Why Faith As A Destination is Spiritually Deadly

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:1-2

For much of my life I've thought of faith as a destination. I remember as a kid looking to be baptized, I had to take a class. After finishing the class, passing a test and convincing a group of Elders that I was sincere, my baptism was scheduled.

As a pastor, I have reversed that process. Once someone wants to be baptized I usually like to go ahead and schedule it without a class. Why? Because I want people to think of baptism a the beginning of a journey, not a destination they've arrived at. 

I believe I'm on solid ground spiritually as well as psychologically.

I heard about a study where kids who were given a test. The kids that made As were divided into two groups. Those who attributed their success to their innate smarts and those who believed they'd done well because they'd worked hard.

Then they were given a much harder test. Well beyond their abilities. The kids who thought they'd done well on the first test because they were "smart" gave up quickly on the second test. They believed it was too hard and beyond their abilities.

The kids who thought they'd done well on the first test because they worked hard - saw the harder test as a challenge. They worked harder and longer on the new test. It was well outside their abilities - so they did not do well either.

But because they worked at it, when both groups were given another test that was within their abilities - the second group did much better because they had learned and gained confidence even in their failure. They didn't see it as failure; they saw the too-hard-test as opportunity.

There is a lot of failure in faith. And we can respond to it by being defeated, depressed and giving up. Or we can learn from our mistakes, view them as learning opportunities and continue to grow.

This second mindset is much easier when we see it as a journey than if we see it as a destination.

How do you view faith? Is it static? Something that you've achieved and arrived at? Or do you see yourself on a journey.

The earliest Christians referred to themselves as "the way" (as seen above in the Scripture quoted); perhaps that was a stroke of genius.