Freedom from miserable Christianity

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:

Alternatively, a vibrant faith, Tripp suggests, hinges on properly understanding the role of grace in pointing us to the eternal implications of the resurrection as described in 1 Corinthians 15. Without the resurrection Christianity makes no sense. In fact, the resurrection provides the catalyst for life-giving faith. For Tripp, the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of forever accomplish the following: (1) They tell us what is really important in life; (2) they have the power to radically change the way we approach the responsibilities, difficulties, and opportunities of daily life; and (3) they teach us delayed gratification.

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. Tripp's Forever is a wonderful reminder of what really matters in the Christian life so that we don't turn our faith into an empty religion that neither glorifies God nor frees us to live life to the fullest (John 10:10).