Have you noticed that more and more people are fascinated with Faith? Excited about the heritage of ritual? Attempting to live by the moral code of holy people? Flocking to established communities for encouragement and connection? Don’t get me wrong, most are not looking for a church or even a religious tradition. Not even close. However it seems whenever there is a vacuum of vision in any society,  people make a desperate grasp to find something to believe in. 

And I’m tired of it.

I’m sure This preoccupation is no different than any other time and place. Generations have struggled to find meaning, to find a greater purpose, to find God. Philosophies and systems continue to explain away the world from every aspect. Psychology has taught us to identify our logical and foundational authority to direct our lives. Moralities and ethics have discerned principles of living alongside others with respect and dignity. There was even a time when mythological stories and creatures were recognized to have sway over the cosmos and those who dwelt therein. Even if, in more recent thought, there has been an illogical avoidance of anything that suggests an extraterrestrial realm that has some sort of power to impact a mortal human.

Yes, I know. Such a fascination is nothing new. Searching for truth is part of the core of who we are as rational beings. And as time has taught, the search for a bigger reality and an eternal truth will endure. Yet, a search for conviction is not a bad thing in itself. Asking questions, learning more, testing the veracity of claims and counterclaims, and understanding our own hearts and souls, and lives so that we might live to the fullest; this is not what I am tired of.

I am annoyed with your half-assed fascination from afar. Loving just the ritual. Longing for a disconnected community. Respecting the history, and rejecting the history. Reading the book to critique the quirks. Adopting only what you like, judging by what you already know. Fascination with faith is not the same as confessing what is true. Rather, your distant fascination only begets believing nothing at all.

The Almighty God, who created heaven and earth, sent his son so that whoever believes will have eternal life. Jesus Christ, born into our timeline, came to his own people who did not know him. The generation around him struggled to believe in real-time. His own students didn’t really understand what he was teaching them at the moment. But then Christ was lifted up, splayed open as a sacrifice for every single person who had been merely fascinated—on a cross for all to see. 

But guess what? You and I don’t exist in the unfolding prophetic reality of the First Testament. We are beyond the solidifying story and sainted instruction from the Second Testament. All of us—including those who confess Jesus is Lord and those who do not—have the grand, beautiful story of what is real and true, both now and to come. 

Fascination time is over. 

So, I am over the unfruitful obsessions. Disciplines, orders, places, and spaces that exude cult vibes. It’s pretty simple. You either have faith in your God and His Son – who sacrificed his life for yours – or you don’t. Don’t try to band-aid your unsolved problems by joining an exclusive gym community or signing your son up for scouting. None of these are bad for you or the rest of the world but don’t mistake that as a substitution for Faith. I’m tired of your misguided devotion.

Do you really know? How deep must I go to wrench out my unworthiness, failures, and honestly assessed neglect? Do you know? How many years have I invested in the places and spaces that proclaim your unmerited forgiveness of sin? Do you know? How silly you look pretending to have the eternal answer for all of the problems of the universe? When you don’t even know the depth of your own?

I’m tired of your fascination with Faith.

Stop unbelieving. Just believe.