Ghosting Faith?

Ever been ghosted? Ever have someone with whom you were connected not call you back? Ever have someone stand you up? Most of us have been ghosted some time.

Cutting off contact with a friend without giving any warning or explanation is ghosting. Essentially, they vanish into thin air as if they were a ghost. Sherry Turkle, MIT sociology professor, says that “ghosting has serious consequences because when someone treats us as if we could be ignored, we begin to think this is okay and we treat ourselves as people without feelings. At the same time we treat others as people who have no feelings, so empathy begins to disappear.”

Are you okay with being ghosted? I presume not. While we certainly don’t want to be treated as though we can be ignored or dismissed, whom do we ghost? Ghosting or being inactive in a relationship negates the whole point of being in a friendship or relationship. If someone says they are your friend, but then ghosts you, then their words are worthless and empty.

If we say we are Christians we are claiming to be friends of Jesus. But if we are inactive in our relationship with Christ, if we ghost Jesus Sunday after Sunday, month after month, then we are inactive friends, right? And to be clear, Jesus has an opinion on friends who ghost him. The nicest word he uses is “lukewarm” which he says he will spit out (Rev 3:14–22).

Saying one believes in Jesus doesn’t carry much water because even the demons believe in the one true God. But demons do not have a faith relationship. They don’t claim Jesus as a friend. If you are ghosting Jesus, why? An inactive faith is really no faith at all.

A complacent or inactive faith weakens our ability to fight off the devil and allows Satan’s temptations to lead us into brokenness and sin. As a matter of fact, an inactive faith blocks Christ’s courage to overcome the devil’s cunning and deceptive plan (Ephesians 6:11). So letting faith die is unwise. True faith does something (2 Pet 1:5-9).

Jesus calls you a friend (Jn 15:13-15). He seeks having an active faith relationship with you where he connects with you and you connect with him (Jn 15:4). A true friendship with Jesus is living and vibrant. It is active.

While we may go through times when our faith is weak or small and inactive, faith can always be revived, grow stronger and be more active. A living relationship with God brings you a holy strength. This mighty power comes from your relationship with Christ and gives you resolution to life’s circumstances.

Does the LORD ghost us? Never. He is the LORD who neither slumbers nor sleeps. God keeps watch over his people. Christ never abandons his people, but rather comes for his lost sheep who ghost him. Christ takes on all our rejection, not just ghosting him, but our unfaithfulness through our entrusting our lives to false values and empty gods. All through Scripture, God demonstrates his heart for his people.

While an inactive faith is kind of worthless, Jesus does want you to have a ghosted faith. The LORD gives you the Holy Spirit – the Holy Ghost so you will never feel abandoned or ghosted. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (Jn 14:26) When the Spirit of Truth comes to you, he will guide you into all the truth and will make known to you Christ’s friendship (Jn 16:12-14).  You can be certain that Christ is always ready to have an active faith relationship with you!

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Rom 5:5)

Your servant in the Gospel,

Pastor Douglas