the world of Christian music. The lead singer of Christian band, Hawk Nelson, Jonathan Steingard shared that he was no longer a Christian. In an Instagram post, Steingard said, "I am now finding that I no longer believe in God."
But, apparently, Jon is open to talking about this pronouncement more, finding time to go on a talk show on U.K.-based Premier Christian Radio to chat with the son of one of the leading Christian apologists of all time; that would be Sean McDowell. A Christian Post article quotes the singer:
“When you become the singer of a Christian band, all of a sudden you’re put in this role that almost has a pastoral element, and there’s an expectation that you’re going to have something worthwhile to say,” Steingard shared. “That was a season of me digging in a little more and going like, ‘Oh, I really need to be able to say things that are meaningful and to write songs that are meaningful to people.’”The article goes on to say:
One day, he said, a thought hit him, “If I don’t have to believe in God, do I?” And “I did not know what to do with that question,” he added.
Steingard, a pastor’s son, said he spent a year-and-a-half reading and thinking, which “led me to a place where eventually I felt I had to be publicly honest about how I was feeling.”
McDowell has certainly been in a similar place, he said, but he also held on to the reality of Christ's resurrection. The Christian Post reported:
McDowell said his father, Josh McDowell, has been a Christian apologist for 50 years, and one of the narratives that he pushed to him was, “Son, question things, always look at both sides, doubt is OK.”
When Sean McDowell was 19 years old, he told his dad he wasn’t sure he believed “this Christian stuff.”
McDowell said his dad “simply encouraged me to seek truth and wanted to be sure I knew his love for me was unconditional. He didn’t freak out. He wasn’t threatened. He simply gave me space to work through my doubts.”In the give-and-take, Sean held on to his deeply held belief in the resurrection, but apparently, Jon is not ready to completely buy in anymore, which is sad. The Post says:
McDowell said whenever he has doubts or questions after he sees some horrible things happening in the world, he asks himself why is he a Christian. “And for me, it’s because I really believe it’s true that Jesus rose from the grave.”
Steingard said he agrees that there are many benefits of the Christian faith, including the community it builds, but “asking if it’s beneficial and asking if it’s true are not the same question.”
And, McDowell apparently felt that Steingard was not given "space" or "grace" in order to be able to come to some informed conclusions about truth. Sean is quoted as saying:
“Jon describes being ‘terrified’ at expressing his loss of belief and what it would mean for him professionally and personally. If I read his story correctly, he seemed never to feel the freedom to raise doubts about his faith except for in a few private conversations. And when he did, he has experienced ‘absolute shock that [his doubts] are shared by nearly every close friend [his] age who also grew up in the church.’ If this is true, then there may be many more people struggling with doubt in the church. How can we ignore this?”
McDowell encourages the Church to "do better" in ministering to those who have doubts.
So what does that mean? I think that believers can make sure that we are living according to the Scriptures and living a life of love. And, a life of listening. Apparently, this singer felt pigeonholed into the Christian life without having the understanding of what that life entailed. And, he rejected it - just my opinion. To Steingard, growing up in a Christian home, being in a Christian band, and thinking it was his duty to write Christian songs may have presented a sense of legalism to him, where when the works run out and there is no faith; rather than a vibrant faith producing Christ-inspired works.
We can always call out to God on behalf of those who have doubts, that He will make Himself very real to those who have seemingly departed from the faith. We can speak the truth, as well as live the truth, that the reality of Jesus might be seen through us. Obviously, people throughout Christian music have not written Jon Steingard off and are continuing to reach out to him - that's unconditional love and abundant grace, which we are all called to have.
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