Non Christian believers!?!

Reflecting on Luke 7:1-10

"I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." (Luke 7:9)

Imagine Jesus saying this about the church today.
An atheist or non-christian soldier asks him for help.
He is known to be a good man, but is not a christian or church-goer.
Jesus hears and sees in him an openness and understanding to God.
“I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in the Church.”

In my upbringing, no one was good apart from Jesus.
Faith meant believing in Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
Without that faith and understanding, you were not saved.
Yet Jesus sees faith in this man who is not of ‘the faith’.
This makes me rethink how we think about faith.
It makes me wonder whether there is still more faith out there.
That there are people outside the church with more faith.

I find it comforting to consider faith in those who are not ‘in the church’.
Apparently God is at work outside the church.
And people outside the church, outside ‘the faith’ are open to God.
This is not the only time we see this in the bible.
Think of the wise men – Zoroastrians – seeking Jesus.
Or when Jesus mentions Naaman the Syrian and the widow of Zarephath (Luke 4:24-27).
Jesus is very clear about ‘outsiders’ belonging to the kingdom.
According to Matthew, Jesus also says this on this occasion:

“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12)

I have always wondered about those who do not ‘believe’ like we do.
Apparently God’s grace and faith are not bound by our narrow church boundaries.
“Many will come”, many will be saved, who are not in the church.

This challenges my understanding of faith.
The ‘sinners prayer’ and the Apostle’s Creed are not the key to faith.
The key is not churchy faith, but humility and openness to God and goodness.
I know many like this, yet do not hold to the church’s version of faith.
The criminal on the cross would not have been ready for baptism.
In my church tradition, he would have needed at least 1 year of catechism.
Yet for Jesus his humble, desperate plea for help was sufficient.
He didn’t believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, or the Atonement.
But he desperately cried to Jesus for mercy… and that was enough.
I am not a believer because I agree with the bible or the creeds.
I am a believer if I humbly, openly look to Jesus for hope and help.

I meet a lot of people who have left the church, and ‘the faith’.
I was raised to see them as backsliders, or as lapsed believers.
But when I talk to many of them, I sense it is ‘faith’ that motivates them.
Not churchy faith, but a desperate hope for hope and mercy.
A struggle with the lack of love, grace, justice and mercy.
They are not actually rejecting Jesus (even if they say they are).
They are rejecting the churchy version of Jesus, the only one they know of.
I am convinced that many of them would be open to the actual Jesus.
I am convinced that many of them will be seated at the kingdom table with Jesus.
And sadly, many who had churchy faith will not.

Jesus is compelling me to see ‘non-believers’ differently.
To assume that they are seekers like me, who are looking for real hope and help.
They are not all evil, just as not all christians are good.
They may see the world, and truth, and morality differently from me.
They are not all immoral, self-serving reprobates.
They are desperate humans like me who need God’s grace, mercy, peace and love.
Jesus welcomes them to His table too, just like me.

Jesus is calling me to expect even more faith from people outside the church.
And, maybe He is reminding me to no be surprised by lack of faith inside the church.
God sees beyond our churchy faith boundaries.
Jesus is inviting me to do the same.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You see the seeds of faith and goodness outside of the church. Help me to do the same. Expose the flawed 'us/them' dichotomy in my way of believing. Help me to see all people like myself, as desperate needy sinners sincerely seeking hope and help, desperately seeking You... whether they realize it or not.