There's an app for that.

My first smart phone was a Blackberry.  I loved that phone.  Previously, I thought I was “Star Trek” cool with my Nokia flip-phone.  I felt just like Captain Kirk whenever I made or received a call.  But the Blackberry - colour screen, access to the internet, full keyboard . . . it blew my mind.  On top of all that, there were the apps.  Calendar apps.  Alarm apps.  Expense apps.  Games.  It was a beautiful thing.

Then came the iPhone.  Keyboard?  What keyboard?  It had a touch screen - and not a little half-the-phone sized screen;  the whole phone was a screen.  The killer, though, was the phrase, “There’s an app for that.”  What Blackberry introduced, Apple took to the next level.  We know how the story ends.

“There’s an app for that” meant more than just “Hey, we’ve got more games and other fun stuff over here.  Come join us!”  What it really meant was, “This is the phone for everyone.  No matter who you are, you will find what you need right here.”  It meant that everyone could have a highly customized, personal phone product.  If you didn’t like the default calendar app, you could pick a new one.  If you preferred a different colour scheme, you could change it.  Your phone.  Your design.

So, when I structure my spirituality, I should be able to customize it, correct?  I like this preacher, that music style, these kinds of Bible studies . . . so I’ll go to this church service since it has the best combo for my tastes, and then the Tuesday night group because that’s my kind of study.  I don’t mind helping with that program;  it’s a lot of fun!

Like so many other areas of life, we seem to have endless options when it comes to faith.  Although we keep it to the Christian faith, there are still endless choices to make it “my own.”  I can find the programming and preaching and music and special events that are just right for where I am in life right now.  It’s great!

There is a downside to all this personalized customization: it isn’t the way God intended it to be.  The Gospel, our faith, was never intended to be a “good fit” for us.  It is intended to be a relationship with our Creator that transforms us.  In spite of His popularity, Jesus went to great lengths to make it difficult to be one of His disciples.  “Be willing to leave your family” (Luke 14:26).  “Embrace humility and service” (Matthew 20:26).  “You can’t pursue the Kingdom of God and wealth at the same time” (Luke 18:22-24).  We don’t make the Kingdom of God “our own;”  we conform to it.  In a culture of options and customization, it is an uncomfortable truth to resolve.  Jesus said, “Follow me - even though at times it is going to be uncomfortable (Matthew 10:34-39).  

So, then, why bother?  Since this faith thing is so demanding, perhaps there are better options out there we should consider.  Jesus’ disciples also pondered this question.  In fact, for some of them, it was the critical point when they decided, “enough is enough” and quit following Jesus (John 6:66).

Authentic faith is not a question of convenience or comfort.  It is a question of desperation.  Peter and the disciples who stayed with Jesus realized this truth:  there are no other options.  As difficult as following after Jesus is, “who else has the words of truth” (John 6:68)?  

Following Jesus is a radical commitment.  It also has radical benefits.  We discover our value and purpose as God’s image-bearers, we experience the release and reconciliation of forgiveness, and we have comfort and confidence in a relationship with the Creator God.  Authentic faith truly is short-term pain for long-term gain.

It is faith in God, not faith about God.  It is faith for eternal salvation, not just for pragmatic solutions for today’s issues.  It isn’t an app we use;  it is a passion we nurture.  This is about a dynamic relationship with God, not just religion or spirituality.

The essence of faith is confidence in the non-empirical.  Unless we experience a miracle, we can’t see, taste, touch, measure, or hear God. But we can see and know the effects of His grace and love.  Surprisingly, we can also be conduits of that grace and love to others.  And this is the true difference between “app-faith” and authentic faith:  one is about me, the other is about others.  Authentic faith, as challenging and complex and uncomfortable as it may be, enables us to represent Christ well, to not only live lives of hope but to offer that hope to those around us.