“Our generation is overwhelmingly naturalistic. There is an almost complete commitment to the concept of the uniformity of natural causes in a closed system. This is its distinguishing mark. If we are not careful, even though we say we are biblical Christians and supernaturalists, nevertheless the naturalism of our generation tends to come in upon us. It may infiltrate our thinking without our recognizing its coming, like a fog creeping in through a window opened only half an inch. As soon as this happens, Christians begin to lose the reality of their Christian lives…
-Francis schaeffer
However, now I wish to move on to another positive concept, consequent to this. The true Bible-believing Christian is the one who lives in practice in this supernatural world. I am not saying that no one can be saved and go to Heaven unless he lives in practice in this supernatural world. Happily this is not so, or none of us would go to Heaven, because none of us lives this way consistently. What I am saying is that the true Bible-believing Christian is one who does so. I am not a Bible-believing Christian in the fullest sense simply by believing the right doctrines, but as I live in practice in this supernatural world…
The Christian life means living in the two halves of reality: the supernatural and the natural parts. I would suggest that it is perfectly possible for a Christian to be so infiltrated by twentieth-century thinking that he lives most of his life as though the supernatural were not there. Indeed, I would suggest that all of us do this to some extent. The supernatural does not touch the Christian only at the new birth and then at his death, or at the second coming of Christ, leaving the believer on his own in a naturalistic world during all the time in between. Nothing could be further from the biblical view. Being a biblical Christian means living in the supernatural now, not only theoretically but in practice.”
Reflection:
Sometimes it is hard to acknoweldge something that is wrong with our thinking or our living because we have blind spots. Sadly a common blindspot for many of us is that we live in this world as if what we can see is all there is. We forget that, in God we live and move and have our being (whether we acknowledge Him or not).
Certainly it is helpful for us if we can get the right answers on a theology quiz and have a right philosophical knowledge of the world as it really is. But, that would fall far short of living a joyful Christian life. True Christianity is a moment by moment practice of the supernatural reality of God in this life. It is to be aware of Christ in us and Christ around us. We aren’t checking out of this natural world through our faith, rather we are coming alive to the reality of God in and through this natural world by our faith. The life of faith is an awareness of both what we see and what we cannot see. This kind of vital Christianity is a powerful and a joyful life.
